So last time I wrote, I was getting ready to go to Maryville for Rhiannon's college thing and my mini vacation, and the plumbing issue was getting worse...
The mini vacation was actually really great. It was an awesome room, and I got to move at my own pace. I didn't have to wait on someone else, or hurry to let someone else into the bathroom or constantly check to see if anyone else left anything or whatever. It was just me and my stuff. I explored the town, checked out a few stores, had a great dinner, and picked up some things to cook in the kitchenette for a late snack since I figured I'd stick close to my normal sleep schedule. I had an awesome bubble bath in the tub. The only bad thing was that the wifi went out in the middle of a netflix movie I was watching while in the tub (the laptop wasn't near the tub, I'm not dumb).
It was no big deal really. I waited a while then called the front desk and they restarted it, but it kept going off and on all night, so I decided to watch TV and stay off the grid. That was nice.
Monday morning, I checked out, nice and slowly, organizing my things and packing things as I used them like toothbrush etc. It was so weird to only worry about my own things at a hotel LOL. Picked Rhiannon up from the college and listened to her tales of the overnight stay. Apparently everyone there watches Walking Dead lol.
We drove to her eye Dr appt and she got her first pair of contacts and had lunch at Steak & Shake. Then we finally headed home to return the rental car. I had somewhat of another relaxing evening since I didn't have to go to work Monday night.
Over the rest of the week, we had the landlord out here a couple days working on the sewer line. He finally got the clog cleared. I cleaned out the main bathroom tub - wow that was gross - and we could finally take baths and showers again. Thursday, Christopher had a Dr appt with his new internist, and was told to lose weight and got a new medication.
I kept wanting to get started on the master bathroom floor, but never really felt compelled to do it alone. I did finally rip out the laminate flooring and the soaking wet underlayment, and I cut out the big piece of carpet in front of the door that was soaking wet.
This is it with the toilet gone and the laminate still in place... (I warn you it's gross.)
The longer it went, the more annoyed I got. I was off Friday and Saturday, but Friday was spent paying bills and grocery shopping, then cooking dinner etc. I kept thinking Saturday would be a good day since we were both off work, but then I was reminded... I had to take Rhiannon to Johnson City to a follow up eye exam and Christopher had plans to hang out with his friends at one of their houses all day. So, I dropped him off, and took Rhi and Zoe to the mall, an hour away. While we were there waiting, I decided to see if I could get an appt at the same time since I just got the post card reminder it's time for an exam and new glasses. So, we both got exams, and I get to have progressive lenses.. oh boy. At least I won't have to take off my glasses to read my dang phone. They have to send those off to be made, but since Zoe's glasses had broken, and the insurance had rolled around to get her a new pair, I went ahead and got her some glasses, and waited the hour for those. They're really cute on her!
Rhiannon got a new set of monthly contacts as well as dailies. She's not a big fan of any of them so far. I think they'll likely be just for chorus concerts or something. So, then we had to hurry home because Rhi was late for a date, then I had to pick up Faelyn and her boyfriend at the Japanese restaurant they'd walked to while we were gone. Finally got home with time to pop some pork chops in the oven and watch some TV and try to relax.
It wasn't easy to relax though. I was annoyed that another whole day had gone by... a whole WEEK since the toilet was ripped out. I was also really annoyed that the old toilet was still sitting in my master tub.... yeah. So I got started on ripping out the old rotten floor and deciding where to cut and what to keep. It did not come up as easily as I had hoped or expected it to, and I was tired. Anyway, ended up in a big fight with Christopher, though I'm not sure he knew it was a fight. He seemed confused. I even slept on the couch most of the night, but I don't think he knows that either.
So, today, Faelyn had a bunch of friends over, so I didn't get to sleep past 1pm, but that was okay. I decided I had to get back to it today. I reassessed where the cuts needed to be made, and things went a lot better. I sent one of the kids down to my neighbor's house to see if she had a prybar, and she did! That made a HUGE difference, and I was able to breeze through most of the demo after that. While I was taking a break, she came up to bring a couple of saws. I actually already had one of each, but she left them anyway, just in case, then she decided to give us a bunch of plywood, and other pieces left over from when she did her own bathroom remodel. In fact, the piece of plywood she gave us is the right size, so I can take back the one we bought and get that money back! The biggest obstacle I've come across is getting the old flange off the pipe. It is broken, which actually caused this whole problem to start with. Seriously, if you're replacing a toilet and you can't bolt it down securely on both sides, FIX IT. It will cause way more damage than you can imagine. Laura, my neighbor, decided to take a crack at the flange and cut off most of it a power hand band saw. I've never used one before and it looks hella dangerous!
Anyway, this is how it looks currently.
This really is an improvement... really.
But I do still have to deal with this... (sorry also gross)
and this...
That duct tape is actually holding the sink in one piece. There's a huge crack there. I have a new sink to put in there, but figured there wasn't much point til the bathroom was done.
