Dominoes anyone?

Last time I checked, normal people don't gut their bathrooms, especially the only bathroom with a shower in it, a few weeks before their baby is due. Right?

Well, I guess we're not normal, because that is just what we are doing.

We've had some tiles in our shower that we're starting to bulge a little and we knew we'd have to get it fixed eventually. We've just been keeping an eye on it, but it seem like over night it got bad. Really bad. Like some of the tiles have cracked and the wall is soggy enough behind them that you can push some of the tile in. Yuck. Pretty much, this needs to be taken care of yesterday, before the walls get even more wet and before the water leaks down into the kitchen any more than it already has (which thankfully is very little and can be fixed with a coat of paint).

In our short time living in this house, we've come to realize home repairs, especially in an old home, are like Dominoes. One thing goes wrong, and it starts a lovely chain of other repairs to follow.

Let me expound:

Our home was built in 1940. Therefore the tiles used on the walls can not be matched. So there goes the possibility of just replacing the bad areas. And lucky us, our entire bathroom is tiled, so that means we get to re-tile the whole room. The cast iron tub needs to be taken out to get to the potentially bad wood behind it and it only has a few years left before it is going to rust out anyway, so it needs to be replaced. While the tile is off the walls, naturally you replace the faucets and plumbing because they are the originals and could go at any time. If they break say in a year from now, there goes our new tile since we'd have to take it off to access the plumbing. Also they don't make tubs the same shape as they did in the good ol' 40's, so there is going to be a gap between the tub and the original 1940's mosaic tile floor, which unfortunately, can't be matched either. So add a new floor to the list...

See what I mean about dominoes? Did I mention we had to get a new roof last month? Ty says, "we're never buying a used home again." {I think by "used" he means more than 10-15 years old.} :) But that is the nature of living here in Cleveland. All the homes are old and it seams all home owners encounter these same problems. You should hear some of the stories our friends at church can tell. And I'm sure we'll have more to tell by the time we're through here.

On the bright side, we get a perdy new bathroom and we won't have to worry {fingers crossed} about it falling apart on us over the next 5 years.

Really, I'm not trying to complain here. I just want to log this experience, since this is basically my journal, and I think it is kinda funny. We really do love our house and are happy in it. We're warm, dry {now} and really comfy. Our house feels like home. We were just a little surprised with how quickly we have been initiated as full fledged home owners, repairs and all.

We're cutting it close. Heaven help us if this babe comes early {can you imagine coming home from the hospital to no shower!? Yuck.}! The timing is bad, but oh well. I'm excited for our sparkly new bathroom.

Wanna come see it when it's done? You're welcome to visit us any time. 'Cause Cleveland is awesome. Or at least we like to think we are.