We have been doing school through the summer to make up the time we took off for the move. We have pretty much always schooled year round. It’s easier than restarting after a long summer break. Something always interrupts our schedule, so I plan to school everyday then when something comes up I can take off for it and just trust that it will all work out in the end and it usually does.
I had one small project that I was needing to get to this summer. There were a few loose tile in the kid’s bathroom and it was smelling moldy in there. My plan was that while the two go-go kids were at youth camp, I would replace a few tile.
Monday morning I started on the tile. I found a leak behind the tile. It was in the connection from the pipe to the spout. Easy enough to fix with some plumber’s tape but I had to take out quite a few tile where the water had been soaking the drywall.
Mike came home and saw how many tile I had to take out and said something like.. “Wow, look how easy it would be to pull out the tub now.” The tub coating had been scoured out and there was a couple of rusty spots in it.
I called around and try to find someone to come repaint it. I wasn’t too happy with the paint job we had done in FL. I was unable to reach anyone and they never called me back.
I asked Mike several times if he was sure he wanted to take out the tub. We had never replaced a tub before. It was a little scary to me, but we still had two boys at home that could help with the brute strength we needed.
I thought for a long time and tried to remember how sore I get when doing big projects like this. I wanted to remember and talk myself out of agreeing to do it, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember. It must be like forgetting the pain of child birth. Boy did I remember a day or two later.
In order to get the tub out we had to take out the toilet and part of the wall. I didn’t mind too much because a lot of it and some of the wood behind it had been damaged by the leak anyway. The boys looked up a video on YouTube to learn how to take out the toilet.
We decided to take out the vanity while we were at it. It had been previously damaged by a different leak and the sink/counter top was ugly. This is what we found behind it.
I am so glad we were able to find and get rid of it all. It smells so much better in there now.
Ta da. We have a new tub. It wasn’t easy but we finally got it.
No more mold. Yeah! I bought a sheet of the new mold resistant dry wall. I discovered a new tool through YouTube, too. A dry wall saw. It’s pretty nifty.
Wall destroyed and all we decided to strip the painted/bubbling wall paper. This was the worst part of the whole project so far. A bunch of the drywall paper came off with it. Made a huge mess. I am not good with joint compound and if I never have to skim another wall, I will be so happy. It took me days and days of skimming and sanding.
Our lowest day was the day that Mike decided to try and take out the old tub faucet handle. It was so corroded that the valve broke off and we had to call a plumber. Our plumbing is so out dated that he had to replace a whole big part. Sweating pipes is a little out of our league. The new plumbing is pressurized. When someone flushes the toilet it won’t change the temperature of your shower. Pretty cool. Right?
A floor tile popped out while replacing the tub, so we decided to pay the boys take it out. It was cracked and we were needing to replace the laminate flooring in the hall, too because of an air conditioner drain leak that we had a the beginning of the summer that warped the boards. One boy went a little crazy with the hammer and did this to my bran new tub. 🙁
We told him that for his penance that he had to re-enact the crime for my blog. This is his interpretation of an re-enactment. He said he wanted to add to the drama but I think wanted to remain nameless.
See my blue walls? We are working on tile now.
J
