The Powder Bath Saga: Part 1

We have a basement apartment that we hope to rent. The ceiling in the apartment living room had clearly been repaired (poorly) from a leak, at least twice before. It didn't look great but it was patched. One evening we were doing some fixer uppers down there when I noticed something... something dreadful. The ceiling looked... worse. It almost looked like it was sagging. That fear was confirmed when I opened a cupboard nearby and the door wouldn't open all the way. I reached up and the ceiling was wet. I swore.

We had a plumber come out to confirm that we did, in fact, have a leak. He poked a hole in the ceiling and a lake released. The toilet in the powder bath above was loose and leaking. Wonderful. What's more is that the plumber said that since the powder bath sat on slate tile it can never truly be level so no matter what we do to fix it, it will always wiggle itself loose and eventually leak. He replaced the wax ring and shimmed the toilet but couldn't warranty his work, because guaranteed the problem would come back. He showed that the past owners had tried to raise the toilet, shim, use bazaar rubber seals and caulk, but nothing would solve our problem until we removed the slate because with it, the toilet would never be even. (Hence the evidence of multiple ceiling patches. This is a chronic problem.) Super wonderful. 

 (Um, how incredible is that wallpaper?! You can't just buy that stuff. Sneak peek: it's on the ceiling too)

 

Shimmed toilet

 

Beautiful and uneven slate

 
We decided that instead of trying a few "quick fixes", we wanted to just do it right, take out the slate and put in tile. First Seth removed all the damaged drywall from the ceiling. This revealed lots of lovely black mold. He had to keep cutting further back to get all the mold out.

Seth wasn't about the fix the ceiling until he fixed the bathroom and was sure it was fixed. While the boy and I were out of town Seth took out the toilet started removing tile- with the help of Jeff on speed dial and many youtube videos. Unlike the salon tile Seth removed in August, this beautiful slate tile came off in sheets and small chips, much more difficult though now we have a box of slate shards to decorate a planter or make some art project. I got to watch his progress while out of town via dropbox uploads from his cell phone. At times and out of context it was a little scary.

 

 Looks like the sledge hammer got a little out of hand...

The wild eyes of a man left alone with a sledgehammer and a vague idea of what he's doing.

Under the mortar was a layer of linoleum. So out that came too.

 

 It was at this point that the stench increased. Under the linoleum layer was a layer of particle board screwed into the subfloor. The particle board was wet, swollen, and moldy- so out it came. Scary question: how long had it been that way? Also the plastic bracket thing that held the toilet in place was not just cracked but completely crumbling and the bolts were rusted and cracking off- so out it came (Sensing a theme?) It seemed the longer Seth was on the project the more grateful we were that we decided to take it all up instead of trying yet another generation of quick fix.

Finally the subfloor. It was wet but not water logged or moldy. Seth sprayed bleach and put a fan on it for 24 hours. He was finally done tearing out.

Oh, em. Except the trim splintered and cracked apart when he tried to remove it. So- that came out too. NOW he's done tearing out.

The Powder Bath Saga: Part 2

After the subfloor had dried Seth laid down new non-mold and waterlogged particle board to even the tile with the neighboring slate. Well, as even as it can be with slate that is uneven by nature. By the way, the stench left as the mold layers were removed. Thank goodness.

We debated on tile choice for a while. Do we try to find a tile that matches as close as we can to the slate color or something different. We ultimately decided to do a pattern completely different and found little black and white octagon tiles for our tiny powder bath. Seth measured and laid out the tile (and measured again). And when he ran out of black squares he snuck two white ones in under the toilet and convinced himself that no one would know. Well, now we all know.

 We ALL know.

Seth breaking in his new tile saw. (About the same price to rent one). Happy man with new tools.

Next came mortar. Then came grout. Dark grout. Beautiful but messy. HGTV makes it look a lot easier than it is. Seth got new trim, with a price. He could get the same height in a different patter or the same pattern slightly taller. He got the taller and successfully trimmed it down. Totally sucessful.

And then.. and then... he is done! He reattached the toilet with a new wax seal and support thing. We even flushed it and no water came waterfalling into the basement apartment. In just ten days he tackled all of this madness with no prior experience. This was a great project for Seth to get his feet wet on a LOT of homeownership. We're thankful for Jeff being his on-star help and the abundance of information on youtube and I'm thankful for Seth's determination. 

