What kind of fool fixes up a house for the sole purpose of selling at a better price, and then buys a “new” 77-year-old house which needs pretty much all of the same updates? A fool called “Cordelia’s Mom” – of course.
Poor Teddy Rosalie remembers sitting in the empty hole for the medicine chest when the last house was under renovation (check the old story, here), and now I made her do it all over again.
(For those of you too lazy to click through to the prior post, here’s the photo from our 2015 bathroom renovation. Poor Teddy Rosalie – but she’s such a good sport!)
The plumber came right on time this morning to install the shutoff valve in the downstairs bathroom. While he was here, I had him do the prep work for the rest of the plumbing that will be required in connection with replacement of the sink, vanity and toilet. His only comment when he pulled out the old vanity was, “Boy, this really was a custom vanity!” It didn’t sound like a compliment.
It was quite interesting the way the heating ductwork had been run under that old vanity, instead of stopping at the wall like most ductwork does. The general contractor is going to have to deal with that.
Thanks heavens for home improvement financing. Rather than tapping out a good portion of my remaining cash, I was able to set up a low-interest payment plan for only $37 a month, which will allow me to have all the lead pipes in the house replaced, a new laundry tub faucet installed, an outside faucet installed, a new toilet supplied (and warranted) by the plumber, and installation of the vanity I purchased. It may be a bit extravagant to have all this work done now, considering I’m currently unemployed, but at least I’ll have a liveable house and no plumbing issues. And the new fence guy will have water to mix his concrete when the time comes.
As soon as the plumber left, I ran upstairs to use the half-bath. Upon flushing the toilet, there was a horrendous BOOM! Then I turned on the sink faucet – dark brown sludge poured out, and then the water stopped completely, both hot and cold. Fortunately, the plumber was still sitting in his truck in our driveway, so I ran out in my sneakers and skated (literally!) to his vehicle to ask him to come back in. Turned out the aerator on the faucet had become plugged. Most likely, the booming toilet was simply due to air in the lines. Scared the hell out of me in any event!
Now that the water in the rest of the house is back to normal, the general contractor has started on the bathroom renovations. As I write this post, he is busy installing new subflooring – apparently, the old floor was uneven and warped due to water damage at some point.
Lots of sawing, banging, and scraping. Poor Puppy Cody is again barricaded upstairs. But the contractor says today will be a short day.
Tomorrow, he says, is going to be a very busy day. Can’t wait.
Hopefully, this is all going to be worth it in the end.
May your day be more peaceful than mine.
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
All’s well soon, CM! Your workers seem to be A-OK this time around, knock on wood.
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Well, it’s the same crew we had do the bathroom at the last house, so I have a good deal of confidence in them.
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I’m glad you have good people, CM.
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i went through five months of renovations one year. Two new bathrooms, new floors and all sort of new plumbing. It was living in hell. We were at one point looking at not having a working toilet for one night but I said no way..not with my personal plumbing being what it is. I came home one night and the crew was standing in the basement with buckets from a pipe they were working on breaking. What a mess, but,….. so worth it in the then. My hubby has his own pissoir right off his man cave and the upstairs biffy is gorgeous. Now I am looking again at having work done this winter… crazy but worth it. And I know it is worrisome since I have retired and my new income is not in place yet. But hell, its only money.
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You and I seem to be going through the same life at the moment! During the renovations on our last house, we did, in fact, need to go to a motel (with the dog) because we didn’t have a working bathroom nor access to the kitchen. Very annoying.
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May your contractors not find very many hidden problems that will cost you extra, as they work on the renovation. It seems inevitable, though, that they will find at least a few. They always do.
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Knock on wood, so far there’s been nothing outrageous. But then, this time we’re totally gutting that room and replacing everything, so it should all work out.
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Thinking of you…………… remember when we had a contractor in for a leaking pipe under our concrete floor. He left us with a huge hole in the bathroom and no running water to either sink or bath. At least the loo worked, and we only had the one!
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Could be worse. We do have a half-bath upstairs, and we are able to use the tub & shower in the bathroom that’s being renovated. But who knows what might yet happen? Fingers crossed!
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It will be so worth it!!
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I know it will be, but I still worry.
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I know we all do, well done you catching the plumber before he left. 💜😁
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Hang in there, CM! Renovation can be very noisy, messy and stressful. Sending hugs to you, Puppy Cody and Teddy Rosalie. (,,^・⋏・^,,)
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“Renovation can be very noisy, messy and stressful.” That’s an understatement, for sure. Fortunately, having gone through renovation just a couple of years ago, I pretty much knew what to expect. Still, it’s not the easiest process to go through. (Puppy Cody and Teddy Rosalie have received their hugs, and thank you!)
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For some people, that’s a profession also known as “flipping.” We had friends who did that five times and finally ended up in a mansion … which they kept for a few years because it was quite incredible. You may get there yet!
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Don’t think I haven’t thought about that, Marilyn. But the fact is, I doubt I could go through the stress of buying houses every couple of years, renovating them, and then selling them. Unless, of course, like many flippers I didn’t actually live in the houses. I am becoming quite skilled in the process.
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