We've had a few issues with the ol' house of late. Like this, for example: a couple of weeks ago, we started smelling a bit of musty funk in the kitchen. No big deal, we thought-- that's the same musty kitchen-funk the house had when we moved in, and it went away. And maybe it's just because the rainy season started and everything is perma-damp and our "cabinets" (see previous posts) do not have actual bottoms OR a plywood sub-floor under them. So whatever it smells like under the house, that's what it smells like in the kitchen. No worries! We'll just deal with a touch of stink until we're ready to gut the kitchen and put it all back together in a way that makes a little more sense. Right?
Wrong. We happened to be outside while running the dishwasher a couple of days ago, and we noticed a ton of soapy water bubbling up from the ground. And out of the crawl-space. And sort of dripping out of a weird faucet under the kitchen window at the same time.
We don't know anything about plumbing, but even we're smart enough to know that water exploding from under your house coupled with a moldy smell means bad news bears. Plumber's coming tomorrow morning, and since it costs $250 every time he darkens our door for even the most minor of issues, we're preparing ourselves to fork over at least a couple of G's to get this taken care of.
And we've totally died on the hearth tile project-- the only pre-mixed grout we can find locally is white, and I'm not trying to buy an enormous bag of dry grout and mix a huge bucketful of charcoal-gray for a job that will require less than two tablespoons of the stuff. We just need enough to fill three 1/16" gaps, for crying out loud. And the only locally available slate sealer comes in a giant vat that costs $40. Again, I need, like, 1/4c. Sigh-- I hate being stymied.
So tonight after dinner, I was on speakerphone with my parents, and I
was talking to them about one of my bathroom's stupidest features. I
haven't the slightest idea of what it's called, so I'll provide a photo:
The silly thing in question can be seen right above the far end of the shower curtain. It's like a part of a wall that drops down from the ceiling along the tub's edge. I guess it's technically a soffit, though the ceiling isn't lowered on the other side of it. Anyhow, it's hard to write coherently about the thing (heretofore known as The Thing), but it's a common feature in lots of 40's houses, when, I'm guessing, the tub enclosure didn't include a shower. Must have been nice back then, taking a bath in your own little private nook.
Fast forward to 2012, when this weird little design feature does nothing but trap tons of water vapor into the space above the tub. Even our bathroom fan is powerless against The Thing. So we've been planning to rip it out. A few more reasons to demo The Thing:
1. All that trapped water vapor has caused pretty serious cosmetic damage to the ceiling about the tub. It's all bubbling paint and chipping gypsum board up there. Ick.
2. Mold is growing on the bottom of The Thing because off all the moisture it holds hostage above the tub.
3. When the vapor cools and becomes condensate, it drips down the walls inside the tub. We know it's running down behind the Terrible Blue Faux-Marble Monstrosity, and we don't even want to THINK about the mold that's surely back there now. We can't rip THAT out now, so the next best thing is to stop the dripping before the mold gets any worse.
4. It is butt-ugly.
So back to the part where I'm on speakerphone with Mom and Dad. I'm telling them about our plans for ripping it out, and I'm expressing some worries that perhaps The Thing is somehow structural or that it's full of plumbing and/or electrical wires. There's a silence on my parents' end, and then my dad says, "Well, why don't you just knock a hole in it with a hammer and see what's going on in there?"
And I'm like, "Okay," and the next thing I know I'm staring at a 3" hole in
The Thing.
Looks clear in there. I keep going. Did I mention it's 9pm on a Wednesday?
Next thing I know, I've used a drywall saw and a prybar to remove a significant chunk of The Thing:
Other than what appears to be a little bit of rebar at the top (?) we're off to what seems like a pretty decent start.
So I guess we'll be finishing that job this weekend?
Aren't houses fun! Two things: if the mold in the shower is black or looks like the wall was burnt, don't touch it! I recently learned about lovely black mold that is very toxic. I learned when I noticed we had some on the bottom of our cabinet after we removed the backsplash. Lots of reading later, I cleaned it with a detergent/water/bleach solution while wearing gloves and a mask. Then I promptly threw away the rag and brush I used to clean it in a sealed plastic bag. Up, it's that bad. So check and if the mold if black, address it ASAP, but carefully. Second, would light grey grout work for you and the slate? Lowes here has some for $27 for a small tub. Maybe I can send you a tub?
ReplyDeleteBe thankful, we toured a 1940s house once and everything was covered in popcorn stucco. Whaa? On a side note, I love the word stymied.
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