WFH, DIY, WTF

WFH (Working From Home) is on the board at work for me today. Today I finally get rid of my old decrepit tub and shower. It wasn't exactly perfectly planned. I had hoped to cut all the pretty pictures from magazines over the next year or so, I had planned to pour over all the various ceramic, stone, glass tile possibilities. I had planned to find SOME WAY to get glass block incorporated - just because I love glass block. But all of that planning had to be negated because it started raining...inside...one floor below my tub/shower. Not good.

We valiantly attempted to fix it ourselves. Hubby was a trooper. Reading up on tiling on the internet, asking my sister (the epitomy of DIY) for tips, and finally diving in with a putty knife and some new grout. He peeled off the old 1930's subway tiles (or actually he touched them and they fell off) and I helped him trim the old grout off the back and the edges. He carefully stacked them and let the wall dry in preparation. We sponge bathed for a day or two to ensure it was totally dry and then he dove in with the mastik/grout. He smoothed it on like peanut butter like the books said, and stuck the first tile to the wall, gently wiping the excess off. All good. The next tile in the row went up the same, then the next, and the next. Finally it was time to put the last tile for that row in place.

It didn't fit.

W went through the entire stack and none of them seemed to fit. They had come off this wall...wouldn't they go back on? It seemed not. Hubby decided it was a question of pressure and leverage. He carefully pressed the tile into place, pushing and squeezing, patiently trying to get the last edge against the wall. And then, just as the tile flattened against the wall and we experienced a mili-second of triumph, two other tiles in that row fell off. Um. Yeah. I quickly covered the giggle that threatened to explode watching Hubby's face for exploding fury. He didn't explode. He calmly picked up the fallen tiles, scraped them off, and tried again. Slowly and patiently he pressed the last tile in place...and two different tiles fell off. This time it was Hubby who chuckled, allowing me to release my pent up laughter. This is NOT how Norm and the Guys do this stuff on This Old House.

After several attempts and every row of tile completed except for one tile in each row (this problem repeated over 5 rows of tile), we gave up. Hubby went to the store and bought some new tiles - a little shorter - and a little different color (since they aren't like 80 years old) and placed them. Extra grout around the edges helped make up the difference.

It wasn't pretty, but all we wanted was to gain the time we needed to do that planning thing I referred to. We let everything dry and ran the water again.

Within a day, it was raining in the kitchen again.

WTF?

We attempted to eliminate all other possibilities. Was it coming from a pipe? The drain? The coping around the tub edge? So for the past several weeks, we've been showering amidst plastic wrap, duct tape, and grungy grout droppings. We eliminated plumbing as a part of the problem and returned to recognizing something in the tiling or tub was leaking. It was time to give up and call in the experts.

We knew we didn't have the big bucks for a total bath re-do, so we called Bathfitters and today one lonely guy with a lot of equipment is here to repair? replace? well, re-cover our tub and shower.

Here are some before shots:

None of that cruddy stuff in the tub is dirt by the way. Joy wouldn't allow it. It is simply 80 years of wear and tear. The peeling and shredding wall board above the tub has been repaired by us at least twice since we've lived here...hence our decision to take the bathfitter solution to the ceiling!

After shots will be posted when he's done.

Fingers crossed.