Saturday, August 27, 2011

From Happy to YUCK!!

In my mad rush to get everything done before my move in date, my day started out great. Last night I drug my tired self to Lowes and picked up the dryer vent, so when I got to the house I started there. Though it was extremely hot outside in the sun, I removed the old vent that had openings all around it where pests and other bugs could enter the house - see the before picture:


I removed the old vent, rusted screws and all to reveal a hole full of lint all inside the walls where the previous occupants didn't use the vent system with the metal duct work:


Then, I worked on cleaning out all that lint and the entire area up including caulking the old nail (yes nail!) and screw holes, plus I evened out the edges to get the new vent installed. Finally I caulked around the entire thing to seal it off nicely from pests and the elements:

Ok, so I was pleased with that project though it took longer than I felt it was going to when I got started, because that looks pretty simple...and I'm still not sure the metal duct work isn't too long inside the house that attaches to the dryer but I think it will be right. We'll see....

Then, I had the bright idea that I'd go start scraping all that blackened, hardened, nasty, old caulk off the bathtub in order to be ready for the new floor, as it's still just a subfloor in there and the toilet is still in the dining room though it's clean as can be (thanks Mama!!).

I started scraping and some of it came off typically and other parts of it was tough as nails, but I got to the back corner and it felt weird. Why did my scraper go through the loosened caulk through the "wall" and "tub surround"??? Hmmm well, quite possibly because someone used a 3 inch thickness of caulk to fill in the gap between the top of the tub and the wall! Peering up under the tub surround revealed more issues - mold. So I realized that even though I was going to redo the bathroom at a later time, it couldn't wait. I started pulling off the tub surround. This revealed more mold, crumbling sheetrock and get this....a piece of wood going from the bottom of the window to the tub...yes wood...which was guess what?? Rotting. ARGH!!! I have like 4 days til I move. And, now I have a falling apart bathroom that needs to have the sheetrock replaced on the back wall. And, really the entire room should be done which I planned to do later - not now. However, it's going to be now instead. A quick call to my handyman and he'll be there on Monday. If I can remove all the sheetrock and have all that cleaned out, it will be cheaper. Soooooo tomorrow looks like I'm tearing walls down out of the bathroom and taking those down to the studs...


When it seems like I take a step forward, more things happen. This is something that would be done within a few months anyway and I know it will allow me to still have entire use of the bathroom versus pulling everything back out and demolishing the room later, but still I had reallllllly hoped to not have to do anything huge right now. Time is of the essence, as is money due to all that's going out right now and all that's still got to go out. lol it's ok though...one thing at a time, one thing at a time, one thing at a time...I think lol :)

6 comments:

  1. that is one thing you should count on when doing any construction project. one step forward, two steps back. they say always be ready for surprises, especially in older homes. you never know what you are going to find. sorta like that box of chocolates...................

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  2. Ha ha ha! Gosh Rebecca you are so right! I'm down to 4 days before move-in so I'm a bit panicked lol but yes that box of chocolates sure is tricky!!!

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  3. green board is for bathrooms not regular sheet rock - but you can get trim for the edge I bet you will tile later - what a cute vintage tub

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  4. It really is - it's oversized and has this great decorative touch to it...and you know those kind aren't like the newer fiberglass ones..when there's warm water in there, it actually stays warm...they are marvelous!!

    I researched the greenboard and there's alot of controversy on tiling on the board, I'll be sure to use cement board around the tub (5 feet up, as that's the height of those board) plus I'm going to tile that area at some point. Right now the main thing is the walls being up lol sooooo much to do!! :)

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  5. Oh my! You poor thing!! But, you know...as you've said, at least this is one thing you won't have to mess with later once you're all settled in. I bet that handyman is just clicking his heels when he sees your name on the caller ID!! LOL

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  6. *sigh* I was wrong Mel - I'm still dealing with it lol I was living here over 24 hours before finally getting the toilet installed and working. It was the middle of the night and I woke up to have to drive to a convenient store...this was not a pretty time at all. lol and to this day, I still can't take a tub bath...only sink baths lol hopefully tomorrow - I soooo hope! What a horrible time for a holiday weekend lol!

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