It appears that the chronic leak is now fixed, never to return. Now I'm anxious to fix up this bathroom to honor all of Seth's efforts. I want to paint the cupboard and the beat up pocket door a glassy black and definitely remove that epic wall paper. I'm thinking black and white stripes. But patience. Slow and steady wins the race... First we need to patch the ceiling in the apartment and get a renter.

The Deck: Splinters to Splended

The deck was one of the selling points of the house for us. From the moment we saw the pictures of it in the listing online we were consumed with thoughts of parties and dinners outside.

(Picture from the listing)

But first we had to take care of that splintery mess.

Every time Eli played out there I'd end up picking splinters out of his hands, top of his feet, toes, and bum. He was very patient with that process.Who knows the last time the deck had been sanded, stained, or in any way taken care of. It needed our love, and hopefully before winter.

First Seth and Jeff fixed the broken gutter that was pouring directly on the deck and down the brick wall. It was a relatively quick fix and a huge relief since it was causing a ton of damage to the brick and the wood planks. In fact, it took almost no time for one of us to step through a damaged plank- a victim of the gutter. Seth had to climb under the deck- feeling real or imagined spiders and crud creep all over him- to screw in some new supports. Words were said. Hopefully we'll have some time before other planks need to be fixed.

Next Seth spent a Saturday sanding the deck and collecting an impressive bucket of saw dust. Eli particularly liked helping to hose off the mess and use the shop vac to blow off the leaves and clean up.

 

 (Let's take a moment to love my hot red fall vine leaves)

A week or so later Seth and his cousin, Kevin, spent almost four gallons of stain and one afternoon staining the deck. It was the most beautiful October day you could dream up. After some experimenting, they perfected their technique and it came together pretty quickly. I am so thankful Seth had a helper- who was more useful than three-year-old Eli and pregnant me.

It looks so beautiful and is no longer a danger to little toes. Perhaps in the spring we'll tackle the railing (obviously tricky with the vines curled around them) and the pergola. In the mean time we hung our patio lights (we need twice as many) and I bought this fantastic beat up chandelier at the DI for three bucks. We need to rewire it, but once it's done it will be the perfect addition to our outdoor space... and someday a grand and long table too. Baby steps.

 But we did get this done in time for our first party, one week later. Our 8th Annual Pumpkin Party!

The Sandbox

We knew that once Fall classes started for Seth (and my belly got bigger) our progress on the house would seriously slow- hence the house madness that was August/September. We've done lots of small projects since then, some I've managed to photographed. All I'll put up... eventually.

For today I thought I'd show off Seth's mad skills and showcase the sandbox he and Eli (or maybe just he) built one September Saturday.  It has a lid that folds out into two bench seats. Seth installed it just outside the kitchen window so I can watch and hear Eli play with ease. Seth schemes of one day incorporating a grand tree house in that space with an escape slide and draw bridge. In the meantime, I love that sandbox- and so does Eli!

Seth based his plans off of ones like these online, making a few small changes. They took one trip to Home Depot, filled a cart full of lumber and fence slats, and then assembled, sanded, and Thompson's Water Sealed the whole thing in our garage all in one day. There it sat "drying" for a week and a half.

(Such a great helper)

We bought a few bags of play sand at Lowes- and were totally disappointed in the product. We've happily purchased play sand before but this stuff was rocky and gravely so we decided that instead of paying for more of the bagged stuff (which we needed a LOT more of since the amount we bought was... eh um.... not near enough) we'd call a guy that was selling construction sand in bulk, just up the road. One call. We asked to buy one cubic yard. He said help yourself, don't bother paying, and tell the kiddos to have fun in the sandbox. Hard to beat free so Seth spread a tarp out in the back of the fourrunner and shoveled the free- slightly less gravely sand than the expensive "play sand"- into the back. And just like that, Eli had his sandbox!

The First Fifteen Days

In these first fifteen days since we got the keys to our Mountain House we have accomplished many things with the help of Kenny and Danny on our first Saturday and Liz and Jeff on the next Thursday through Saturday. May this serve as a record of our progress. There is still a lot to do, and that can be overwhelming, but I have to acknowledge what we've gotten accomplished. 

