Why Construction Should Never Be Spontaneous (Put the Sledgehammer Down)

It all started with a hole in the ceiling.  

 

We had a leaking toilet in our upstairs master bath.  Luckily, this was the only hole.  If you've had plumbing trouble, you know it could be a lot worse.  I had been wanting to update the downstairs bathroom anyway.  It's only a two piece.  Simple, right?

First, I patched the hole.

   

Then, I painted the ceiling.  If you have ever painted a ceiling, you know this is not fun.  (When we finally did the rest of the downstairs, we hired it out.) But, I think it turned out okay. 

Not bad, huh?  If you look REALLY hard you can see the seams. 

This is what the rest of my bathroom looked like originally when we moved in.

A few coats of paint on the walls and vanity . . .

You'll notice the lack of toilet and baseboards.  Unlike they should, these did not just pop off.  The bolts were rusted on the toilet, we had to cut it out and replace the floor bolting system, and the baseboards were actually lower than the floor.  That's right, they installed the baseboards before the floor!  Uncovering the craziness of the people before is half the fun of demo.  Too bad it will drive you crazy trying to fix it.  It took my dad and lots of sweat and hours and three people crammed in that little room to achieve success.  

Next the countertop.  

(This is where the photo of the new countertop would be, but it never got one.)

I thought I would just run over to Home Depot and buy one of the prefabricated solid surface countertops they offer.  After all, the vanity is the perfect size.  I measured.  Twice.  So, of course there shouldn't be any problems.  Unfortunately, the vanity is in the corner.  There are lips on the prefabricated counters for both sides, so we couldn't ever get it to pop on.  I realize this might be confusing, and trust me, I feel your pain.  I have learned that while you think they might be easier to work with, builder grade materials are always slightly off.  More hours of sweat, but thankfully this time there were only 2 of us crammed in there.  

 In the end we realized we would have to custom order a counter if we wanted one that fit.  

My little $250 upgrade was spiraling out of control.  If I was going to order a new countertop, I wanted a new vanity; one worthy of a pretty new counter!  Not to mention, it would be cheaper just to buy a new vanity/counter combo.  If we put in a new vanity, we would have to redo the floors because they didn't run under the vanity.  If we redid the floors in the bathroom, we would have to redo the floors in the kitchen, hall and laundry room because they were all connected.  If, if, if.  Long story short, we redid the whole downstairs. We weren't really prepared for such an undertaking.  I hadn't picked out one material.  It dragged on FOR-EV-ER.  (That's right, say it Squints-in-The-Sandlot style).  The work was well out of our league and we hired a contractor.  But when you haven't made any decisions, they can't get anything done.  And it always takes longer than you thought it would. 

Fortunately, I did end up with a pretty nice bathroom.

  

The original hole in the ceiling picture was taken on Sept 28.  This last one?  April 3.  Demo on the kitchen wasn't until December, but that still means months of no bathroom, kitchen, and we had to use a laundromat!

I walked away from this debacle smarter.  I learned to always be as prepared as possible.  To a fault, in other areas of my life, I ALWAYS have a plan.  But, that's what construction does, it derails us!  Things will go wrong, but it can be a smoother ride.  Have your materials picked out and purchased in advance.  Even if you aren't doing the work yourself, have a plan for the order it will go in so you know what to expect and can schedule correctly.  For example, cabinets, then counters, then backsplash, etc.  And, know your limits!

Here is some proof that I remembered and put my new found skills to work.  Again, we hired out the work.  (They did such a beautiful job on the downstairs.)  I had every last detail down to the shower curtain and new towels in my house and ready to go when we started.  

I looked and looked for a before picture, but all I could find was post demolition.  Imagine a Holiday Inn tub insert and the same builder grade vanity we had originally downstairs.

 

These pictures were take on Nov 30.  The final product?  Dec 23!  

  

 

Please, learn from my stupidity, and NEVER jump into a construction project thinking it will be easy.  It is totally worth it, but it comes with more than just a financial price tag.  Always remember to breathe, and your pursuit of a dream house won't give you nightmares.