I had been having problems with the shower leaking recently, and had it resealed around the bottom of the shower twice over a period of time. But that didn't seem to fix it, and when I noticed the damp going up the wall, I knew I had a serious problem. Oh dear, with Robin not here, it was something I would have to tackle on my own. One of the neighbour's recommended a plumber who had done some work for her, so I called him to have a look, and give me a quote. Seems the only way to fix the problem was to replace the shower to see exactly what the problem was.
It has been a very interesting and rather noisy time. In fact the weeks dragged on with different tradesmen doing their own part in the repairs. Gemma was locked in the bedroom to keep her safe and out of the way, and she wasn't at all happy about that. I had to remove my car from the garage to give the workmen room to put their tools and workbench. When the old shower and the wall boards had been removed the water damage was clear, the leak had been dripping from the mixer behind the shower wall. So no amount of resealing around the base of the shower cabinet was going to fix it.
Gib board removed
After the plumber came to replace the shower mixer and what ever else he needed to do, the builder replaced two sheets of aqua gib board. Then the man installing the new shower cubicle had his day, followed by the painter. I was up bright and early each morning, locking Gemma in the bedroom before the tradesmen and their noisy tools arrived. Then the plumber was back with the new shower dome, which had to be cut to fit. It was a busy old time, and the weeks rolled around with tradesmen coming and going. Poor Gemma was getting quite stressed really, what had happened to our quiet peaceful home?
Cutting the shower dome
The final job was replacing the lino flooring, that was several weeks after the other work was done. Getting the lino scraped off seemed to take ages, and the workman told me how the adhesives used had changed so much over the years, since he started as an apprentice.
Scrape, scrape, scraping away
Then at last the job was all finished. A new shower, this one has curved doors different from our previous square shower. New lino, I managed to find something very similar to the previous one, just a different colourway. New paint on the walls, everything looks nice and fresh.
All finished
Of course, being a quilter's home, I had to rehang my bathroom decorations. This is my beautiful hand made seahorse, sent to me quite some time ago from Janet in Cromer, England. I didn't realise how dusty he was till he was taken down, but he is dust free now and ready for bathroom duty again.
Beautiful seahorse from Janet
And my little tropical fish wall hanging was given a clean and rehung after all those noisy men had finally departed. I purchased the fish fabric during our trip to Hawaii in 1993, and finally made the little wall hanging in 1996 to commemorate our trip.
Memories of Hawaii
There really is a sea theme going on in my tiny bathroom. These lovely shells were brought home by Robin's Mum after her trip to New Caledonia. We gave them a new home after she passed away some years ago.
Beautiful shells
So that is the end of the recent bathroom saga. I'm pleased that it is finally at an end, and that I managed to deal with it myself.
9 comments:
Glad that ordeal is over, and you have a nice new shower. Love that seahorse!
nice to have that fixed and out of the way. My sister has been going through issues with home repair too - she is in a condo and on the bottom floor - the unit above hers had a water leak and she was dealing with water logged ceilings that had to be dried out and removed then replaced. It was a job and a half for sure as they didn't want to pay for the damage!! finally had to go to a lawyer. You are lucky to have an individual house and not a condo!!
All power to you, arranging everything by yourself. It must be a huge relief to have the problem solved and a nice fresh bathroom going forward. They are lovely decor items with special meaning.
Your new bathroom looks so lovely, Jenny!! What a long process--poor Gemma
must feel glad that that is over and done--as also you are i am sure.
Your lovely decor looks great!! Hugs, Julierose
Plumbing problems are never pleasant , but your new bathroom looks amazing! And I adore the quilty decor and pretty shells that you added. I bet Gemma is quite happy that there is peace and quiet now. Hugs.
That is quite an accomplishment, congratulations!
It’s amazing what we can achieve when it is left for us to do. You have a beautiful bathroom to enjoy now. Kudos to you….
Good to have the leak problem fixed properly and now you have a new shower and no leaks!
What a fun quilt to have in your bathroom with memories of your trip stitched in. Gail
I can imagine how challenging it was for you to be dealing with all this on your own. We never know, until we're put in that situation, how we'll respond. Though I have to say that having the finances to "throw" at a problem is certainly the easiest way out. I'm glad that was the case for you. I'm sure it feels good to know your problem has been resolved in the best way possible. How nice to revisit the significance of special pieces too.
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