The woes of owning an older home!

Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
The woes of owning an older home!
3
Fri, 01-23-2009 - 12:39pm
We seem to go from one project to another as I am sure many of you guys do. Unfortunately the time and money are never enough. I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom (that was the shower/tub that leaked years ago right after we moved in, if you remember.......long story if you don't). Anyhow Bill is the only one that uses that bathroom because of its age and location. If any of the bathrooms are going to break I would rather it be the downstairs one since it is easier to work on and can cause the least amount of trouble. Well I wipe that bathroom down each day because I brush my teeth upstairs and I dry my hair in there. But I only take out the throw rug once a week and sweep......not Mrs Clean, I know. I showered up there this morning to clean the tile/tub really good with the tilex and magic eraser and I had not cleaned it really well since before the holidays, other then a quick wipe down. Well the floor tiles have had a crack in them for the longest time and I had mentioned it to Bill but he just dismissed it. He came home a little while ago to use the bathroom and while walking across the floor he really noticed the cracks and how the floor is getting "soft".........oy! So now we just discussed our next major project, I guess after we redo Rob's and Katie's bedrooms with fresh paint and carpet. But I can not afford an expensive redo of that bathroom. I want to get the company that does the tub/shower redo's.......BathFitters I think for a price because that tub is a cast iron tub from the 50's unfortunately it is green and I was thinking we could just go over the entire space in white since we redid all the plumbing years ago when we had that awful leak. Has anyone used or heard anything about Bathfitters? We can tear up the tile floor and put a new white toilet and a new vanity with a white sink (everything is green as so it the tile). Then instead of putting tile back down upstairs we will put a new subfloor down with vinyl floor like in the kitchen. Should be able to do it for less then $5,000 and lots of leg/arm work, right?

Debbie


Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2005
Fri, 01-23-2009 - 3:04pm

Debbie, I used BathFitters for our one-and-only bathroom because to have that out of commission for an extended time just wouldn't work.

Donna

Avatar for dmm11730
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-06-2003
Fri, 01-23-2009 - 3:32pm
Donna thanks for the reply. Our house was built in 1917 and that old tub upstairs must weigh a ton. We are afraid that if we start to rip stuff up and out we will open a huge can of worms. I think this bathroom was redone in the early 70's because of the color. Toilet, tub, sink and tile are all green. I think its avocado green. The tiles are like subway style, long but they start off a lighter green and darken. Then put the tile all around the tub/shower and onto the cealing. There is a light at the top of the shower which we would love to keep as it still works. I want white everything........pretty simple I think. I knew it was not cheap but I was curious to see how it was holding up. I want something that will give me 20 years. I just love the magic eraser from Mr. Clean, they take everything off and work so well on that build up soap scum without causing your arm to fall off while cleaning. Give them a try. You just went them and scrub, no gritty mess or scratchy stuff.

Debbie


Debbie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2005
Fri, 01-23-2009 - 4:03pm

Thank you!

Donna