Last year I FINALLY got the drainage issues in my yard fixed, as y’all may recall. So then my next step in my “take better care of my house plan” was getting the foundation checked to see how bad my neglect damaged the house.
After lots of research, I selected Anchor Foundation to come out to inspect it and I’m very happy with my choice. Craig is patient, explains things clearly, and doesn’t do the whole mansplaining or the like. And the great news was that, despite it being clear the foundation never had any maintenance done before, it is overall in good shape! Some settled parts need to be raised, primarily the main center beam, and leveled the rest of the floor back out. They will also be adding some concrete bases and replacing a few damaged ones to help support the sill more, and replacing a bit of rotted wood under the hall load-bearing wall.
Now, if that had been all, it would have been great! Already done and I’d be on to my planned next step… but it wasn’t. One of the things I’d noticed when giving details on the foundation concerns is that my bathroom floor has gotten so wonk the last few months, with a crack in the tile growing rapidly, dips around the edge, and places that dip when you step on them.
Suffice to say, the bathroom subfloor is in fact completely rotted out – from dry rot from under the house combined with the tub drains (the regular and overflow) just pouring water all over the subfloor and beams whenever I bathe or shower because the seals on them are apparently completely gone. Anchor will also be replacing the subfloor and rebuilding it all up, from the ground to the subfloor basically… but of course, that also means, the bathroom gets ripped apart in the process… like completely.
Now, I will say I mostly hate my bathroom, so I don’t fully hate the idea of a new bathroom, but it wasn’t what I was expecting to be doing this year. It is going to be expensive as heck, over a year of my take-home pay actually, but since it has to happen, I’m focusing on the good parts, like the bathroom to come! I mean, look at this thing!
Found an awesome contractor that I’ll be working with, Buck the Builder. Yes, I know I could save thousands managing the contracting myself, but FUCK THAT. My sanity is worth the extra cost, and he can make sure it takes as little time as possible because it is my ONLY bathroom, so I’ll have to temporarily relocate or do something else for bathroom purposes during the reno.
I also “could” do the work myself, sure, but again, FUCK THAT NOISE. I want it done right and in a timely fashion. And since it is happening, I’m getting my “dream” bathroom, or at least, as much as I can do with balancing some sanity in the budget because my dream would have been super expensive.
Not that this is going to be a cheap project by any stretch. The foundation side is going to be around $7-8k, which includes the other crawlspace stuff and the bathroom demo. The bathroom… oh… boy. After calming my tits some and giving up some ideas (like expanding the room to add a separate shower), and the patience of a saint from Buck, as well as the amazing assistance of Constance at Aggieland Carpet One and Alyssa at Moore Supply as I kept changing my selections, I’m looking at around $34k for the contractor side, plus $6k for the fixtures.
Took out a $40k loan, which was the most I could get… rest I’ll have to cash flow or do on credit, alas, but I decided that I was willing to do that to have more of a bathroom I will finally love, versus just settling for something cheaper. And again, I could have brought that price down a lot if I’d kept my tub or just replaced it with something basic – but nope, I’m finally going to have my DREAM! An air jet tub, and I am splurging by adding chromotherapy lights to them too. 😀 I am keeping my toilet since it’s the Kohler one I got a few years ago. That damn pedestal sink is going at last and I’ll have a lovely, custom-made vanity!
The colors and design are perhaps bold all around as I’m mixing some bright colors, some unique tiles, and basically just doing my own thing to make what will work for me. So now some pics of the future to come, starting in June!