Oldy and Now Officially Moldy

For a while now we’ve known that our lone (single) bathroom was leaking water from the shower/tub onto the floor. The problem became all the more obvious when we covered the old floor with a cheap sheet of linoleum. Water continued to leak… and get under the linoluem! Squish squish squish – discusting.

Mike finally got around to purchasing a tube of caulk and re-caulking the entire tub at the end of last week. Unfortunately, after my first long shower after the caulk dried, squish squish squish under the flooring again. The problem seemed worse then ever. Mike removed the cold water handle and discovered that the inside was all corroded. Not a good sign. He removed the access panel next to the toilet and confirmed our fears.

The water wasn’t leaking outside and running down the shower and tub. It was leaking inside the wall. And has been for quite some time judging by the amount of MOLD in there.

I literally had a panic attack. Could this be the cause of my random onset of severe allergies?? (After never having had allergies before, I suddenly began suffering terribly during the winter of last year.) The very thought of it sends chills down my spine. And our two year old… I was petrified at the thought of any more serious health problems cropping up.

We closed the wall that night. Nothing to be done about it then. We only have the one bathroom, after all. But soon enough, as soon as MG money comes in, we have no choice but to build the basement bathroom and completely GUT the upstairs bathroom.

I began researching bathroom fixures on the cheap. (And might I just say that Home Depot’s website is just about the most useless thing ever. You can’t find anything on there and the navigation leaves much to be desired. Lowes website is much more user friendly, although I’ll probably end up buying at the Home Deepo.) 

Fixtures alone:

Bathtub/shower kit (with wall surround): $477

Small single vanity with sink: $100

Toilet (water savign): $100

Sink faucet (decent looking): $40

Shower fixtures (head & control): $100

That brings us to a total of $817 for the basic set of researchable fixutres. (And these are all near bottom of the line cheapest – without going completely ugly.)

Beyond that you have to take into consideration building materials:

Framing

Drywall

Pocket door (maximizing space)

Paint

Tile (for floor)

Electrical, including outlets, wires, etc.

Plumbing, including pipes, fittings, and don’t forget this is all in a basement so we need a pump

And all related hardware and supplies

Then there’s all the stoopid stuff you always forget to tally:

Shower curtain and rod

Towel racks

A mirror

Possible linen closet or other storage

Lighting

Bathroom fan

Heat (cause there’s none downstairs currently)

It’s been a while since we built something from scratch. We’re even trying to finish things now that we started from scratch years and years ago. Although, I’m looking so forward to demolishing the old bathroom. I’m going to personally wreck that thing and every single tile and fixture in there.