Wife hates remodel, doesn't want to redo it, won't move, what to do?
4 years ago
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- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
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Toilet on last leg - want full remodel but DH doesn't
Comments (26)A2, just curious as to what kind of consulting you do and where A2 is?... now I understand why you said you could buy a toilet in Canada, but believe me (living in Canada), Totos are much cheaper in the US... as are almost ALL plumbing supplies/fixtures so I wouldn't think it would be worthwhile to shop up here! I'm approximately your age (A wee bit younger), and just got rid (well we started gutting over a year ago, left the toilet in as long as possible) of our avocado green fixtures! Though previous posters are correct about relative cost of fixing toilets (again costs more up here), I totally get your position. You can only fix things for so long until you begin to ask, shouldn't we just replace it? For that reason, we have a brand spanking WHITE toilet in our otherwise sky blue fixture BR (#3 and last BR to be remodeled). We had literally duct-taped the toilet seat down, cuz I refused to pay $60-$70 for a new one as I knew that toilet was going to be replaced. Unfortunately, there are unremoveable rust stains on the linoleum cuz the old toilet had a bigger foot print, but I have lived with this 'new' toilet in this old BR for 3 years now. So, personally I would start looking at toilets, replace the present one, and just reuse it in your new remodel. On another note, I just got back from visiting family, and I guess I haven't sat on a non-comfort height toilet for awhile, as I used my mother's BR I almost pulled a muscle, because for a second I thought I had sat down and missed the toilet bowl! I stayed with my sister, and really I thought I was using a kid's vanity and toilet, they seemed so low (I really do think her vanity is even lower than the normal low BR height) Our new BR vanity does have all drawers, top drawer is U-shaped to fit around sink. I had it custom made so it was deeper than sink. Since the plumbing was in the middle I had him make the 2 sides 2" longer. The other two drawers are 2" shallower to allow room for pipes in back. The second drawer has the U cutout to clear plumbing. As you can see, not installed yet:...See MoreWell, that doesn't look right. Now what?
Comments (18)OK, I'm back with more exciting pictures! First, so it doesn't get lost below -- marcolo -- I read installation instructions for a different one of these shower kits to get an idea of how they are installed, and they said do NOT use 100% silicone caulk. I don't know why. Also, it said NOT to caulk the interior where the frame base meets the pan, only the exterior seam. Why is that? Before I ripped this out, it was caulked (and coming loose) on both sides. Anyway, I decided to partially disassemble the shower frame to get a better idea of what is going on and how to fix it. Here's where I am now: First, as you can see, the wall panel was not plumb when it was adhered to the wall. That would be, of course, because they didn't level the pan when they put it in, so when they lined the wall panel up with the pan, it ended up crooked. Duh. Pretty sure whoever installed this never heard of a level. A closeup view shows it even better. The jamb (metal frame part that was screwed to the wall) only barely overlapped the wall panel by the time it reached the bottom. The screws at the top of the frame went through the wall panel, while the screws at the bottom did not. The pan is badly out of level in all directions (the other wall is even more out of plumb, sigh). Now we can see the state of the drywall underneath the panel... ...and it is really not good. Crumbling drywall and scary black stuff (mold?) extends several inches up behind the wall panel. Here's a little drawing I did showing how the studs/drywall/shower wall come together -- or don't, as the case may be. The studs are badly out of plumb too. Easy to see how the slightest gap in the caulk inside the shower meant water getting under the edge of the shower wall panel and wicking up into the green board. Sooo....now I'm not sure where to go next with this. One thought is to cut away (from behind) the edge of the drywall that is sitting down inside the pan, and then insert some kind of extra flashing behind the wall panel so that any water that got behind it would not get any further. Another would be to cut away all of the damaged drywall (several inches) and patch it, adding flashing as in the first option -- again, this would be from behind. No, I don't exactly know how I would do that, but maybe there's a way to McGyver it. ;) I could try to remove the wall panel (it seems to come away from the green board pretty easily), replace the studs (they are not plumb either) and all the green board, and re-adhere the wall panel. The studs are only there to support the shower wall. This could help solve the fact that the wall flexes where it doesn't meet the studs. The risk of course is that I could break the wall panel, and then I'd really be in trouble. