there's probably a whole lot of ick behind that plastic shower. prepare to replace it and whatever is behind it. And get grossed out in the process.

IMO - that's a gut redo. and updated it is not.

@just_janni TY that is what I am afraid of. That is why I am having my inspector pay extra attention to it. I love the home, but I'm not paying 5, 10 or 15 K to rebuild a small bathroom. My worse fear is since it is basement, is possible mold.

The real estate situation is so crazy right now. They probably want someone to buy it without asking for an allowance to fix that. A lot of bidding wars are being won by all-cash buyers with no inspection, and they don't care about appraised value. But if you don't ask for an allowance to rebuild this, you're going to have to invest thousands of dollars to rebuild a proper, waterproofed shower. Maybe you are experiencing bidding wars and you really need a house, but if you buy this, you are probably buying a really bad mess. Possibly mold and rot, possibly damaged studs in the walls, floors, etc. Buyer beware. If you buy this house, and you don't have money to fix this shower, don't use it.

And, ask the inspector to look for water damage, mold, rot, etc. Ask them to bring a moisture detector. If they won't do this, hire a professional tile installer to do a separate inspection (tile pros are the people who really understand waterproofing, water damage, etc). They can give you an estimate of what it would cost to replace.

This may or may not matter to the seller (bc they probably will look for a different buyer), but at least you'll know what you're buying and what you are in for down the road.

@AJCN THANK YOU--Great advice for an old lady. I have an excellent inspector. Don't want to back out, but I will. I think what shocked me was the gaps! Then I stared looking at the video closer, especially more of the shower! then I realized that it seemed that more was wrong. Like I said they said "updated bathrooms("plural) in their listing. Since only two bathrooms that is far from updated. The other one is beautiful, but this one, hmmm.

Hey if worse comes to worse, I will have to make the buyer of my home pissed off.

In my experience, if the people showering are not tall, very little water will splash above the shower walls and get behind the wall. If you plan to use the shower often and don't want to rehab, get a plexiglass sheet to put over the top.

You do want your inspector to check it out, and it might be a problem, but it might not be, either.

@Sigrid TY. Relator said update which was ok with me if it was just the shower being old. Then re-looked at the videos we had and started wondering .. Never seen a shower with a gap like that. The gaps look more like holes in the wall versus the shower not being tall enough. I've seen many showers that were not floor to ceiling but they didn't look like that where they ended. it was usually painted wall or tile.

Wednesday is my inspection so keeping my fingers crossed. Hey the place is already at top of my max, so I can't afford to pay 10s of thousands to fix it up.

Eeesh… I wish you luck Elaine. Frankly, I’d only buy that house if I was okay updating that bathroom (or shower). If you’re at max budget, do some serious thinking about how you’d handle this if you otherwise love the home. Things such as: Will the shower be used often? Can you push on fixing it until you can afford to? Could you live without buying this home? Is this shower a total dealbreaker?

@Connecticut Yankeeeee I don't mind updating the bathroom. I just don't want to end up with a whole room rebuild if that makes sense, or if even worse lurks behind that wall, which is my worse fear.

Understand. I think that’s a possibility though. No one ever really knows what’s underneath stuff we tear out. In my state, mold testing was never included in inspections. Perhaps have a separate consult for this, unless your inspectors include it.

@Connecticut Yankeeeee Thank you I was actually shocked my guy does mold testing, or some sort of similar testing.

Oh yea been through two other inspections. 1st one, just the mention of structure and I was running for the hills, so I opted out even before inspection was totally done. 2nd one there were some issuers I was not comfortable with the owners not fixing. Mostly due to them technically being safety issues and even code issues.

Now there I sit on this one...Which I realized after talking to some people is the place I have been probably looking for all along. I know, probably sounds strange. But I realized and they realized that my conversation was so much different.

Like I said doing a shower update is one thing, but a bathroom rebuild is another.

I had send the video to a friend and said needs shower up date. Well she showed it to her son-in-law who said it looked like more.

Since its out of state and I trust the people on the other end I won't be there. However, keep my fingers crossed, its just a shower pull and update.

Thank you so much for your help.. Discussing with someone else helps quite a bit.

Shower curtains can hide a lot! I have a condo rental so I'm always watching the condos in the community that go on the market. All of them have the same floor plan. 35 yr old condo.

Often the master bath was updated but the 2nd never was--on the listing sites they show a pretty shower curtain but a little bit of the 1985 shower/tile peeks through. You really need to check that out.

@blubird TY--I hear you--but if owners don't realize that when you advertise a home as " updated kitchen, bathrooms" the buyer usually expects to see that the two bathrooms are in decent shape. However, when one opens a shower curtain in the other bathroom to what I saw, wow, Hey I didn't expect to see some fancy updated titled shower, but damn that was far from any updated bathroom I've ever seen! Do believe that if inspections shows the worse, then owners should realize that they aren't going to be able to sell it at that price down the road.

So I am hoping if bathroom is the only issue with the inspection, I can get them to came down or fix the issues properly so it matches their advertisement.

On the other hand, maybe they are hoping I have a crappy inspector, which I don't

However, in the meantime I'm learning to go with flow, and if it is time to move on again so be it..

Again thank you.

Updated does not necessarily translate to in good condition. The wording is used to imply that improvements were made when the actual changed version might be worse than the original.
If there is mold present, a good inspector will find it. Every house has issues and if thus one is ugly but doesn't have a mold problem, I would consider just how much I needed a second shower. I have had a couple of those nasty little cheap basement shower stalls and we just removed the existing shower and capped the plumbing until we had the opportunity to install a nice shower.

@lyndeeLee But I don't think that updated means a shower that is not even connected to a wall?? It actually looked like a wall was missing. I know I should have examined better.

You know I have seen some nasty showers & tubs in homes being sold, but never one that had no wall behind it. If you look at the corners there is no wall behind the shower stall.

You said this was the house you had always wanted? Why would you let one thing keep you from it? No house is ever perfect. Just don’t use the shower until you remodel to suit your taste. BTW, updated just means it wasn’t the original. It certainly doesn’t mean it is perfect, the latest, the most wonderful, the best, it just means it is not original to the house.

In my area, somewhat freestanding shower cubicles are quite common in basements. After a few years, they are commonly used as a place to drip dry wet laundry and outdoor clothing and storage for mops. Some of them aren't even properly connected to a drain, instead they are placed over a floor drain. If this is the major issue with the house, is it serious enough to start the hunt over again?

@remodeling1840TY -Part of it was that it had two BRs, one with a stand alone shower.

However if the stand-alone shower means a major overall of the whole bathroom and areas around it, almost draining my bank account, is it really worth it FYI--*72 ..so don't need some project that takes my a lot of my savings.

But yes I really want the home..

Is the other bathroom good enough to use?

Your realtor will know how to talk to the seller. Most people are going to run away from this house except investors/flippers. So consult with your realtor about the conditions in this specific market/neighborhood. After the inspection, you’ll know what you‘re dealing with. The realtor may be able to negotiate a price reduction for you.

If you buy, just use the other shower for a while til you decide what to do. Sometimes a shower insert is a better choice than a tiled shower, and less $$$.