Contracting Bathroom

If you'll recall, we've recently had some troubles in a bathroom. I got a bee in my bonnet, figuratively speaking because I don't have a bonnet and we're not discussing bees in this post, and called a contractor yesterday.

I'm realizing, like it or not, that if anything is to get done here, I'm going to have to be the one to take the initiative. Soooo, last night we met with him for about 2 hours and that's just a preliminary meeting for him to take measurements, get the history, get a little idea of our plans and expectations. Oh man, are we in trouble there! two people with little to no decorator taste, wishing the money well was bottomless, and realizing we can probably do somewhere midway between "beer budget" and half-way to "fine wine" or "cheap champagne". Additionally, a realistic cap needs to be on that budget because face it, we're not in a high end neighborhood and this house was built in 1966 and there's only so much you can do within it's existing 1948 square feet footprint. It sounds like a lot of room, and to some I'm sure it may seem enormous, but the way it's configured leaves one scratching their heads as to the architects thought processes. Not to mention, it wouldn't be wise to go over-the-top compared to other upgraded homes in the neighborhood. Mr. Contractor did give a point for consideration though. Let's say in the future we need to sell, in a relatively short time, and there are several comp houses in the neighborhood, the one the buyer's going to choose, if prices are also comp, is the one that looks the nicest and freshest. Something to think about for sure. But then, if we move and Nick stays here for college, we may just rent it to him and some roommates. It still needs to be functional and right now it isn't very much so at all.

(note: let me know if this doesn't run. It took forever to load, and I try to view it, but it says an error occurred and to try later :S and it looks funny as is on my end. I haven't posted videos before, so I may be doing something wrong, sizing?)

The bathroom (I refer to it as #2) is very basic, shy of 5' wide and 9.5' long. I'm a fairly simple person and can't tolerate any gaudiness, so simple lines/curves are all I'm looking for. I also like somewhat country styling. We don't have the estimate yet, but the rough costs mentioned for gutting the entire thing - which is necessary at this point will be about twice what I actually expected for a bathroom. Silly me. It also surprised me as the kitchen, which he also looked at, and which we've wanted to re-do for 15 years, was only about twice & a half of the bathroom even with all new appliances and changing things around! Go figure. And did I mention that bathroom #3 which is directly below #2 will also be gutted - which will boot out my 46 yr old wall oven because the kitchen is behind that bathroom & the oven space juts into the bathroom. No oven...until we do the kitchen. #3, with just slightly narrower width, only has a toilet and sink w/cabinet and we want to put in a shower downstairs. A tub would be preferred, but it would have to be custom-made because of the narrower foot print, so a nice shower it will be, maybe with a seat for us old fogies, or any other elderly guests that may need it in the future.

Then there's #1 - the master. It is disgusting, embarrassing even and pitiful for a master bath. Marty tried to improve it a little a couple years ago but that was only by replacing the shower doors, painting & putting in new 'peel & stick' type linoleum tiles. It's just the shower & the toilet, claustrophobic. The sink & vanity are between the door of that area and the door entering the bedroom. Very bizarre design, as right next to those two opposing doors are two closets also with opposing doors and they all open into each other ... 4 doors all opening into a 3' wide bedroom entry.

I don't relish the idea of spending 10s of thousands of dollars for these upgrades, but the house badly needs them. If we were to sell today, it would be considered a fixer-upper and selling price would be well below market in our area and/or we'd be required to do the upgrades and still spend 10s of thousands of dollars and NOT get to enjoy any of it ourselves! Since we're not planning on leaving anytime soon, at least not as long as Nick's in school and he's only in 7th grade, we'll be here for a minimum 5 years unless Marty were to lose his job, so we need to do what needs to be done and do it the way WE would like to have it.

If anyone has had experiences in remodeling and can give us any pointers, I'd sure love to hear them (preferably positive ones, but things to maybe watch out for as well). Our contractor has a good reputation. He's done work for the school my son goes to and may be a member of the attached church, as well as has done work for a couple of people I know. He may be a bit pricier than another out there, but having knowledge of his work and reputation speaks volumes and gives a greater reassurance than finding someone we know nothing about.

I just pray that no major earthquakes erupt right after this process!

Bathroom Update

I really wish, oh how I wish, we had some really good news to report on this. Like the leak was absolutely found. Like the insurance would be covering it. Like it was a whole new bathroom and all done. But the reality is, we might have finally found where water was leaking, and it's not a pipe or joint leak. It might be where the tub spigot/spout abuts the tile surround. I don't know why, but we didn't even notice until a couple days ago that there was a huge gap between the spout and the tile and the little bit of caulking in between was shriveled and pulled away allowing water to get into the wall, which was conceivably going down the inside and under the tub until it came out soaking the wood under the linoleum.