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to get just the one panel out without having to take the corner and the other panel as well. Removing only the one panel wouldn't address the other wall of the shower which doesn't seem to have leak problems (probably due to the slope of the pan and the fact that the shower head is on that wall) but I would not be surprised to find water damage to that side as well. And of course there's always the chance this is just a complete waste of time and I will have to bite the bullet and replace this shower kit with another. I don't think there's any way to get the pan leveled, and the fact that it's not level really throws the rest of the installation off. I'm not clear on whether removing and leveling the pan would mean having to do something with the drain height, which might be outside of my DIY abilities (though I do have a great plumber I could call). I'm just not too confident this shower can be made watertight enough to not leak into the room beneath. I haven't even shown the issues we have with the seal thingy at the bottom of the door, where water can easily leak out onto the bathroom floor, and I know that if a good bit of water ends up on the floor, that alone can mean a leak downstairs -- water that goes under the baseboard pretty much goes right on through the subfloor. Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. As is my usual habit, I decided to dig into this problem while my husband is out of town, and I'm going to be nobody's favorite person in my house if I don't restore this bathroom to working order pretty soon! (The other shower is in the basement, and none of us really likes using it -- plus it's the same shower kit and I'm betting it isn't installed any more accurately than this one was!)...See MoreSS & GF won't move out
Comments (11)If you are the sole breadwinner how is dad going to manage AND support SS and GF if you leave? Has he thought about that? I wouldn't work and buy groceries for a girl that won't work and drinks a lot and I wouldn't put up with a 22 yo SS for long. Who buys her booze? If SS has money to buy it he should have money to buy groceries. Until you can get them out I would suggest eating lunch out at work if possible and buying very few groceries. Maybe she will get tired of nothing to eat and leave. Maybe DH will get tired of no groceries and figure it out. I suppose a lot depends on if he moved into YOUR house or you moved into his or if you bought it together. It would be hard to make SS move out if it's not your house. My SS lived with us for a short time when his wife divorced him. He was into drinking, lost his job and got a DWI. DH refused to pay the DWI and let him sit in jail for 6 months and think about if that was the life he wanted. He decided it wasn't and straightened up when he got out and hasn't been in any more trouble. He also had to figure out where to live then because moving back with us wasn't an option. My DS moved out on his own as soon as he finished high school and hasn't asked for a penny since, he's 33 now. I have trouble understanding young people who want to keep living at home and being supported unless they are in college and even then they can work some. No one can take advantage of you without your permission....See MoreWhat do you do with a friend who doesn't issue invites?
Comments (41)You could also maybe give your friends a break. I had a close friend who was very self involved. I told her three times what I wanted her to do (come see my very big project). She had time. She was in the area. She made really lame excuses why she didn't. Then she moved away with no notice and instead of calling me where she knew I'd be, she left a message on my answering machine saying the only time I could see them before they left was at a party they were having during my work hours. I didn't know how to respond and the advice I got was "who says you have to?" Then she wrote some letters without one word inquiring or commenting about me. Not the 2nd grade "How are you?" that we're taught to open with. We've been in touch a few times since, but I basically dropped her. I regret it. I know I needed to do it rather than be hurt by her, and I have better friends, but I do miss her and I wish I could have just let it slide and accepted that that's the way she was. Another friend stopped talking to me because I didn't understand what she needed from me after a death in her family. I didn't know why until at least a decade later, when she got back in touch, briefly (I'm guessing a therapist told her to mend fences). When she told me, she mentioned that she'd done what she needed for herself for me when my uncle had died. I didn't know that she was doing it so couldn't pattern it. It wasn't articulated that that's what one does (in her lights) when someone loses a family member. I would have tried. I miss her too. I have closer and better friends, but I wish she could have explained or accepted, and given me a break....See MoreRelated Professionals
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