Once you start a house project on an old house, you’re opening a can of worms. If your goal is to fix one thing and you open a wall or move a bathtub, you’re guaranteed to find 10 plus other projects that need doing. Surprise! You need to fix more things and of course they’re never little, simple things like a nail hole in the wall or replacing an electric cover plate. Nope. It’s always something big. It’s also usually something you get no credit for like electrical or plumbing. Or a foundation issue. Or something else that just sits there not looking pretty or anything.
Here’s an example. We don’t have shut off valves for the water supply lines that bring water to our bathtub. Surprise! When we went to move the tub, we had to shut off the water to the entire house at the street because there weren’t any shut off valves. After a quick trip to the plumbing store for supplies, we now have shut off valves. Notice how I’m trying to keep them shiny and new with plastic bags?
We had some plaster ceiling and walls that needed patching, too.
Below is not the final color.
Our entire house needs re-plumbing. It also needs re-wiring but it’s just not happening – yet or at least not now. Maybe when the teens graduate from college and are completely self-sufficient. That’s when you’ll see me swinging a sledge-hammer ripping out walls, running new wiring, and using my handy new plumbing tool to replace all of the old plumbing in our house. Oh, and adding another bathroom upstairs where all of our bedrooms are located.
At least we’re making progress…
We patched the walls with drywall scraps from a neighbor’s project. With a new coat of paint and a patched ceiling, things are moving forward in our bathroom.
Behind the claw-foot bathtub is looking especially better. No, we didn’t get the tub out of the bathroom. Even with the door removed, it wouldn’t fit. We just keep moving it around the bathroom. Think musical bathtub here and it takes 4 people to move it.
What an awful picture that was! Below is definitely an improvement.
Doing the work ourselves and not hiring a contractor has definitely saved us money. Borrowing tools, using scraps from other projects, and using a second-hand sink are all added money savers. Our bathroom project is definitely Go Gingham!
Want to read more about our bathroom project?
Bathroom Project Part 1
Bathroom Project Part 2
Bathroom Project Part 3
Goodbye Bathroom
Finding Inspiration for a Bathroom Re-Do
Go Gingham 