Marty and I have looked at this whole issue through different eyes, you might say. We were just not connecting and I'd wait until he did what he felt he needed to do before proceeding. Today, I was able to contact the insurance company, and NO they do not cover this on our policy as it has been an ongoing, albeit unknown, problem. Had it been damage from a sudden break in a pipe, it would have been covered. Good grief. So would that mean if the pipe suddenly broke but no evidence was known for a long time, it wouldn't be covered either, yep!

I'll be getting an updated bathroom, but it'll be fully at our expense, and it could be months of inconvenience while Marty decides those things he may be able to do himself and those he's willing to let a 'professional' do. Oh, the joys of home ownership ;) Have I mentioned I've been waiting 15 years to get my kitchen upgraded? It'll be a lot longer.

Fina-Lee Friday

Just a mish-mash of some things in my week since I didn't spend much time in Blogland this week:

• For whatever reason, Marty has trouble remembering our son's middle name. Since I use our middle names here in blog-land, you all know I call him Nick (for Nicolas). Marty, when filling out forms, puts it as "C" for Christopher(?). I don't think we even had that as a name in our naming pool. So with this current year's medical forms at work, he did it again and I prodded him to get it fixed. It isn't fixed yet, so I i.m'd him at work and asked if he did anything and his response was "it fell through the cracks". I responded with maybe we should just change his name to Christopher, he said "cute" and I stuck my tongue out at him with that little smilie. :P Maybe he meant we should change his middle name to Cute - it begins with a "C", hehe. But then, a LOT falls between the cracks around here.
  
• Not much progress on that bathroom problem. On Monday, Nick said the water flow was wimpy (I'd gotten up too late to shower!). On Tuesday, I showered and agreed, very wimpy! Nick went to take his shower and the shower wouldn't work at all and made gurgling noises in the wall/pipes. The leak may be in the pipes as the only time the water shows on the floor (from under the tub) is after Nick showers, yet we've run just the shower even and had no water show. Nick isn't splashing water out...it definitely seeps from under the tub, and it isn't the drain. Then I noticed the actual faucet (where the water actually pours from) has a big gap between it and the tile where the caulking should be and I keep forgetting to tell Marty - maybe that's the culprit in all this. My actions are 'on hold' until Marty finishes his investigation and determines what we need to do next.
  
• On Tuesday I was feeling a little like Balaam (you know, the guy that got off his donkey and beat it because he, Balaam, couldn't see the angel blocking the donkey's path). It seemed every incredibly slow putsy driver was in front of me and I'd finally get by only to have another one at the next turn. Was wondering if maybe God was using the slowpokes as messengers to slow me down (I wasn't speeding, not even close to the speed limit), but maybe He was preventing me from an accident, or ticket, or just changing the whole timing of my day. One has to wonder sometimes.
• On Wednesday I finally got the bulbs potted up that should have been potted by the end of last October...oops!...but in my defense, I had a wrist problem that's only been better the last month or so. I'm not sure what all they are, some tulips, daffodils, miniature daffodils, maybe a hyacinth or 3? Most of these bulbs were already sprouting, some a good 2", but I potted them all in 4 large pots and didn't leave a huge amount of space between each. I'm less concerned with whether they produce blooms or not than I am in just getting them into soil where they'll at least survive and come back for 2013 blossoms. The ones I planted in 2010 (also late, but not this late) gave me lots of blooms that year, but then didn't bloom much last year. This year, they're coming up nicely and I have one yellow hyacinth, and one yellow miniature daffodil in bloom. I'd prefer to have them in the ground but we just don't have a good spot without digging up the backyard which is full of huge tree roots from our Ash tree that's probably 50 years old.
• Today was a vet day for the kitties. Raven's caught up on all vaccines but goes in on Monday for her spaying. Flame's already spayed but needs one more vaccine which will be in 3 weeks. Flame does NOT travel well, she cries the whole time and even starts huffing - high anxiety...and she's the mellow one of the two (Raven clearly has Oriental/Siamese genetics) Raven loves the car, just lays down in the carrier and soaks it all in quietly. I think Raven would be fun to travel with even if she weren't in her carrier.
• I didn't get to attend my quilt guild meeting last night though I'd planned on it. Seems Nick could get extra credit in a class he currently has a C in (he never gets grades that low!!) IF he went to the school's basketball game and said hi to the teacher during half-time. I want to know what extra credit I get for missing my meeting and driving him 22 miles round trip so he could do this. I have to say it was kind of fun seeing our school team play; I haven't been to a game since I was in high school myself (grad. in 1971).
  
