A Small Roof and a Window

You may remember that when we demo'd the bathroom just after Halloween, we discovered that the roof was leaking. (Yes, it's the last of the old roof on the house at this point.) No big deal. We had plenty of roofing leftover from our main house roof job several years ago - enough to do that one small section.

And just two weekends ago Timmy, our roofer/carpenter extraordinaire, came over to tackle the job. It didn't take long, just a few hours and the old roof was off and the new roof was on. Trouble was, there was no problem with that old roof. The problem, Timmy guessed, was that water was leaking through one of our bedroom windows... one of our crooked bedroom windows.

The window hadn't been installed crookedly. It had been installed straight and level in a crooked house. Then, we lifted the house to put in the basement and leveled it when it came back down on its new foundation. The once crooked house became level and the once straight window became crooked. And apparently, it had been leaking water into the downstairs bathroom ever since.

Last weekend, Mike remedied the problem by removing the window, sticking down some ice and water, and re-installing the window straight and level.

Eventually, that window will become a door when we build another bathroom atop the downstairs bathroom... and I hate to do to re-do... but at this point, that project is on major hold and we can't have water leakage for years and years.

In the past couple weeks we also had the opportunity to re-visit Lowes and their corner shower enclosures. After experiencing the ones at Home Depot, we both agreed that the Lowes options, though more costly, were much sturdier. We decided on a model, but couldn't purchase at that time since we were pressed for time and driving in a honda civic. (Let's see you fit a 36" corner shower enclosure in a honda civic!)

Purchasing at this point will most likely be after the holiday. Although we will be getting the toilet at the 'ol HD this week, along with some other needed items.

Still on the needs list - shower fixtures, flooring, and a window.

I'm thinking a different size window - maybe half the size of what we have in there now. The current window is right next to the toilet, overlooking the neighbor's house. "Hello - I'm pooping!"
I've always hated that... so you have to keep the shade down all the time... and it's super-dark. Mike wants to keep the same window hole to make things easier, but I'd rather put a smaller window up higher, using half the hole if you will, so at least nobody can see you when you're seated.

Aside from that, it's just all the building materials and plumbing materials. I doubt we're going to futz with the electrical. Maybe move some things around, but I don't see it being a huge major deal.

Watch out world - second bathroom in 2013!

Some Black Friday Advice for Retailers

Just a few short weeks ago we made a trip to Lowes, but came home unsatisfied. (Read all about it.) So, with Black Friday just around the corner, we saved ourselves a Home Depot shopping trip for the weekend after Thanksgiving. In preparation, I did some showrooming at the store just before Thanksgiving, and found that they had a toilet and a stand up shower that I liked for prices within our budget. Awesome.

Saturday after Thanksgiving, we packed up the kids and headed out to the Home Depot with full intent to blow $700-$900 and light our Home Depot credit card ablaze with red hot deals.

We get there - I pick out some new christmas lights to replace some that had gone out on me this year. (If I'm paying for big purchases on my card and already getting 0% financing for 12mo's, why not?) I also find a faucet on sale that I decide I will use to replace the more expensive one we previously purchased at Lowes. So far, so good.

Mike is already in the shower section. I left him there earlier after pointing out the shower I like, which is on display and priced at $515. But when I return to him with my cart already half full of goodies, the problems begin.

He doesn't like that stand up shower kit - says it's too flimsy and he feels like he can bend the walls with just a firm bump. After a short argument, we decide to look for it anyway. For the price, we'll give it a shot. Maybe it's just poorly assembled in the display.

There's no box. We can't find the item anywhere. An HD associate is actually nearby and we ask him to look for us. Come to find out that this item is no longer available and has been discontinued - no other store even has it. The discounted $515 price was a final closeout from who-knows how long ago.

Now we're getting really aggravated. The kids haven't eaten dinner. We haven't eaten dinner. It's getting late and there we are in the aisle trying to decide what to do about this shower situation. There's another stand up shower kit that they have plenty of... it's the right size and everything. Trouble is, the display is 10' over our heads. Yes, there's a standup shower kit assembled and displayed 10' up. That one's even less expensive, but Mike doesn't want to buy it without experiencing the display, which he can't because for some reason some ding dong thought it was a good idea to put a display waaaaaaay up on a shelf that nobody can access.

Mike wants to go back to Lowes. I, who have already picked out several items with a toilet yet to go, want to buy something here and now so I can get my 0% financing for 12mo's and Black Friday pricing on my faucet and lights.

But I'm also tired, hungry, and not in the mood to argue. Especially with a tired and hungry 3 1/2 year old and 3 1/2 month old in tow. "If we don't get a shower, we're not getting anything," I finally exclaimed. "Come on, let's go put all this stuff back."

And we did.

And as we're walking out of that place with the empty cart full of kids, I'm thinking to myself, I'm a customer who came into this store with the intent to spend around $800 on the store charge card and now I'm walking out with nothing because of improper displays. (The first being the discontinued kit, which was still on display long after they had all been sold. The second being the replacement kit, which was displayed so high up that we couldn't look at it.)

So here we are, over a week later, and Mike and I are still to flustered to discuss it. We still need to go back to the HD for the toilet. The great faucet prices will have probably passed by now. But we have no idea what to do about the shower kit. Back to Lowes, I suppose? There are some local stores we could try, but I hate to say it, I imagine that they will be much more expensive.