Do you Laugh or Cry?
Sometimes you’ve just got to laugh, ya know?
Life is full of the unexpected. You can either kick and scream or roll with the punches.
Well, we’ve had some crazy set backs over the past year of renovating this house, so why stop now, right? hee.hee.
Almost two weeks ago, we had a little “incident” in our one working bathroom. The ONE bathroom that all 6 of us have been using for the past 4 months!
It just happen to take place when I was gone (for one day) on my Home Depot trip.
Luke was taking a shower right before bedtime and decided to stand on the tiled soap holder in the shower. Don’t ask me why. He’s an 11 year old boy…that sums it up for me. 
Well, the little soap holder couldn’t hold Luke’s weight, and it detached from the wall bringing down part of the tiled wall with it.
Yep.
It tore down the part directly below the window. The insulation behind the wall was completely moldy and yucky, so Cy tore down the rest of the wall below the window.
Cy knew that having that window that opens and closes in the shower was NOT a good idea. He knew water had to be getting down the wall, and it had.
Luckily, Cy had just finished sealing our new shower in the master bathroom that same day, so we still have at least one shower we can all use.
Whew!
This week, we will begin renovating this bathroom, even though we were not planning on getting to it for at least another year.
We are rolling with the punches, baby!
Should I show you our bathroom renovation as we go along like I usually do, or do you want me to wait to show you the “after” when we are completely through? Like a grand reveal?
Hmmmm….
Can I have it both ways? I like the step by step progress you have done but,…………………a grand reveal would be really fun!
The house I grew up in had a window above the bathtub/shower. Eventually my Mother figured out why the wall was “wavy”. Yep, tile over sheetrock that was saturated wet and moldy. YUCK.
The upside of doing the bathroom now is that you will no longer wonder and worry that you, Cy and the children might be breathing mold with the nasty implications of THAT.
In the next 3 or so years we will be looking for a next house which will be a renovate. So I am learning alot from your experiences and successes. I also make notes of products and materials you have used successfully and not so successfully.
thanks for sharing.
I say wait and show a grand reveal. Anticipation makes for a greater “oooooooh” moment, in my opinion. But, whatever you do, it will be fun!! :)
As you go for sure! I absolutely loved following along with your kitchen remodel!
I want to see what you guys do…..we have a window-less bathroom that the only spot a window could go in is the shower wall. Would you just put at small rectangle window at the top?
We have a small rectangle window at the top of our shower and have never had any problems. Several years ago when we changed all the windows in our home to wood, French windows we did put a vinyl one in the shower just to be safe.
I would love to follow you step by step. We just started remodeling one of our bathrooms and I would love to see your ideas and maybe “borrow” a few for our bathroom.
Although, I won’t leave your blog if you decide to do a big reveal. I’m cool with it either way. ;)
Have fun with your remodel.
Traci, Reading this post and imagining Luke’s face when this happened cracks me up. I have 3 boys and know that my boys could destroy a bowling ball. Boys will be boys!! Im sure he thought his life was over when the “wall” came tumbling down. What can you do though except just go with with it. Thanks for sharing your funny stories! I’m glad your other shower was finished just in time, at least his timing is good!
Cindy~
I’d love to see the step by step progress and then the big reveal at the end. Either way it will be fun to see the finished project. I’m a roll with the punches kind of person too. :D
Be honest with me Traci….you cried, right? I would have cried….like a baby, then sucked it up and decided it was good to go ahead and get the bathroom done and then I would have laughed. :) (of course that’s just me, I’m in awe of you if you really didn’t cry) ;-) lol It was probably a good thing that happened if you had mold in your walls. Poor Luke, I bet he thought you guys were gonna kill him! He is all boy..I’ll give him that, and you know i have three boys of my own, so stuff is gonna happen. They’re boys! :) I personally like watching your day by day progress on your rooms, so my vote goes there, but I’d like it either way, as long as you show the end. lol
Have a great day and enjoy this KY sunshine for the day…cause this weekend we’ll be dragging out those coats!~ OY’!
Love ya!~
I know it will be gorgeous! I do understand when you aren’t ready to tackle a project and you have to do it though! So glad Luke’s okay! I can only imagine his face! Good luck with the renovation!
haha, when I saw this on FB this morning it looked like the “accident” was the baby. lol! My vote is showing progress along the way!
