Violet Marbles: DIY Home Improvement: Level- Bathroom

Mr. Marbles and I bought this house about 8 years ago. We were pregnant with YaYa (our oldest), not married, scared to death because our whole lives were changing very quickly, and only 1 month away from bringing a new life into this world when we finally, blessedly closed on our very first home together. At first, I really, really loved the place. I was so relieved to have somewhere to bring the baby home to, that I was looking at it with rose colored glasses. The first year was the most difficult. I was quite suddenly a first time Mom, a wife, and living away from the only home I'd ever known for the very first time. Seriously- we lived in the same house from when I was one until I married the hubster. I spent a little time away at college, but I don't really count it because I was so homesick I would sneak home every weekend. Well, now I had a baby so I couldn't really sneak home to my Momma like I had in college, but I was very sorely tempted to, several times. During all of those changes, the "new" started to wear off how we saw the house and it started to become increasingly clear that the people who had flipped this house had half-assed everything they "fixed." Some of it wasn't even half-assed, some of it was just barely putting a band-aid on the issue. So in the last 8 years, we've slowly been putting things right as they come up.

For example- to get rid of all of the old windows and things they pulled them into the back yard and burned them- catching half the yard and one old oak tree on fire, so when we first moved here, we had NO grass in the back yard. It was a barren black waste land of sad. They laid carpet throughout the entire house, BUT they didn't pay anyone to do it and skipped laying any padding beneath it to save money. Needless to say- we had to replace all of it after a few years. There's also several weird "patch" jobs going on around here, where instead of fixing a hole in the ceiling tile they just laid a scrap piece of wood over it and tacked it up over the hole, or how if you open the bottom hamper section of the closet in the bathroom, you could see the pipes from the bathtub going under to the crawl space beneath the house because they never closed it in. After a few interesting evenings where the local o'possum population decided to make themselves our new pet through THAT hole, we fixed that right up. (Yes. O'possums... with an "SSSSSS" it happened a total of 3 times, one of them made it all the way into the kitchen and the hubster and my sister's boy friend had to chase it out of the house with brooms and rakes while the kids and I hid in the bedroom.) We had to put a cap on the chimney because when we first moved in- there was a nest of baby birds down in there. We waited until they grew up and flew away, but until then every cable or pest control guy that came by thought our house was haunted due to the strange sounds they would make in there. *L* It has been quite a ride.

Recently, we started to notice that the floor in front of our shower in the "master" bathroom was feeling really soft and spongy. Even if you don't know a lot about flooring- that's a big red flag. The floor was obviously starting to rot, so we knew we were going to have to replace it. Unsure of how to get started, I called my Pop for some advice. Which he gave me- several times. Now, try to understand that I completely got what he was saying and Mr. Marbles and I were all ready to start tackling this project, but my father was losing sleep thinking up ways that we would do it wrong. He's just an OCD perfectionist that way. It wouldn't have mattered if Mr. Marbles had a degree in floor replacement- my Pop just couldn't handle the thought of anyone doing the job but himself. This is a man who acts like I've committed all seven deadly sins at once if I bring my car to a garage to get an oil change. I'm not exaggerating. He called yesterday morning to see what our plan was and halfway through my spiel he just interrupted and said, "You know what? I'll just come over. I'll be there in about 10 minutes." CRAP! So I had a minor panic attack and power cleaned the whole house. Yes, I still crave my parents' approval and want them to see that I'm still keeping my proverbial room clean and being a responsible adult, so sue me. I have the same panic attack no matter WHO is coming over. My worst fear is that someone will think I have a dirty house.

So he came over, and he and the Hubster starting taking out the floor. The damage was a bit worse than we thought because of course- the "master" house flippers had made some major errors. Underneath the linoleum which they laid without caulking or sealing properly, was a layer of ply wood which was severely water damaged from the linoleum not being laid right. Underneath THAT was ANOTHER layer of plywood and sub flooring which had also been water-damaged, but instead of pulling that out- they had just laid new plywood OVER it. My Pop had a few choice words about their IQ's. So all of that had to come out too. After they had removed all of the damaged floor, he was really wanting to pull the shower out so he could make sure there was no damage beneath it because he figured it wasn't level or leaking or something.

A few small things- Our "shower" is barely a closet. You can't wash your hair in there without knocking your elbows on the sides. It is TINY. Claustrophobic doesn't even begin to cover it. I pretty much never shower in there because I just don't fit, period. So when he says he wants to take out the shower, I immediately think- why even put that thing back in? And while we're at it- let's take out this ancient cabinet that is taking up all the room in our already small bathroom. I start yapping knowing how my Father's brain works- exactly like mine. All you have to do is plant the seed, and walk away. Don't get too gabby- just a few little sentences to plant the idea and then walk away- FAST! He might get mad at first, depending on what it is. He'll first be doubtful and be all- "Nah.... You can't do that because" and then he'll list every reason in the book about why that's a terrible idea. But then- Oh THEN the wheels start turning because now he feels challenged. No one can tell him you can't do this or that- he will HAVE to solve the puzzle and come up with what is usually a GENIUS solution. He went home for lunch. He came back with a list of all of my options complete with measurements and estimates on cost and the amount of work it would take.

?To sum up- We're gutting the bathroom this week- taking out the shower, the old cabinet and the rest of the flooring and the wall board that they didn't install properly and is now buckling on one wall. Then we're repainting everything and putting in a ... wait for it... BATH TUB!!!! with a small linen closet and a smaller sink, and of course- new flooring which started this whole shebang. I am so excited. I will be able to go in MY bathroom and take a bath or shower without having to kick the kids toys out of the way or have them coming in and out to brush their teeth or use the potty or whatever. The Hubster has to work this week, but my father is also a very impatient man (so now you know where I get that from), so he is coming over to do all the gutting this week any way. Then Mr. Marbles is on his seven days off (he works swing shifts and gets seven days off in a row every month)- so they will be putting everything back up in there. During this job they are also going to fix the giant holes in the wall that separates our bathroom from the kids' bathroom. The Master Flippers "fixed" that problem by hanging giant builder's mirrors over it, so if you take down our bathroom mirror, and the kids' mirror- you can see through the wall. Thankfully- that will be fixed as well! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Here's a few before pics for ya. I can't wait to show the afters!

Source: http://violetmarbles.blogspot.com/2013/01/diy-home-improvement-level-bathroom.html

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