Surprises

You know that thing where there’s always a nasty surprise waiting for you when you start a home remodel project? We found ours today. But first, a parable.

Once upon a time (or just a couple months back), a young couple, (madly in love with each other and their adorable young son) decided to fix up their rather outdated bathroom. It had a couple of small issues (leaky tub, anyone?) so it probably  needed done anyway, sooner rather than later.

Being a bit of an obsessive researcher/planner type, the young wife dutifully sifted through hours of online searches and product reviews to find only the best products at the perfect price point for the project. Some compromises had to be made for the sake of budget and to appeal to the adoring husband, but that’s simply to be expected, no? So everything was ordered and received ahead of time so that the least amount of disruption in the idyllic life of this young family was experienced.

Then came the fateful day when full of excitement, the young couple began to tear down their old sheetrock…

And there was a @#$$#%$ PIPE centered behind the vanity in the exact spot where the light fixture was supposed to go! And not just any pipe, but a HUGE pipe that apparently vents the plumbing for the ENTIRE FREAKING HOUSE!!!!!!!! So, now we have an expensive fixture that can’t be used because it needs to be centered because it’s so big. And we have no good lighting ideas now….

And the ideal location for their new bathroom fan has a ceiling joist in the way! Grrrr! 😡

Lest you think that all this ended unhappily though, we did discover that the water damage from the leaky shower was mostly cosmetic and so no major repairs will be needed. The chiropractor will be pretty excited come Monday though, after we lugged out the cast iron bathtub. It might be the world’s narrowest tub, but it’s still freaking heavy! Thank goodness we bought a dolly a few years back or one of us would probably still be trapped beneath that behemoth!

So about that disruption? It looks like it might be a few days longer than we thought. Good thing there’s no centipedes…and surprisingly, no spiders either (yet) in the Shower From Hell. However, it’s extremely hard to set the temperature of the water when you have a shower that is literally a foot and a half away from the hot water heater…..so you can really get that full “hell” effect. Especially with such a touchy shower knob. 😮