I really enjoy viewing the before/after pictures myself. You are so created!
Also, I am shopping for some small undermount bathroom sinks. Do you have any suggestions where to purchase some at a reasonable cost?
How boring life would be without little boys!
I would love to see your progress along the way.
Oh, gosh, honey. You just gotta laugh. And there’s no explanation needed other than his being an 11-year-old boy!!
I think it’s fun to follow along with you step by step. . . but it might be fun to have one room done as a big reveal. Of course, you could always do separate posts AFTER the big reveal if there’s something special you want to highlight.
I’m going to be more thankful today for our four working showers. :) Love you!
I love to see the step by step progress because I learn a lot from it, and I don’t think it takes away from the before and after pictures at the end. It is always good to look for the silver lining in the cloud. The wall falling down revealed a problem that could have gotten so much worse in a year’s time and could have been more expensive to repair.
Ohhhh, I love watching as you go.
Could you send Luke up to Ohio? I’ve been wanting to take the tile down around my tub! Of course, I could stand on the soap holder myself but I’d probably end up in the hospital.
I’m partial to seeing the step-by-step process because a lot of times somewhere in them there’s a ‘smack myself in the head’ moment when I think ‘Why didn’t I think of that?!’.
<3 Maggie
Our house was built in 1958 and instead of exhaust fans, they had a window. Yes, we not only have a pink tiled shower, but one with a window. I all ready told my husband that when we go to redo that bathroom (thankfully it’s a two shower house!) we need to plan on insulating AND possibly reinforcing all the rotten 2x4s I’m sure are back there. I’m actually quite scared especially since my pantry overhaul is flipping me out a bit.
I think you can still get a “big reveal” even if you do step by step stuff. Usually your step by step posts are specific to one spot, so you don’t get the big picture. The big reveal can be after all the accessorizing. :)
Poor kid! I bet he cried when that happened – or wanted to. My 9 yr old son would have been scared to tell me I know. I did giggle a little reading that though.
I can’t wait to see how you guys renovate! Our house was built in 1931 and the full bath has a WOOD window right in the shower. I love the natural light but I’ve had to hang an extra shower curtain just to protect the wall. Eagerly anticipating any step-by-step stuff!!!
Show as you go and grand reveal!
OH MY!!! I would have done the laugh cry too. I mean, who has that happen?? Funny but not. Good thing you’re flexible and your hubby’s handy! :)
Along the way, please!! I love to see how you guys handle things as they come….4/5th’s of my DIY education comes from your blog!! ;O) Can’t stop now!!!! lol
I want both!!! I love watching the progress, step by step..we learn so much. Then… tada …the big reveal and decorating! yup! btw, I would have loved to have been a mouse to see his expression! My 15 yr old son was bringing the car into the garage, lost control and smashed into the wall. Bent it right out. He was white from fear when he came in to tell us. WE did not lose control, which probably scared him more! haha
You can always post “spoiler alert” for those who want to wait for the big reveal. I like to see it as it progresses.
Lol ya have to laugh! Just last week my husband and I were in the car driving home and it was dark. We both saw at the last minute and what we both thought was a box ended up being a recliner! Yes I said it right a recliner! As we were standing out looking at the $300 damage to our newly paid off van I just laughed and laughed. Who could say they hit a recliner? You just have to laugh nothing else to do. Haha
lol…mother of boy here…age not a factor. I’d love to follow along again as I learn something new each time I read!
Oh, please do step by step. I love to watch the process & the final reveal is still always surprising & amazing!
we want to see your steps along the way!! don’t make us wait till you’re all done to reveal!! :)
I love watching your step by step projects. It keeps me coming back to your blog :) We’re in the middle of my office closet makeover. It always amazes me how a small project can grow into a large project, and that’s what has happened with the closet.
As you go! We too have a working window in our bath/shower and will be replacing that window, probably in the spring. I want to know what you decide to do. We have had glass block suggested to us, which I’m not sure of, so I can’t wait to see what you and Cy decide to do in your bathroom. I may copy you! Sharon B.
As you go. PLEASE!
