Big Trouble
I got an email from my Grandma today. My Grams emails be about once a week, so receiving her email wasn't unusual. After I read her email I knew I was in big trouble. She noted that I haven't updated my blog in quite some time - so she wanted to make sure I was OK. You know you are in trouble for not updating a blog when Grandma emails to question it! I'm OK, still here, just a little busy.
Busy doing what you might ask? Extreme Makeover Bathroom Edition! A few weeks ago my neighbor, I'll call her Angela - because that is her name, told me that she thought there was a bathroom hidden in our basement. This is extremely exciting news. We have a 2 - almost 3 bedroom apartment with ONE, UNO, EINES, bathroom. In a few weeks my sister and family will be coming to visit. I'll do the math for you. Still one toilet, now 8 people will be sharing it. Angela was also very interested in adding another facility to our building because she will have 6 guests staying with her in December.
Rumor has it that our storage rooms down in the basement were formerly maids quarters. Surely, the maids had to shower and were probably not welcome to do so in the apartments, so they had to have a bathroom. Behind a locked door stood a toilet, two sinks, and a shower. Now we just needed to get in there so we could use them.
There wasn't a dramatic break in or anything like that, Angela just went to the housing office and asked for the key. What we found once we opened the door was dramatic. Nastiness. No other way to describe it.
So, I borrowed a shopvac and pressure washer from the Self-Help store (like Lowes but everything is free) and we started to make plans.
First step: masks, gloves and coveralls. This place is foul and there is a lot of organic bird residue (crap) everywhere.
I donned my protective gear, went in with a shopvac and broom and cleared out the first 20 layers of grime. Next step was the pressure washer. We blasted that place for hours - ceiling, walls, floor, toilet, shower, sinks - everything. That took out a few more layers of dirt. And finally, we brought in the bleach. Bleach and water baby. We washed everything we could reach with a toxic bleach solution.
At the end of the day Angela's husband came home, nearly passed out at the bleach fumes, and then started working too. He put a new toilet seat on, new shower head, and mounted a towel bar.
It is still a funky basement toilet that reminds me a lot of camping (ew don't step on the floor barefoot). It is dusty smelling but the actual sinks, toilet, and shower are pretty darn clean.
For your viewing pleasure I have pictures!
Busy doing what you might ask? Extreme Makeover Bathroom Edition! A few weeks ago my neighbor, I'll call her Angela - because that is her name, told me that she thought there was a bathroom hidden in our basement. This is extremely exciting news. We have a 2 - almost 3 bedroom apartment with ONE, UNO, EINES, bathroom. In a few weeks my sister and family will be coming to visit. I'll do the math for you. Still one toilet, now 8 people will be sharing it. Angela was also very interested in adding another facility to our building because she will have 6 guests staying with her in December.
Rumor has it that our storage rooms down in the basement were formerly maids quarters. Surely, the maids had to shower and were probably not welcome to do so in the apartments, so they had to have a bathroom. Behind a locked door stood a toilet, two sinks, and a shower. Now we just needed to get in there so we could use them.
There wasn't a dramatic break in or anything like that, Angela just went to the housing office and asked for the key. What we found once we opened the door was dramatic. Nastiness. No other way to describe it.
So, I borrowed a shopvac and pressure washer from the Self-Help store (like Lowes but everything is free) and we started to make plans.
First step: masks, gloves and coveralls. This place is foul and there is a lot of organic bird residue (crap) everywhere.
I donned my protective gear, went in with a shopvac and broom and cleared out the first 20 layers of grime. Next step was the pressure washer. We blasted that place for hours - ceiling, walls, floor, toilet, shower, sinks - everything. That took out a few more layers of dirt. And finally, we brought in the bleach. Bleach and water baby. We washed everything we could reach with a toxic bleach solution.
At the end of the day Angela's husband came home, nearly passed out at the bleach fumes, and then started working too. He put a new toilet seat on, new shower head, and mounted a towel bar.
It is still a funky basement toilet that reminds me a lot of camping (ew don't step on the floor barefoot). It is dusty smelling but the actual sinks, toilet, and shower are pretty darn clean.
For your viewing pleasure I have pictures!
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