This week, I take a break from my normal posts to show you the bathroom I’m remodeling. I’m going to try to finish the entire thing in 5 days. Today, I tell you about day 5.
Rain Redux
Way back in September of 2013 near the start of our home remodel, we had torrential flooding. Epic, once every thousand years flooding. Houses and bridges were washed away. People died. The National Guard showed up in Humvees. I wrote about it here and here and here.
Now, as our project nears completion, the rains have come again. It has rained every day for the past week and it is storming as I type this. All of our neighbor’s basements have water (I’m thankful we don’t have one). The scene isn’t pretty and the rain isn’t predicted to stop until Sunday.
The little creek that runs near us is supposed to be a couple feet deep and 10′ wide. If the rain keeps up, it will overflow its banks again. We are in no danger, but others are. It’s a bad scene. Hopefully the rain lets up.
Drywall shortage puts the kabosh on the job
The rain brought our project to a screeching halt today. We ran out of drywall. Because it sticks out the back of the Element, I wasn’t confident that I could get it back dry. It was time to throw in the towel. And then find a new one to dry off with.
So, I wasn’t able to finish. Even if I was able to get the drywall, we still would have come up short. We had too many problems that we didn’t account for. Just preparing to put the drywall on took hours of shimming because the old studs didn’t line up. Mickey Mouse built our house.
Despite this, we’re at least 80% done. The drywall will take a couple more hours of time to finish. Tile will take about 4 hours. After that, it’s just painting, installing the vanity and trimming out the window. I’ll post a complete wrap up of the project in a week or so when I get it done.
Cursed (Writing this 10:53 Friday evening. Dead tired, delirious and defeated.)
I’m convinced that evil forces are working against me. Who did I piss off?
A shower fixture I installed a couple weeks ago was defective right out of the box. Thanks for that Moen.
Last week, a faucet that I installed in our master bath not more than a year ago started leaking. Thanks for that overstock.com.
This week, in the middle of the project, our garage door opener bit the dust.
Today, in the middle of the rain, I went down to the crawlspace to make sure the sump pump was working right. Yes, I’m paranoid. It wasn’t. The hose it pumps out to has a huge leak that refills the sump pit. So, I’m off to go fix that before our home floats away.
I’ll see you again when life settles down.
I’m overwhelmed.
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” It was time to throw in the towel. And then find a new one to dry off with.” This right here! You are still funny even when tired I am not skilled enough as. Writer yet to come up with these little jewels.
Well its a good thing you checked your crawl space.
The Roamer recently posted…Blog Birthday
Not complete, but still much accomplished this week even with all the little set backs, and you managed to keep us updated daily. Nice catch on the pump.
Brian @DebtDiscipline recently posted…Week End Round Up #80
That sucks. Especially the rain. Can’t mother nature carry that a bit further west to CA and drop it where it’s really needed rather than parking over your town?
But don’t stress about it too much. Take a break from all of this (well, except for keeping an eye on the sump pump, probably) and hang out with your girls playing board games or some other dry indoor fun this weekend. The bathroom will still be there waiting for you when you’re ready.
Mrs. PoP recently posted…He Said She Said – 2015 Berkshire Hathaway Meeting
Ah the beauties of homeownership. Heck, I admire your ability to do all this work yourself b/c I just don’t have that mechanical side. Look at the bright side 80% is done. You can knock the rest out in a day or so. And the rain is needed, particularly in your part of the world. Just hope your house has no leaks and holds up. Hope you grab a drink, relax, and enjoy the weekend. You certainly have earned it.
Jason recently posted…Financial Tip Friday: What To Do WIth Old Retirement Accounts?
I wouldn’t say defeated. When you set unrealistic expectations of yourself, you sometimes don’t meet them! Good luck with the rain and the remainder of the remodel.
Fervent Finance recently posted…Financial Independence Day – September 2026
Dang, that is a string of bad luck.
Ever thought of taking some thousands from your million dollar portfolio and have an easier life on yourself with these projects?
Sam
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If I could find competent people, I’d consider it. It seems that for every competent person, there are 1000 horrible ones. The one competent one charges a higher hourly rate than my healthy software engineer rate. $100/hour tile guy? Really?
Hooray 80% done! Sending positive vibes for the sump pump, and project completion. I admire your hard work. 🙂 Enjoy your weekend!
FYI, that’s “kibosh” with an “I”, not an “a”. I wish we would get some of that rain here in California. We got about .03 on Thursday where I live in the Bay Area. It was cloudy and cool all day, but hardly any rain!
Sorry to hear about all the issues, but it is surely coming together. Can’t wait to see the wrap up post. One comment on Moen products if you weren’t already aware – their customer support is awesome. I only buy Moen products for fixtures I put in (even the rentals). In fact, I just had one go bad that I installed a year ago and they promptly shipped me a new (and nicer) faucet.
Hi Ryan-
Yes, Moes was pretty great with the service. They sent me a new cartridge. Still disappointed that the fixture was defective out of the box. Oh well.
Even in the face of adversity you’re funny, making more progress than I do, and spinning an interesting story……that’s what keeps us coming back! Out of curiosity, if you don’t have a basement…….why do you have a sump pump?
-Bryan
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Thanks Surfer!
We don’t have a basement, but do have a crawlspace. Mudspace right now.
Growing up we had a foundation where you had to bend over to fit in and we had a sump pump. During heavy rain my parents would get up continuously during the night to check on it. I remember a couple of times having my father wake me up in the middle of the night to help start bailing water because the pump had broken down and because the water was starting to build up he would need me and my sister to start bailing the water while he tried to figure out how to get the pump going again. Back when it was happening it wasn’t a lot of fun, but I have to admit, now I look back at those times and it was a great family bonding experience.
Wow, that is some intense family bonding!
I’m beginning to hate basements and any live areas that are not at least 3′ above the ground…
this makes me want to delay redoing my bathroom. the problem is I need to do it because i think there is mold in the wall where the shower leaked!
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Nice remodeling. I am also looking for some creative ways to remodel mine. You views on this would be greatly appreciated.
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