Would love to see the day-by-day goings on of the bathroom reno…but…you do what works for you!! Just enjoy ‘visiting’ with you every day! :)
Hang in there…
Poor Luke, but I wonder what would have happened if the wall was left alone. Breathing in all of the fumes and wondering what made you sick. Look what you have saved yourself from. So in the long way it was a life saver. I hope he is okay.
My vote is as you go. We all pick up tips when we see it as you go. You know I love your blog. Thanks for sharing.
Oh boy – what a mess! Glad you are keeping a smile on your face. Your post reminds me of my favorite Kurt Vonnegut quote, “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”
Oh goodness, I can’t even imagine. Good thing you and Cy can laugh about it.
I love a good DIY step by step…but I say surprise us this time. That way you don’t feel so stressed to get it done to just put it up on the blog.
No putting any more soap holders in the new bathroom. (smile) I kid. I am sure your son won’t be doing that anymore.
Whatever you do will be great! I have a window in our main bath that is over the tub. We have already had a problem with it. We want to take it out but don’t want to have a dark room as it is the only window in there. ( In our area, you have to have either a window or a vented bathroom.)
I will love to see what you do! I am so glad your son was okay!
I have to laugh out loud! Only an 11yr old boy would do this… I hope. I can only imagine his sheepish look when he had to call Cy in to show him the wall.
Can’t wait to see the remodel. I’ve had a window in the bath, I think we finally painted it with an outdoor paint to seal the wood. Didn’t know how to take it out either. I am thinking a skylight would be a good choice for our main bath which doesn’t have a window in it at all :)
I have to tell you that I laughed when I read this post. Just picturing your son and what was going through his mind when he decided to do what he did- well, it cracked me up. Now I am so glad he wasn’t hurt, and I’m so sorry for the mess it created, but it’s a funny story. Having two sons and a daughter we had our share of similar stories. They are some of the best and funniest memories to talk about now. In years to come this story will be one that will bring a smile to your face?! Gotta love those kids!
I loved this post! My parents would have killed me, so I never would hare dared such pranks. My brother , however, practically blew up our house (and rocked our entire neighborhood) with his “experiments”, so maybe it’s just a guy thing. I’m gathering no one was hurt.
I love your step-by step reveals and tutorials. As mentioned above, it’s still the big reveal when we see it in toto. For example, just seeing your sink next to the tub was surprising as we’d never see the layout of the bath prior..I don’t like sites with the Big Reveal that are just pictures and I usually never revisit them. I like the inspiration, but seeing the progression with the how-to’s makes it feel doable for me. That is inspirational.
As for the window, perhaps you could have a longer celestory-type that opens outward; it would be a shame to lose the natural light. I.too, have seen houses where they are protected with a shower curtain and would rather you lose the wood surround and go with a curved tile and marble sill. As much as I detest replacement windows, this might be a situation where I’d go for it.
It also looks like drywall board as apposed to cement backer board, so it’s not surprising it fell apart. People…definitely use the cement board if you wan water tight. That’s probably the real reason for wavy walls and flying soap dishes: a weak substrate. Green board is NOT suitable for a shower or bath interior. The water gets behind any small crevices in the grout that can be caused by using bleach cleaners among other things. Then, it’s only a matter of time before it fails. At least, it wasn’t someone using the soap dish as a handrail to help him/herself up. That could have been a disaster! CTD
Oh my word!! You poor thing!!
I got to this post from your “favorite pins” post. I saw the toilet on the back patio with the pumpkin on it…..totally cracked up….and then thought….”surely they aren’t remodeling the other bathroom already!” LOL!! Turns out you are!!At least Cy got your master bathroom shower up & running so that you all have a shower to use! Poor Luke…I bet he felt terrible!!
Parker is only 5, but I can see him trying to stand on the soap holder! He’ll climb on anything!! Totally a boy thing….no other explanation needed!!
Hang in there girl!! I know you weren’t ready to makeover this space just yet, but I’m sure you’ll be happy when it’s all said & done!!
Traci,
I say you do as you see fit! This if YOUR blog so post or don’t post; whatever you do, I will be happy with it! I really would like to know what you are going to put in place of the window. One that does not open? Glass blocks? Cover it up completely? I am glad that you found that source of mold and got rid of it. My daughter has asthma and stuff like that makes her cough and cough. Looking forward to your NEXT bathroom!