Fooled ya! (a.k.a. the shower catastrophe)
Disclaimer: This is not an April's Fools joke post, unfortunately.
Let me tell you about a little contracting project we had going on last week....and then this week. We decided we wanted to re-do the shower/tub surround because it's ugly and poorly-done and should have been re-done when we moved in, but we had a million other projects to do back then. So we called Capital Re-Bath and set up an appointment. The day before the appointment, our co-op plumber came out to "check out the pipes" and see if anything needed replacement (it's pretty standard to let the co-op people know when you're doing household renovations just so they can take a look, since they maintain the plumbing among other things).
Here is a day-by-day synopsis, with pictures, of what happened.
Day 1:
This is what the shower looks like. Ick.
The co-op plumber arrives, peels off the wall covering the pipes, and replaces the pipes with all new ones. We go from 3 knobs (hot, cold, shower) to one (combined). As you can see, there is a gaping hole. Pretty. And yes, the bathroom used to be PINK.
Day 2:
Re-Bath guy comes out and begins replacing the shower surround by ripping the other walls off.
He covers the hole with 'green board.' No more gaping hole.
Walls go up and everything looks sparkling new.
Day 3:
After taking one 10-minute shower, the shower curtain is pulled back to reveal TWO INCHES OF STANDING WATER covering the bathroom floor. Panic ensues and we drench 5 towels sopping up the water.
But wait, there's more. The water has gone through the ceiling and is dripping into the kitchen below.
We call emergency maintanence. They come out and tell us the leak is coming from the shower (really??) but not the bath tub, so we can still run the faucet and bathe that way. Lovely. No repairs can take place until Monday. In the mean time, they will come over the next day to dry out the ceiling with a de-humidifier.
Day 4: Co-op people never show up. We cry at our lack of a shower.
Day 5: Co-op plumber shows up. He says he can't do anything without the Re-Bath people removing the wall. S throws a pregnant lady fit on the phone with the co-op manager about not being able to bathe and wash her hair as she's 9 months pregnant. We come home to see this:
And this:
Somehow, the ghetto jury-rigged shower is supposed to be ok. We cry again (or at least, I do). BUT...the leak appears to be fixed.
Day 6: Re-Bath guy comes out and replaces the green board and the wall. I must admit that things do not look as good as the first time he did it, but thank goodness we have a working shower again.
End of story.
Let me tell you about a little contracting project we had going on last week....and then this week. We decided we wanted to re-do the shower/tub surround because it's ugly and poorly-done and should have been re-done when we moved in, but we had a million other projects to do back then. So we called Capital Re-Bath and set up an appointment. The day before the appointment, our co-op plumber came out to "check out the pipes" and see if anything needed replacement (it's pretty standard to let the co-op people know when you're doing household renovations just so they can take a look, since they maintain the plumbing among other things).
Here is a day-by-day synopsis, with pictures, of what happened.
Day 1:
This is what the shower looks like. Ick.
The co-op plumber arrives, peels off the wall covering the pipes, and replaces the pipes with all new ones. We go from 3 knobs (hot, cold, shower) to one (combined). As you can see, there is a gaping hole. Pretty. And yes, the bathroom used to be PINK.
Day 2:
Re-Bath guy comes out and begins replacing the shower surround by ripping the other walls off.
He covers the hole with 'green board.' No more gaping hole.
Walls go up and everything looks sparkling new.
Day 3:
After taking one 10-minute shower, the shower curtain is pulled back to reveal TWO INCHES OF STANDING WATER covering the bathroom floor. Panic ensues and we drench 5 towels sopping up the water.
But wait, there's more. The water has gone through the ceiling and is dripping into the kitchen below.
We call emergency maintanence. They come out and tell us the leak is coming from the shower (really??) but not the bath tub, so we can still run the faucet and bathe that way. Lovely. No repairs can take place until Monday. In the mean time, they will come over the next day to dry out the ceiling with a de-humidifier.
Day 4: Co-op people never show up. We cry at our lack of a shower.
Day 5: Co-op plumber shows up. He says he can't do anything without the Re-Bath people removing the wall. S throws a pregnant lady fit on the phone with the co-op manager about not being able to bathe and wash her hair as she's 9 months pregnant. We come home to see this:
And this:
Somehow, the ghetto jury-rigged shower is supposed to be ok. We cry again (or at least, I do). BUT...the leak appears to be fixed.
Day 6: Re-Bath guy comes out and replaces the green board and the wall. I must admit that things do not look as good as the first time he did it, but thank goodness we have a working shower again.
End of story.