Time to Get Busy - Fix that Bathroom!

"If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." - Olin Miller

I have been staring at my demolished bathroom for almost a year now. The story behind this destroyed bathroom is this:

When I bought my house I was a stupid first time home buyer. I have figured out that companies prey on people like me. I trusted the mortgage broker when they recommended a home inspector. My husband shadowed the inspector and he seemed to have done a good job. He even annotated minor corrections for the home owner to make. What he did not find was the large amount of water damage on the back half of my house because he did not look for it. Yes, I said it. The entire back half of my house. I thought it was new damage and filed it on my insurance after tiles fell off my kid's bathroom wall and saw how wet it was. The insurance company forced us to have the damage dried up before even assessing. After the assessment, the insurance company determined that is was from the previous owner because there was no source of water. So, we were forced to pay for the drying and now we had to find a way to fix it. I was so mad that I started demolishing the area where the tiles were coming off in a very destructive way. That led to finding out that the previous owner knew about the damage and rigged the repair to sell the house. He shoved a piece of plywood in the wall some how and then "tacked" the tile to it and use something other than grout. This was not a good seal and that is how even more water got into the wall when my daughter's would shower. Many people have recommended suing the previous owner, but after a lot of thought I determined it would cost me more money in fees than it was worth because he would not be able to pay us anyhow. We demolished the area our self and purchased what we could with a card that was 6 mo no interested. Before Lew left for Korea we had successfully insulated all three walls and put backer board on two. I was left with the rest.

My second New Years resolution for 2014 was to do something-anything to make my house better. My plan is to work on one room at a time and only pick 4-5 things to work on each month. January was supposed to be the month I finish this bathroom. An expected curve ball with finances will probably not allow that, but I have decided to do what I can with what I have and what I can afford (even if its only a can of paint). 

January's To Do List (Bathroom):

- Fix wall

- Paint walls

- Finish backer-board and tile prep

- Tile and fixtures

- new shower curtain and rod

I started last weekend. I had the supplies to fix the above area of wall. I have had the supplies to do this project for almost 9 months and have put it off for fear of what I would find behind the yucky part; maybe a water damaged stud. When planning this projected I used information from Ty Pennington (from a show I watched many years ago), my brother, and this video on how to fix a large hole.

Since I decided to use a dry wall saw, I had to drill holes to put it in. I put about 4 or 5 randomly around the area I planned to cut out. The size of this piece was probably bigger than I needed, but I am lazy and grabbed a piece of pre-cut dry wall at Lowe's, so I just traced it on the wall.

This was the big moment after cutting. I was so scared to look...but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the mold issue was only on the dry wall. During this process I realized how bored I get and how weak I am. My arms hurt so bad while cutting this out and I was so glad I had music playing.

My next project of the day was putting up the last piece of backer-board. I watched videos including this one on  cutting backer-board . I also helped Lew cut the other piece. This was another test of my strength and patience. I have now realized how much I depended on my husband's strength over the last 5 or 6 years. I bent up one of my razor blades cutting this bad boy, but I did it.

This piece was last because we had to cut holes for the plumbing. We inquired at Lowe's a few months back (They are always eager to help, especial on a late, quit, night.) and a gentleman suggested using this cement hole cutter thingy that attaches to a drill (This drill was my first tool purchase when I became a single mom many many years ago. It sure has come in handy over the years.). I was so nervous that I would mess up the measurements, but I was pretty close. The larger hole had to be lower by about 1/2 inch and I just used the hole cutter to shave that off.

I added the mesh tape before I took these two pictures. 

The installation of the backer-board and dry wall was simple. Just screw it to the studs. 

I probably should have stopped before putting the mud stuff up (yes I know its not the right term). About half way into it, I got bored and annoyed. I am sure that I will have a lot of sanding to do because I got sloppy. In order to do this step, I had to make a purchase. I could not find any scraper/knife things in my garage or house. We have a bad habit of not putting things away.

I am excited to start tiling . My biggest worry is cutting the tile. This guy makes it look easy. I am probably going to have to get creative to get around the plumbing because I do not have a tile saw. I checked out the website that the video came from and it looks pretty good. I love the intro on the page too. If you did not already know, I am a sucker for an accent. I found myself watching that gentleman's tiling videos and enjoying the accent more than the information. I know, I am such a weirdo.

This post is by no means meant to teach anyone how to DIY, only inspire you to get busy on your own projects because if I can do it, so can you. :)