Now that the refi is done, it’s nearly time to get back to fixing stuff in Ye Olde Condo, starting with the tiny toilet and shower area of the master bath.
I don’t have any before pictures from when I moved in 10 years ago. As I said at the time, the place was immaculately preserved, a time capsule of the early 80s, but everything in it was just old. I have taken some pictures of the current unfortunate state of affairs
My current shower is 40 years old. It has all sorts of weird design issues, like a useless soap dish placed where the water pools into it and melts any bar of soap placed there. It’s also really good for growing mold.
The shower head is the original too. It works surprisingly well for its advanced years, but it’s on borrowed time. I’ve fixed it twice, but I’m sick of it and want one of those cool overhead and hand held combos. As long as we’re ripping shit out, I’m going to get what I want.
It also has an ugly cheap towel rack INSIDE the shower, because who doesn’t want to dry off with a towel that is already wet?
But the real biggie: the shower originally had sliding glass doors. One day a few years ago, I was cleaning the old doors and they fell apart in my hands.
This is not hyperbole. The frame came apart as I was wiping the glass, and I had to catch a large, heavy glass panel that was suddenly not connected to anything, while parts of the old frame clattered to the floor around me. It was quite an exciting moment , let me tell you!
Being me, my solution was to get a tension rod and a shower curtain and put off spending money I didn’t have on getting a new door for a very old and stupidly designed shower.
Then there’s the overhead light.
That’s not a burned out bulb. It’s a two bulb fixture, but only one side works.
So: toilet, shower rebuild, flooring, light fixture, small things like towel rods and such. Then paint, which I’ll be happy to do myself: I actually have mad painting skills. Installing a new shower pan, not so much.
All of this has to happen in a TINY toilet and shower combo behind a door. I can’t move walls; the other side of this mess is part of the master bedroom closet and that would just create insanity.
So, I’ll be living without a shower for a week, when I finally work up the nerve to get this done, but it’ll be fabulous when done. I just have to psych myself up to endure Remodeling Hell again.