Monday, November 16, 2009

Leaky Shower Blues

I love our ensuite bathroom. I really do. It is one of the things that really sold me on our house (except for the amazing views through ginormous windows and my curved staircase - I love that!). It has a stand up shower, a seperate jetted tub (my favorite!) and a HUGE mirror and vanity.

BUT, since we have lived here (2.5 years) we have had issues with our shower. It is tiled floor to almost ceiling and we have had problems with little leaks. They have all been repaired by my wonderful husband, who has spent many hours chipping out the old grout, re-grouting and re-sealing. Each time the leak has stopped. Problem solved.

But, a few days ago we noticed that the carpet OUTSIDE the bathroom was damp and upon further inspection we also noticed that the baseboards were a bit bowed and our dresser had water damage along the bottom. Crap! There was no moisture IN the bathroom.

We knew this was bad news. Obviously there was a leak inside the wall somewhere. Sigh.

So, today while I was at work, Chris cut holes in our recently painted bedroom wall to check it out. Kinda worked out well that Chris is using up some of his holiday days this week! What he found was disappointing but not totally unexpected. The wall had mold inside it and obvious signs of water damage. Crap again! No obvious point of water entry though, which leads us to believe that it is leaking from the wall that is against the exterior of the house and seeping around. Crap, crap, crap!

The shower is coming down. All the tile is coming off. This wouldn't be a huge issue except that the tile continues from inside the shower, around to the back of and surrounding the tub. Basically one whole wall of our bathroom is tile. To the tune of about 100- 110 square feet. Ugh.

This evening we went to Home Depot (if only they saw this plug as an ad and gave us free tile! Wouldn't that be great!?) and looked at a few choices and priced them out. The tile we chose is actually relatively inexpensive ($2 per 12 x 12 tile) but the accent pieces are not too cheap ($7 for a 3 x 12 piece). We really like the accent piece even though it is pricey. The tile I think we are going to go with is beige so we need the accent tiles to break up the monotony.

If we didn't have to pay for everything else involved, it wouldn't be too bad, price-wise. But, the cost of the concrete back board (or whatever the heck it is), the mortar, grout, sealant, etc all adds up. Not to mention the drywall and paint to repair the wall that was cut apart.

Guess I should have bought that lottery ticket after all.......

I will post progress of the bathroom reno as it happens!

4 comments:

CanadianMama said...

Your view, cul-de-sac and stair case sold me on your house LOL!

Sorry about the leak - crap indeed!!

The Tompkins Family said...

I completely understand! We had plumbing issues a month or so ago. What started out as a replacement of the main faucet in the bathroom with a budget of $100 turned into a $750 disaster!

Karyn said...

No kidding, crap! At least you will not have to be dealing with little leaks, etc. when it is all done.

Make sure you get all the mouldy drywall cut out!

Is Chris doing all the work, or do you have to rely on 'contractors' again and have a repeat of the basement disaster?

Jan said...

NO contractors! Chris is doing it all. He actually just recently tiled his brother's condo and did our bathroom in our old house so I'm confident he can do a good job!