MommieLady, Wow. You have noooo idea how nice it is to read such an uplifting post right about now. Just noooo idea what it means. Thank you so very much! Ok, can you keep a secret? Shhhh...Just between me and you, k? The legs are brown resin with a screw hole drilled in the bottom. Son bought me the correct double-ended screws and it was like magic. Screw one end of double-ended into leg, the other end into bottom of vanity. Another shhhh, K? Searched for almost a year and couldn't find a 24" vanity that didn't take up too much depth space and with a usable drawer. Vanity is a re-purposed microwave cart. Didn't want to lose the utility drawer at the top (with sink hanging inside vanity) so had son reconfigure drawer and glides and put it at the bottom. (gotta have a place for that almighty make-up, doncha know *grin*) Hey, I kept telling everyone I was on a strict budget, now maybe they'll believe me. lol And you are so right, in the grand scheme of things, the quappy work the previous owners did to create a master bath, leaving us with the mess, is a small obsticle when I start to think of the bigger things that could go wrong in other areas of our life. Your post has given me the umph to keep "plugging along"---Thank youuuuu! In fact, I'm printing your post and I'm going to stick it where my new medicine cabinet 'should be' but isn't, yet. lol It will serve as my new "Keep Pluggin' Along" mantra each day from here on out. You're too kind. Amity P.S. The faux work, in all rooms where I couldn't afford the real stuff, was done by me. See? told ya I was on a strict budget. lol Again, many many thanks!

Oh my Gosh, Fixizin! My sincerest apologies for not coming back to the Plumber Forum a day or two after I posted. I checked for responses later in the day and saw that this forum is much slower than the Bathroom forum and also saw only one or two people responding so I went and reposted my post on the Bathroom Forum. Never thought to recheck here-- I'm so sorry! Your response made me smile from ear to ear on top of being so helpful! Funny you mentioned those workers because after the man left, the man that wouldn't touch my cast iron drain, I shouted to anyone who would listen "I'm about ready to hire one of the guys waiting around for odd jobs work in the Home Depot parking lot! " Long story short, the County Registrar's office is less that two miles from my home. Next to it is the Community Development Department. Since I had to make a visit to the Registrar's office I walked over to the Community Development Offices to personally explain our situation and ask who to call to come over and survey/diagnose the mold/mildew issue and then to install a shower pan. The man that came was the second name on the list. But I tell ya, after the no-shows after setting up appointments, the people who won't deal with mold, the people that won't deal with cast iron and the people that don't even return my call because it's not a complete gut and bathroom remodel, I've seriously considered a couple times about hiring one of them thar 'UNdocumenteds". Nah, I won't. It's just the total frustration talking. I did find out from a neighbor down the street, this bathroom was built in 1973. The way the whole addition was put together, the water damage and unbelievable stench we found in our closet after removing the baseboards in there from the water in the shower leaking/wicking up that shared wall, I'm thinking this shower has been leaking from the get-go. For all the years we've been in our home we've learned a lot, I mean, a Lot about repairs. We've done it all ourselves with the exceptions of the new roof, copper pipe throughout the main part of the house and the new electrical panel (with dedicated for microwave, fridge, etc.) put on the side of the home that is accessible to the meter reader. We even installed our own windows and added a slab out the back door so that we didn't have to walk in mud to get to the garage. All tile, drywall, cabinet frames, room enhancements of all kinds, we learned and did (some real Laurel and Hardy moments while learning, that's for sure! lol) ourselves. Before starting the bathroom gut I had read nights for at least 3 months, hours and hours of reading, research, buying plumbing and tile books and honestly felt when it came to the new, enlarged shower, we'd have noooo problem tackling it ourselves. All was going rather well and for the most part, very few surprises. Little burps were handled by asking on the bathroom forum and we were on our way to a new bathroom. Standing there side by side, removing the tile in the shower and as the tiles literally crumbled off, I look at husband, he looked at me, dead silence and his comment... "Houston, we have a problem". Your response was light-hearted, a joy to read and at the same time, very informative! And once again I've got courage, I feel we can continue with the bathroom ourselves. I will send your response right now to my husband's email at work. Bet he'll have some questions for ya. Thank you, thank you so very much! Amity

I looked into the trenchless options, they don't really work for our scenario. First, the existing line might not be in good enough condition to support trenchless replacement. Also, while we can dig a whole at the city side, the lines terminate under the slab so there's no way easy way to create an entry point for the new line. There's also several joints under the slab, and we'd have to tear out the driveway to get to the existing line on one side. So far, our estimates are $12k (to tunnel to the two known breaks and replace only those portions) or $20k (to tunnel the entire width of the house and replace the entire system). A SEPARATE OPTION: I'm admittedly no expert, but I see a way to run two new lines - one up each exterior wall) which would serve the entire house with minor tunneling. The disadvantage is that the sewer line wouldn't be under the house, it would be buried under the strip of grass on either side. One company says they wouldn't do it that way because the line isn't protected by the house and could break more easily. To that, I say that if it breaks, it would be a MUCH easier fix than if a line were to break under the slab again. Is there any reason a new line can't be run outside the exterior walls of the house?

Is it common to put concrete under 2” sewer line repairs to help prevent settling/stress? Perverting Stress on the rubber boot connecting 37” of PVC to Cast Iron is the objective. BUT! I would have to dig to get concrete under the repair vs the original mold is there. I feel a brick or 4”x8”x2” thick concrete block under each connection (with less digging should do the small job vs a bag recommended). A bag of concrete maybe if this was a larger repair w/o the original molded sand. How is your 1969 or older Cast Iron “holding up” under your Slab Foundations? Our Shifting Soil/Settling Slab Foundations are becoming a Nightmare. The Trench Less Relining sounds good but no Plumber or Sewer Line Camera Tech has recommended it (or felt it would be reasonable). Please Share if you have experienced some Trench Less Relining at a Resident. Mainly due to the needed connections, turns vs a straight line. Even the PVC is challenged in the Shifting/Settling. Peers to Bedrock or Stable Aggregates would have helped. Pics of most of this matter were posted recently titled “What’s a good safe cure to stop or slow roots entering sewer lines”.