Week ending 10/5/12

What a week it's been!   8 months after first talking to the contractor, the bathroom project finally began this week.  It went pretty good until Thursday, and then I was cursing myself for being so optimistic as to think this could go smoothly.

Once the workers arrived on Monday, we were without a shower or tub, so we had to shower at the swim club.  They did the demolition, set the new tub and tiled it.

The first issue was when the plumbers tried to put the tub faucet back on. A small rubber washer couldn't be reused.  I never got the full story as to why, they just said that I (me) needed to replace it.  Yes, I asked the same question you are probably thinking - why can't a licensed plumber go to the plumbing supply place (there are several within a 5 minute drive) and pick up a washer?  Well, even after extensive arguments the only answer I got was that I had to replace it because we were putting back an existing fixture.  Had it been a new fixture the plumber would have taken care of it.  Yes, it makes no sense and yes, this really is the best contractor I have to pick from.

The second issue was that once we were able to at least bathe in the tub (filling it from the shower head), I discovered a huge crack in the tub.  It's as if someone dropped something sharp and the cracks radiated outward.

The next issue was that the contractor screwed us on some design issues.  This was such a complicated problem to solve (how to make a big bathtub work as both a shower and tub) and so unusual that I consulted 3 different sources for advice when we first attempted it.  All 3 were qualified to give advice and all 3 gave us bad advice meaning the project couldn't work and putting us in the situation we are in now of having to replace the tub AGAIN.  I asked the contractor if he could help us solve it or if he could recommend a designer to work with.  He assured us on multiple occasions that he could solve it for us.

The plan we came up with was to tile the floor so it could handle some water and put a glass panel over about half the tub.  It would cover most of where you stood to shower and some water would splash out.  When we tested this by mocking up the panel with a plastic tarp, a 2-SECOND shower burst put water everywhere!  There were puddles all over the floor.  He screwed us because the entire project was designed around this concept and now it wouldn't work.

I don't begrudge him for not being a designer, but I do hold him accountable for saying he could solve this when in fact he is not qualified.  Had he just been honest, we wouldn't be in this position.


But wait, there's more!

When the plumbers were moving the washer and dryer to access the bathtub plumbing, the damaged a metal mesh panel in the cabinet that holds the water heater.  They didn't call it to my attention (big surprise, eh?) but I saw it right away and called it to the contractor's attention.  The contractor said to get a new panel and he'd install it.

What's wrong with this picture?  Why am I lifting even a finger to fix this?  You broke it, just make it right.  I shouldn't have to do anything.  Ugh.

Here's some pictures of the week, and needless to say it didn't finish in a week.  More to come.

This is the before shot:

The poor dogs had to be cooped up in the small office with C.  This is Danny trying to fit into Calvin's bed.  We later put Danny's bed in the room too.

End of day 1:

End of Day 2, tub is dry fitted:

Day 3, cement deck is laid and tiling begun.