Sep 14 2005
Renovate!
We finally have decided to renovate our bathroom. The recent leakage caused a lot of damage. The ceiling has to be replaced and the tiles also came off on one wall and aren’t not bonding very well around the bathtub. Unfortunately our landlord is very slow in fixing things, and I just can’t wait any longer. Since I’m doing major repairs I rather opt for an almost total renovation, but on a budget. That way I can install a real bath, the one we currently have just hold 12 cm of water and is actually just a biggish shower. We won’t install the fanciest things, just some nicer things.
To be done:
- new ceiling
- new lighting (the old wires are very unsafe)
- new tiles
- new sink and mirror
- uncovering and repairing old original floor
- new, low water use, toilet
- new bath tub
- new shower-head, taps etc.
- enlarging built-in cupboard
A lot of work, I know, especially when you live in a rented apartment. But it’s good for me to get some experience with the way they do all kinds of things here (plumbing and electricity is done here very different than in Europe. Worse I would say.) And we’ll get a comfy bathroom in return. And maybe, maybe, I’ll get some money from the landlord. I don’t count on it though.
I’ll keep you posted.
Tuesday, 20 September, 2005 @ 13:45
you’re my hero. i so wish i had the nerve and knowledge to renovate! our basement isn’t all finished and we’ve been staring at it for two years. our bedroom ceiling has those crappy suspended tiles, but they were so badly installed that they cave in places, and the last row around the room was never put in, so really we should take it all down and start again. money is a problem, but then again so is the prospect of all that dust and crap… *sigh* and then there’s our bedroom walls, made of that nice wood panelling, never painted – you just know that would suck in at least two coats of primer. and then if we paint, should we do the ceiling first…? oh boy. i hate my bathroom tiles, but the bathroom is nice – so they’ll stay. i’d need a lot of time, patience, energy and friends to attack all that i considered urgent when we moved in!
Tuesday, 20 September, 2005 @ 16:20
I love to be your hero. But you should me hear swearing when I take of the tiles and almost the whole wall collapses.
And yeah, renovating does cause a lot of dust. But painting is relatively easy and has an excellent investment/pleasure ratio. If I were you (and I aint, I don’t even know you) I’d certainly give your bedroom a lick of paint. And do it now, before it’s winter and you have to keep the windows closed.
But the ceiling is better done first. And removing a suspended ceiling is no fun, because it gives a lot of crap and probably there is a reason it was suspended. Pipes, big holes in the ceiling or something like that. Better take a peek first. If you use a paint made for ceilings it doesn’t drip and one layer will probably enough, unless the current ceiling colour is very different from the new one, or you (or previous tenants) are heavy in-bed-smokers.