Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT: One crappy weekend

We had a VERY crappy weekend.

The cat urinated on the carpet friday night which has happened previously. I was doing vacuuming saturday when i discovered it and of course the vacuum went right over it. We tried to steam clean the carpet with some Zep enyzme materials and vinegar, but this time it just smelled too bad. The bottom of the vacuum and all its parts needed to be taken apart and soaked in vinegar overnight.
After throwing the cat across the room, a friend and i pulled out some of our basement carpet sunday afternoon which we now have to replace. A carpet end at a local dealer set us back several hundred after monday. My wife and i also decided to get Cricketcat's front paws declawed so she won't destroy any more carpeting on the stairs. Although this is something i'm normally against, the destruction just has to end. Cricketcat went in monday morning undermy friend's tender care (he happens to be a veterinarian, what a huge plus). If we decide to sell this house in the near future (highly likely), then having a basement with torn carpet that smells like cat urine will not help the sale price any. It is bad enough my hockey helmet has a funky smell that i'm not all too sure wasn't due to the cat's intervention.
Then, just after heading downstairs to the front door, minutes from getting ready to head to my friend's place for dinner (around 5pm sunday now), he noticed some crap on our landing. Turns out our dog Chasca tracked it in from the back yard into the house all over her back feet. We had to Spic and Span all the main floor and steam clean all the stairs going up, as well as get the big muttonhead Chasca into the tub for washing. We also had to throw every dog bed on the main floor into the laundry. Well, during the annoying process of washing the dog, she slipped in the tub while i was trying to get her to stay still and her head punched through the tile wall of the bath surround. Now we have to replace our bath tile or surround. Of course as luck would continue to roll, the drywall behind the tile is all moist and soaked through (it was not the green sheet that SHOULD be behind any bath area), so not only do we have to replace the tile, we actually have to gut the whole tub area.
Is the day done?
Hell no.
After going through all that nonsense and me having been pushed beyond my limits, we went over to our friend's place for dinner (about 8pm sunday night now) and beers (thank heaven) only to discover that on the way back our Honda CRV has a wicked shimmy when it gets to 50kph or higher. Apparently it started last thursday shortly after my wife returned from yoga. Now the damn CRV has to go into Midas Monday morning as well to be looked at. As of Monday afternoon, the results of the CRV inspection revealed a screw in the front driver side tire causing a leak, lost balances on two of the wheels (hence the cause of the shimmy) and at least one of the tires is near the safety limits for tire tread with 2 others close behind. Hence we need to replace all 4 tires on the truck (plus balancing and alignment)!!

In the course of one weekend we are looking at anywhere from $1500-2500 in repair build materials, new carpet, new car parts, and vet bills possibly more depending on how much a tub surround and CRV repairs will cost. If my luck holds up....

The culprits:

FYI...Oxy Clean tends to help w/ the urine smell (along w/ the enzympe stuff). Also, if you are concerned w/ the subfloor/concrete retaining the smell, you can try a paint called KILZ, which is good at sealing in odors.

Good luck. I definitely like cats. However, that level of adoration has taken a serious plunge since my cat destroyed the carpeting in a room and hall of my house. If it weren't for it's mother's love, I would have old yeller'd his a$$ long ago.

damn man. after all of that i'm pretty sure i'd be swinging by the nearest chinese take-out place with a delivery. maybe two.

chess, you have my sympathy.

wrt the tub surround, greenboard is NOT a code-approved tile backer either in most cases. Even the best tile installation is not "waterproof". The tile substrate should have a vapor barrier behind it, then either floated mud (pure art!) or cementitious backer unit (CBU - brand names like hardibacker, etc.). Resist the temptation to just try to patch the hole. Likewise, I hate to tell you this, but redoing a tub surround could be more expensive and/or time consuming than you think.

Good luck.

I have to second Tom on this one... opening up that bathroom wall if there was no CBU - wow, new word, I always refered to it as wonderboard or (incorrectly as) shaft liner... you may notice you've been growing a crop of golden moldies back there.

I feel for you... I want to renovate an on-suite half-bath at home, but the S.O. has decided I don't have the skill set. Nothing like that vote of confidence.

Ray, can I get a "Sell the wife", please?

Bren R.

The materials we are using are code approved for bathrooms.
It is a product called "Aquaboard" designed for this purpose.
We are not re-tiling the bathroom or patching a hole. We are literally putting in a new plastic surround after replacing the wet drywall. Its cheaper and far quicker.

I"m not overly shy about destroying the bathroom walls. This is old hand work as far as i'm concerned. What i am worried about is potential mold, but given the generaly dry climate for our area, it is rare except in extreme cases of truly badly built homes.
I will know later this afternoon whether we need to vacate the premises or not. On the plus side, being of biological background, i find the idea of identifying mold rather fascinating.
Strange no?

Good call on the surround, chess. I always gravitate towards tile, but if you can get a fiberglass surround into that space, good for you. I have been scarred by previous remodels in which that was NOT an option due to space limitations or non-standard sizes.

Bren, how are you going to ever develop the requisite skill set (or acquire the new tools) without trying? Will the project somehow become more expensive if you try and THEN hire somebody?

I'll bet you could do it.

In your dog's defence, she really does look like she's sorry and has learned her lesson

>>Bren, how are you going to ever develop the requisite skill set (or acquire the new tools) without trying? Will the project somehow become more expensive if you try and THEN hire somebody?

It's these damn home improvement shows. If you take more than 30 minutes to gut & rebuild a bathroom then it's obvious you don't have the skills and should be calling that guy in the coveralls on channel 53.

>>"In your dog's defence, she really does look like she's sorry and has learned her lesson"<<

But the pic of the cat makes it apparent that she could give a sh*t about the great pissing episode of 2005.