It will never be done

[windelina]

Well, I purchased a home repair/maintenance/improvement book. I think it's a wise investment, all things considered.

I purchased many other sundries for the house last night, as well as kitty litter.

I then went to the apartment to pack up the kitchen/dishes. I got about 80% of it done, with only one small break to sit and cry. It was very cathartic.

Tonight:
- meet with security company people for consultation after work
- Board/Officers visioning meeting
- Monte packs up the rest of the kitchen and perhaps starts some of the cleaning on the apartment

Tomorrow night we will set to the cleaning with a will. I would very much like to be done with it before the weekend. Sleeping in on Saturday sounds positively decadent right now. I don't know how probably that is though.

Thoughts on the bathroom:
We've removed the icky stripping stuff and the caulk from around the tub. We need to finish up the last of that and recaulk.
We have this bit of board crappily put around the faucet arrangement. I think the current plan is to remove it. Replace it with bathroom-appropriate drywall, and then cement boarding (used under tile). And then tile just that area. Eventually, we may redo the whole bathroom, but it's a good fix for right now. A bit more intensive than a "quick fix" but I don't want to settle for crap even for "just a little while".

Longer range plans might include:
- regrouting the tub wall tiles
- replacing the medicine cabinet (and probably the light fixture above it)
- sanding down the crappy patching work they've done on the ceiling
- replace the sink/cabinet
- replace window with glass block

If the tub walls are in really bad shape, we could tear down just those walls, replace the drywall and retile.

Or we might just gut the whole thing and have a pro re-do it.

Likeliest: we will repair what needs to be repaired and leave it at that. Although a new sink cabinet would be really nice because the current one is gwoss.

Comments

[magicmarmot.livejournal.com]

If you're going to the trouble to re-tile, I would strongly suggest that you re-tile the whole tub surround. Just doing one "patch" area with the cementboard and tile is do-able, but the amount of work is a lot more than you may be expecting, and the end result won't match.

The board that is there is most likely not because of any damage from a leak, but from repairs done to the shower and probably the installation of a new valve.

If you're using cementboard, there is no need for drywall under it. You may have to fiddle a bit to get the surface layer to be the right depth.

BTW, you will likely end up with a lot more than one home improvement book. :)
I highly recommend the Time-Life series.

[windelina.livejournal.com]

I don't mind if the tile doesn't match for just that section.
I just want a usable tub.
The grout isn't pretty, but I'm pretty sure it isn't leaking.
And we won't have the money for a major re-do for a while yet.

Other than aesthetics, is there anything wrong with my plan?

[magicmarmot.livejournal.com]

Nope. You don't need wallboard behind the cementboard, and you'll probably want a latex-based mortar.

Have fun, and try not to swear too much. :)

[lucyruthe.livejournal.com]

Once I'm actually done waitressing and have my nights back, I want to schedule a time to work on and/or hang out in and/or see this place.

Sounds like you two are seriously upping the quality of the property.

I'm very excited for you!

[mattmn.livejournal.com]

I lived with my shitty upstairs bathroom that was just horrid for two years. It leaked down into the kitchen below occasionally, the floor bubbled and warped (not to mention the entire bathroom was sinking into the center of the house), there were cracks in the sink, I had a pink sink and a pink tub (i may be gay but not that gay), the toilet was right next to the wall (outside of the code limit) so I was always so cramped for space on there, the vanity was at Windy (or Brandon) height, which gave me back pains to stoop down to shave, there was no outlet in the bathroom, so when I wanted to trim my sideburns or beard I had to get an extension cord, etc, etc.

Finally I saved up enough for a good contractor and he is in the midst of gutting the entire place and I will have a brand new and shiny bathroom in about another week. When it is all done, you should tour it and check out the work and then I can pass along the contractor's contact information if you are impressed.

[windelina.livejournal.com]

Big question: how much to gut it?

[lexinatrix.livejournal.com]

It was 18K for the gutting of the bathroom when I lived with Adam. That included:

- Teardown to the boards
- pouring a cement floor
- full tiling of floor and tub surround
- Corian tub-shelf unit
- New toilet, tub, sink (no more pink!)
- new electrical wiring and fixture
- drywall (no more green plastic tile over plaster and lathe)
- install of ventilation fan routed to outside
- 2 custom cabinets

The name of the contractor we used is Dave Rydell, the company he's with is:
Sunrise Ceremic Tile
9711 Ireland Ave NW
Annandale, MN 55302-2343
Phone: (320) 274-3688

[windelina.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I don't think our project would be that big. I like our floor tile. The toilet is fine. And I quite like the tub. So, it'd mostly be the walls, the sink & cabinet and the medicine cabinet. I suppose we could redo the ceiling too, if we were feeling anal...

Hmmmm. It bears pondering.

I believe I have heard that improving the kitchen and the bathroom are the two best ways to up the resale value of a home? Or am I crazy?

[lexinatrix.livejournal.com]

The two cabinets I had done for Adam's place were ~500 bucks, custom made, if that helps.

You can purchase your own sink, and just have a contractor install it, as an option.

And no, you're not crazy. I've mentioned more than once that kitchens and bathrooms are the improvements that will increase your home value most. You get the best return on those investments. You still lose some, but not as much as say, re-doing flooring, etc. Adam got just about dollar-for-dollar in appraisal value for the work put in.

[mattmn.livejournal.com]

I'm doing mine for 15K - complete gutting and disposal of all the old products, new cast iron tub, new toilet (elongated bowl), relocation of toilet away from wall, installation of vent fan, vent cover drilled to outside the house, installation of a GFI outlet, ceramic tile work for the floor and tub surround, knocking out of a closet wall to expand into neighbooring bedroom closet to gain about 6 inches of bathroom space, new sink, new vanity and light fixture, new walls, new ceiling, releveling of floor to prevent future sinking. I'm using Steve Godmare of Godmare Construction. He was recommended to me by my realtor and has overseen a number of remodelling projects on summit avenue.