Bathroom Repairs

 Now here's a subject we mostly don't want to see or talk about until we need to fix something - then we're googling all over the place looking for answers.

I haven't posted any repairs lately, because, well, thankfully, I haven't had to do any!  But this one has been rolling around in my head for a while.

I have had some kind of leak from my toilet or the incoming water valve or maybe just from the tank sweating.  It was a mystery, but the floor was obviously showing signs of water absorption.

I called a friend to see if he knew of any carpenters in the area who could take a look at this.  He said he had done repairs like this and would be happy to inspect it and see what we should do.

Here are some before photos:

Actually I have seen worse than this, and it wasn't getting any worse - but I was sure there was some kind of monster under there.

My friend poked around and discovered some dry rot, but nothing was moist any more, so whatever it was wasn't happening any longer.  He offered to take the toilet off, inspect further and put on a new seal.  He also had a great idea for a plate of sorts that would level out the floor so the toilet sat level.

Gotta love the mind of a repairman.
This is made from a sheet of plywood that is stained.  Perfect fit!

For those of you with an older mobile home, this is a great fix as long you do not have major dry rot underneath your floor.  I once saw a similar fix with a steel plate.  This will probably last another 10 years.

Total time four hours.  New seal, bolts, plywood just under $40.

So I only got to play assistant on this one, but I am grateful that I was not the surgeon this time!!!

And so grateful for good friends!!  :)

Bathroom Makeover

In the winter of 2008 I got snowed in and decided it was time to start that paint project in the bathroom.  Fortunately I already had the paint and wallpaper trim and a plan in mind.
This is what I started with:

Your basic bathroom.  Not too bad looking, but not very exciting either.  I could never figure out why the medicine cabinet was over the toilet... let alone with a mirror.  The walls were textured, so without the expertise of replacing them, I decided to just paint over them and go with the texture.

I moved the medicine cabinet over the sink, for starters.  I went with a beachy surf scene, summer feel.  The wallpaper border is hard to adhere to textured walls, FYI, so I don't advise it.  Later I added a fun wooden trim which helps keep it in place anyway.  All these shots are before the final trim work.

 I found a terrific shower curtain that matched the theme, and brought in these wooden crates to fill that weird space above the furnace enclosure.

OK, so here is the "trim" along the wallpaper borders, as well as the rest of the room.  I tend to be unconventional, so plain pine wood seemed to fit the look and feel of a beach bath house.