The Salon turned Playroom

On the main level just next to the kitchen they had a room set up as a hair salon. We have no need for such a space so we started the transformation from salon to play room. 

 BEFORE:

Seth tore out the tile and scraped the leveling compound so it would be, ironically, level for the carpet install. He also cleaned out drifts of hairballs from the air vents, cabinets, and sink. It was disgusting and his only comment was to say, very gravely “Many... many haircuts happened here.” 

Seth took out the hair sink without smashing it so we could give it to my sister-in-law, Brickell, who actually does do hair. Apparently this was an act of true family love because it was infinitely more difficult taking out in one piece rather than just sawzall-ing the thing apart. When Dad visited on day three he helped Seth cap and solder the piping. They installed drywall where the sink was and patched two other spots where drywall was missing or where the previous owners had a mirror- or something- glued on and when they ripped it out large chunks of wall came along too. Seth patched many, many holes in that room.

DURING:

On day seven we had carpet professionally installed. Next we took the cabinet off the wall and installed it in the laundry room, firstly because it was not that useful in the playroom but more importantly because it was a danger to humanity. As proof, the carpet guy stood up into it and cut a deep gash in his forehead. Out the cabinet came.

Still to do:

Paint (obviously), fix the missing chair rail and crown molding, replace the light fixture, and decorate.

 NOW:

The Entertainment Unit Removal

In the living room there was a large corner built-in entertainment unit. It took up a ton of space, wasn’t that useful in an age of flat screen tvs, and wasn’t our style. We debated whether we’d remove it because of the added cost of recarpeting the room but in the end we decided that it was worth it.

BEFORE:

Seth decided to save as much of the real wood as possible to reuse for other projects- which turned out to be laughable because all that was worth saving was a small pile of trim while the rest of cheap particle board. 

DURING:

 (real wood pile on the left,     cheap & useless boards on right)

Taking it apart also ended up revealing more mysteries. There were strange large sections of drywall missing, a bit of insulation that was charred from a diy electrical job gone bad, and so on. It became clear that they stained the unit in place as there are stain marks all along the wall, ceiling, AND our brick fireplace and hearth. Also, you could see the wall through the middle shelf so to solve this problem they sloppily applied stain directly to the wall. The nice looking mantle was clearly too long to accommodate the unit so they just sliced the edge off. But the biggest offense came when Seth pulled out the last of the cabinet and shrieked in horror at the discovery that the previous owners had cut our brick- and not even nicely! We had previously puzzled over the fireplace not being centered in the brick wall but now it was clear. About a foot of brick was wildly chopped off leaving jogs and zigzags and- surprise surprise- more drywall was removed (Missing drywall is a theme for this house). Since the unit was partially built over the brick anyway, the only thing we could figure is they wanted to put a speaker further back into the cabinet. Regardless, it is an unfathomable and unforgivable choice to cut beautiful brick. 

Seth and Dad put in new drywall and installed outlets. I painted four coats of Kilz paint over the various stain spots- and it can still be seen. We ripped up the carpet, replaced the floor vent covers, and removed the basement door just in time to have carpet installed the next day. The basement door took some convincing and fixes from Seth and Jeff but it eventually conceded to be rehung. Now we are the first people to ever spill on this carpet. I declared with victory that I knew for sure that no animal- or human- has ever peed on this flooring. Such a luxury.

Still to do:

Paint, repair crown molding and baseboard, build new mantle, build DVD cabinets, sweep the chimney, and hire mason to ::sniff sniff:: fix our brick and rebuild the hearth, and decorate.

NOW:

Kitchen: Journey from Nasty to Sanitary

My major task was scrubbing out the kitchen. I spent days washing out the fridge, scrapping grease from the cabinet sides and walls, and scrubbing the tile grout. However, my biggest project was inside the cabinets. I scrapped out 30 years of nasty crap along with upwards of four layers of gross contact paper. I then bleached the cupboard if necessary and painted the inside with Kilz paint. If ever I thought I was overreacting with how bad the cabinets were I just reviewed the “before” picture and then felt much better about the progress I was making. 