I will hopefully be back soon with an update and an AFTER photo... or at least more work actually done.
The mini vacation was actually really great. It was an awesome room, and I got to move at my own pace. I didn't have to wait on someone else, or hurry to let someone else into the bathroom or constantly check to see if anyone else left anything or whatever. It was just me and my stuff. I explored the town, checked out a few stores, had a great dinner, and picked up some things to cook in the kitchenette for a late snack since I figured I'd stick close to my normal sleep schedule. I had an awesome bubble bath in the tub. The only bad thing was that the wifi went out in the middle of a netflix movie I was watching while in the tub (the laptop wasn't near the tub, I'm not dumb).
It was no big deal really. I waited a while then called the front desk and they restarted it, but it kept going off and on all night, so I decided to watch TV and stay off the grid. That was nice.
Monday morning, I checked out, nice and slowly, organizing my things and packing things as I used them like toothbrush etc. It was so weird to only worry about my own things at a hotel LOL. Picked Rhiannon up from the college and listened to her tales of the overnight stay. Apparently everyone there watches Walking Dead lol.
We drove to her eye Dr appt and she got her first pair of contacts and had lunch at Steak & Shake. Then we finally headed home to return the rental car. I had somewhat of another relaxing evening since I didn't have to go to work Monday night.
Over the rest of the week, we had the landlord out here a couple days working on the sewer line. He finally got the clog cleared. I cleaned out the main bathroom tub - wow that was gross - and we could finally take baths and showers again. Thursday, Christopher had a Dr appt with his new internist, and was told to lose weight and got a new medication.
I kept wanting to get started on the master bathroom floor, but never really felt compelled to do it alone. I did finally rip out the laminate flooring and the soaking wet underlayment, and I cut out the big piece of carpet in front of the door that was soaking wet.
This is it with the toilet gone and the laminate still in place... (I warn you it's gross.)
The longer it went, the more annoyed I got. I was off Friday and Saturday, but Friday was spent paying bills and grocery shopping, then cooking dinner etc. I kept thinking Saturday would be a good day since we were both off work, but then I was reminded... I had to take Rhiannon to Johnson City to a follow up eye exam and Christopher had plans to hang out with his friends at one of their houses all day. So, I dropped him off, and took Rhi and Zoe to the mall, an hour away. While we were there waiting, I decided to see if I could get an appt at the same time since I just got the post card reminder it's time for an exam and new glasses. So, we both got exams, and I get to have progressive lenses.. oh boy. At least I won't have to take off my glasses to read my dang phone. They have to send those off to be made, but since Zoe's glasses had broken, and the insurance had rolled around to get her a new pair, I went ahead and got her some glasses, and waited the hour for those. They're really cute on her!
 |
| Sorry it's blurry, this is a selfie she took, I found on my camera. |
Rhiannon got a new set of monthly contacts as well as dailies. She's not a big fan of any of them so far. I think they'll likely be just for chorus concerts or something. So, then we had to hurry home because Rhi was late for a date, then I had to pick up Faelyn and her boyfriend at the Japanese restaurant they'd walked to while we were gone. Finally got home with time to pop some pork chops in the oven and watch some TV and try to relax.
It wasn't easy to relax though. I was annoyed that another whole day had gone by... a whole WEEK since the toilet was ripped out. I was also really annoyed that the old toilet was still sitting in my master tub.... yeah. So I got started on ripping out the old rotten floor and deciding where to cut and what to keep. It did not come up as easily as I had hoped or expected it to, and I was tired. Anyway, ended up in a big fight with Christopher, though I'm not sure he knew it was a fight. He seemed confused. I even slept on the couch most of the night, but I don't think he knows that either.
So, today, Faelyn had a bunch of friends over, so I didn't get to sleep past 1pm, but that was okay. I decided I had to get back to it today. I reassessed where the cuts needed to be made, and things went a lot better. I sent one of the kids down to my neighbor's house to see if she had a prybar, and she did! That made a HUGE difference, and I was able to breeze through most of the demo after that. While I was taking a break, she came up to bring a couple of saws. I actually already had one of each, but she left them anyway, just in case, then she decided to give us a bunch of plywood, and other pieces left over from when she did her own bathroom remodel. In fact, the piece of plywood she gave us is the right size, so I can take back the one we bought and get that money back! The biggest obstacle I've come across is getting the old flange off the pipe. It is broken, which actually caused this whole problem to start with. Seriously, if you're replacing a toilet and you can't bolt it down securely on both sides, FIX IT. It will cause way more damage than you can imagine. Laura, my neighbor, decided to take a crack at the flange and cut off most of it a power hand band saw. I've never used one before and it looks hella dangerous!
Anyway, this is how it looks currently.
This really is an improvement... really.
But I do still have to deal with this... (sorry also gross)
and this...
I will hopefully be back soon with an update and an AFTER photo... or at least more work actually done.