Guestimates

Let's get something out of the way:  During the school year, my normal summer 1-3 posts per week becomes 1-3 posts per month.  Drives me nuts.  So I have decided that rather than blast out a bunch of posts during the summer and then dry up during the school year, I'm going to save the blog for the stuff I'm really proud of.  The major projects.  The big-impact posts.  The big potatoes.

This is the beginning of a big potato story.

Our ugly chipped fiberglass guest bathtub has bit the big one.  A large crack running most of the length of the shower pan was the nail in the coffin.  Honestly, getting this tub replaced wasn't really on our radar until recently.  We thought maybe we'd get around to doing something about it eventually, but there were so many other more pressing functional upgrades that needed to happen around our house that replacing this tub fit more in the "maybe in a few years, if ever" category.  But since we've been hosting overnight guests more and more frequently since last winter, it's been bumped to the top of the list because a) our overnight guests deserve to be able to de-stinkify themselves and b) we are really not keen on the idea of our tub leaking and causing water damage to our house.

We called some local plumbing/reno folks for estimates on replacing the tub and surround.  After four estimates ranging from $1300 to $2700 (!!!) for just removing the tub, replacing it with another fiberglass tub and surround, and reconnecting the plumbing (finishing the drywall wasn't even included!), we decided this would be a project worth DIYing.

The good news is, we're going to be able to do this MUCH more cheaply ourselves and with higher quality materials... unless we run into nasty surprises like extensive water damage-- knock on wood.  The bad news is that it will take a lot longer.  We are still in the hunting/gathering phase of this project, so there are many aspects that we're still piecing together, but we are trying to cheaply source a cast iron tub and white subway tile.  I think we may have found the tub in question (on Craigslist, of course), and hopefully a trip to the local Habitat for Humanity store will yield some tile options.  In the mean time, please bear with me on the blog post dry spell, check out the inspiration photos we're using, and if you know anyone that would be willing to lend us a wet saw or Rubi cutter- hook us up!

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