BEFORE:

 NOW:

Seth and Jeff also replaced the kitchen faucet that leaked like a fire hydrant, moved the cabinet above the fridge to take back the useless space, and installed the dishwasher- which turned out to be a much more difficult task than anticipated. The slate tile and overhang from the tile countertop made the opening to get into the dishwasher space impossibly tight. We’re still not sure how Jeff did it, but he somehow motivated the dishwasher in place. It was decided that if there is ever a leak we’re going to cut an access panel from the other side. We’ll never remove that dishwasher again.

Still to do in the kitchen:

Paint, scrape obnoxious vinyl lettering off walls, paint cupboards, and build pantry. Get new counter tops, backsplash, and cabinets (Just kidding on those last ones. I'm dreaming of projects of "someday". Eh hem. Back to "near future"). Get new kitchen table, dining room rug, barstools and window coverings. And of course, decorate. 

Other assorted tasks we tackled:

-Scrubbed bathroom cabinets, removed decades of contact paper, and bleached out mold.

-Fixed powder bath faucet so now it has cold AND hot water.

-Replaced shower nozzle in master bath so the shower head no longer hits me in the nose.

-Deep cleaned entire house- which it badly needed. For years this house has so badly neglected and ignored. We also shampooed all the carpets.

-We literally shoveled out the garage. To my great regret I did not get a before picture of the garage. There were piles of old food, garbage, dirt, and leaves everywhere. They left tons of crap in the house, but mostly in the garage. We sold the beat up filing cabinets on craigslist

They also left behind an old chest freezer, which they just unplugged and never emptied so inside was six inches of black death sludge. Kenny shoveled out the solids and then dumped the rest and rinsed it out. He also gave us the tip that Rocky Mountain Power will buy old fridges and freezers from you if they at least hum when plugged in. To our excitement, it hummed and we earned $25 for Kenny’s effort.

-Seth, with Jeff’s help, dumped the basketball stand that was filled to the brim with fire ants. Our generous neighbors, Megan and Wade, are remodeling their house after a fire but lucky for us they have a large dumpster in their driveway and they said we could use it as much as we want. We definitely have used it a lot more than we planned and we are eternally grateful.

-Cut back the nine foot hedge. Well, actually Dad did this while we were in church without our knowledge and then sent me a text that simply said “You’re hedge will grow back.” We understood once we got home. Seth took four trips of hedge shrapnel to the dumpster and we uncovered this beautiful established in 1977 plaque that no one knew existed. 

-Rekeyed house and our basement apartment

-Changed AC and furnace filters for the first time this decade

-Shoveled out piles of rotten wood scraps all over the yard, better known as "the spider farm".

-Seth and Jeff extended the gutter so it didn’t just dump on the porch- which it’s been doing for some time judging by the mold and loose bricks on the side of the house and the warped and loose wood planks in the deck corner.

-Jeff crawled on my roof and learned that it is incredibly and terrifyingly steep and that the swamp cooler does work if we can get a water source up there and figure out what that clicking sound is. 

-Eli was a champ and spent these days building train tracks, "helping" daddy sweep, and being my shadow when he was convinced that he was going to be left behind, or something.

Also, he loved stealing our goggles so much that I ended up buying him another pair on one of our dozen trips to Lowes.

Oh yeah, and then on day 9 we moved our things in. 

With the help of Seth, Jeff, Kenny, Anita, Rebekah, her friend Devon, Muscle Mike, and two helpers from the EQ we loaded the 26 foot truck at 5pm at the rental in Provo and then in Orem we were helped by seven of our new neighborhood friends.  It all went so smoothly that by 7:30pm we were eating pizza in the new house with everything moved in, beds set up, and washer and dryer installed.

Now, at least 85% of the boxes are unpacked and put away, furniture is mostly assembled, nothing is decorated, and we still have ever growing lists of stuff to do but every night as we lay in bed and the canyon breeze blows through our bedroom windows we tell ourselves that the house is ours and it's only going to get better. 

Also, as I write this post I’m overwhelmed by how much we got accomplished in two weeks thanks to lots of hard work and wonderful family helping. Also, I have a better understanding of why I’m so tired.