• Signed Nick up for bowling again. In fact, have to remember to take him and his ball back to the bowling alley after 4:30 this afternoon so he can be re-fitted to his ball since he's grown and the finger holes will need it. He also needs to make up a game as this past Tues was the first day and we didn't sign up until yesterday. He had bowled since he was about 5 but then took off since last summer. That and golf are the only two sports he likes to play - he doesn't do team-sports well. golf and bowling, while you can be on a team, your individual score is what you work on.
  

Houston, We Have A Problem

I don't think Houston can help, but we DO have a problem.

We have two bathrooms upstairs, the master and a second one. They back up to each other with the pipes/faucets in the common wall. The second bath is your typical one of bathtub width with the toilet right next to it. Over the last several weeks, it's been evident to Nick and I (Marty uses the master one so wouldn't know if we didn't tell him) that something's very wrong! The floor in front of the toilet, and perpendicular to the bathtub has had a bulge developing...as if a 2x4 were beginning to protrude. Yesterday, we decided it was time to determine why. I had/have all these horror images from a recent episode of "Disaster House" where the tub falls through the floor to the bathroom below. Also of note, is that when standing in certain areas of the tub, it's begun to squeak when you move around - this can't be a good sign.

Marty grabbed his tools and first thing removed the toilet, setting out into the hallway (with it's 20+ year old carpet-I'll come back to this) and then started pulling up the linoleum. This is how it looks. The faucet end of the tub is at the right, and toilet location is obvious. I had him cut the linoleum straight across from the edge of the sink cabinet. That's plain old ordinary plywood that was under that linoleum, and it's wet, very wet. Yeah, probably a bit of mold too but I don't panic over such things. Under the plywood, is the original (1966) ?asbestos?-laden tiles. Marty removed the bit of plywood that was around the toilet area and has ruled out any leaking from the toilet. So....where else could the water be coming from? A) the pipes in the bathrooms' common wall could be leaking and seeping under the tub. The floor does slant just a little so would be pooling on that left side. B) the bathtub drain could be eroded and leaking. The floor was still too wet this morning before Nick & I showered to determine if any new water added to the area after we showered...but interestingly, right along the side of the tub for a very evenly spaced 6-or-so inches it is wetter than when you get out further...but it's like someone set a ruler down and drew a line - straight across! C) on the other side of the left wall is my craft room. The back/exterior wall has a ~5' window 4' from the floor. It has leaked in the rain since we had vinyl windows put in 10? years ago, but I didn't think it ran down the wall...until last year when we had really heavy rains and I moved Marty's mom's old sewing machine (in it's carrier) and it was stuck to the carpet and underneath all black. We didn't investigate that further, just pulled the machine away and used towels at the window to sop up the water until Marty could go out and see if the window needed some caulking. With that in mind, did more water pour in some how within the walls and find it's path through to and under the tub? Seems a little much for me to think possible. There has also been two 2-drawer file cabinets in that corner of the craft room and moisture has been under them. I've moved them out of the corner and this is what I find.
(I don't know why Blogger turned this sideways :S ) If you tilt your head to the left, that would be the correct orientation with the common wall with the bathroom on your right. Or you can pretend you're looking over my desk and the common wall is to the back/top of the pic. Only in the very corner is there still some dampness. The black stain is where the old sewing machine had been. It may not be mold, but the black color of the cabinet dye that has leached off.

If it's the C option, then there's also the possibility that from wherever the water is entering to get into my craft room it's entering and traveling both down the exterior wall, and across the ceiling exiting near the ceiling light causing that ceiling leak! Hmmmm, perhaps we've narrowed the long-pursued ceiling leak cause. Would sure hate to tear out all the bathroom tile, tub etc, to find out it's a roof-related issue.

I wonder if any/all of this should be an insurance issue? And if we can't figure out where it's coming from, who do we call? A plumber? Roofer? I'm clueless at this point. We will likely have to remove the wallboard from the craft room side (so long design wall - for now) as it would be the least expensive for of 'de-struction' for now. We would at least be able to see if the water's from the exterior side, or from the bathroom side.

Oh, I almost forgot. That toilet having been set on the carpet in the hallway...well, Marty had flushed it prior to removing it and after turning the valve off, but it still had quite a bit of water in the tank, so having sat on the carpet, that water drained into the bowl and then drained onto the carpet, so the carpet was very wet, and there's a toilet-base shape from the gunk around the bottom of the toilet - nope, no one thought to protect the carpet. Good thing the carpet is so old I don't care, but ... even so...