Emergency Renos 5036

We got a call from the basement suite tenants who had a shower that was not draining properly...or at all, really. We laughed and went over to see if a bit (or a lot) of Draino would help the problem, figuring that a disgusting mixture of hair and foreign objects in the drain was to blame. Oh how wrong we were...

After a bottle of Draino did nothing we tried a plunger...which didn't work...and then a pipe snake...which didn't work. Even the "professionals" (they had matching shirts so must have been professionals) with their electric drain auger couldn't solve the problem. There was only one answer: the problem was in the pipes...under the tub...under the concrete floor. With no time to waste Cam began tearing out the bathtub and what was thought would be a few days of inconvenience turned out to be several weeks of renovation fun.


BEFORE:


This is a view from the doorway of the back wall of the shower, behind which is the bathtub. It's where all the plumbing for the tub and the sink is located. It's also poorly made and the plumbing job it concealed was even worse. Plus, the wall made the room look small. The walls and ceiling were made of sheets of fake wood paneling, painted over but beginning to warp with age. Very little light, an old toilet that wasn't so good at flushing, no fan...in short it needed to be redone. Not to mention the mice in the ceiling over the years had gathered quite a collection (those little klepto's). We found lego bits, nails, marbles, small dinosaurs, and small other objects when we tore the ceiling down.

(Ever wonder what was under a bathtub?)

Once the tub was out we were able to confirm that, indeed, the problem was underground. Fortunately Cam had easy access to all the concrete demolition tools we'd need.


Thank goodness for my Bosch man...he had endless enthusiasm and tools to get the job done.



Once the floor was broken up and removed we had to dig out the old pipe and hopefully find the problem.

(Well there's your problem...)

We found the problem...the ABS plastic pipe under the tub had dissolved and had a huge hole! The tub water was draining into the clay rich ground under the house. And if you know clays (Karen does), you know they are not so permeable making the drain water very slow to flow. On the plus side the front lawn was always well watered...

DURING:

The plumber fixed all the pipes and put in a bunch of new work (and we gave him enough money to put his kids through College). Cam rebuilt the subfloor and walls after we got the plumber to pour the concrete floor back in around the new pipes. Cam had to work in Edmonton on the weekend so his parents came in and helped Karen install the shower.

Every wall was torn down. The ceiling came down. The toilet and the sink were removed. Electrical was all rewired. Heating was re-piped. The walls were insulated and drywalled. A new exhaust fan was installed. New fixtures and hardware were installed. New lino was laid. Meanwhile the tenants were thinking about charging us rent we were there so much.

AFTER:



Nov 10: It looks a hell of a lot better now...but all of our weekends (except the ones Cam was working already with Bosch) and our evenings for three weeks...you could say they "went down the drain."

Thanks to Cam, Drewe, Karen and me....and our tenants who are really not unhappy anymore ...they don't have to share their place with us, don't have to wash in the kitchen sink, and are happy about the results.