Temporary Fix in the Bathroom – Un arreglo temporario en el baño
We have been working on the bathroom, but most of the changes are temporary. We are planning to replace the entire ceiling in the bathroom, and put in an exhaust fan and heater, but that is not going to happen until summer when we have more time. In the meantime, we just wanted to cover those holes so that we would not feel like things were going to crawl out onto us in the shower. In reality, that could never happen because the holes were not open to the outside, and we do not have many bugs in our house, but your mind can convince you of all sort of things when there is a dark hole looming over your head.
Hemos estado trabajando en el baño, pero la mayoría de los cambios son temporarios. El plan es reemplazar la tabla roca del techo e instalar un ventilador/calentador allí, pero todo eso ocurrirá en el verano cuando tangamos más tiempo. Mientras tanto, queríamos cubrir los agujeros para que no sintiéramos que unos bichos iban a salir de allí cuando estábamos duchando. En realidad, eso no podría pasar porque los huecos no estaban abiertos al exterior y no tenemos muchos insectos en nuestra casa, pero la imaginación florece cuando hay una abertura oscura sobre la cabeza de uno.
Before anything happened with the holes, however, Douglas replaced the shower head. Ours had developed a leak, that seems to be a reoccurring theme in our home these days, and needed to go away. You can see how we fixed it for a while with tape.
Antes de hacer algo con los huecos, Douglas cambió la alcachofa de la ducha, porque una fuga de agua había aparecido en la nuestra, algo que parece ser un tema recurrente en nuestra casa en estos días. Se puede ver como lo arreglamos por un rato con cinta.
This picture is rather blurry, but you should be able to see that water was spraying everywhere.
Esta foto es borrosa pero se puede ver que el agua sale por todas partes.
Crème did a thorough inspection of the new shower head before it was installed. Once it met her approval, it should have been an easy installation. Did you catch the key word in that sentence?
Crème hizo una inspección detallada de la nueva pieza antes de que se instalara. Una vez que la había dado la aprobación, debería haber sido una instalación fácil. ¿Vio la palabra clave en esa frase?
It SHOULD have been an easy installation, but Douglas tried to make things easier for me and ended up making them much harder for himself. He originally extended the nozzle thinking that it would make it easier for me to reach and adjust the shower settings. This required several trips to the hardware store for the correct pieces to attach this part.
DEBERÍA haber sido una instalación fácil, pero Douglas intentó facilitarme las cosas y terminó haciéndoselas más difíciles para él mismo. Originalmente quería extender la tubería para que yo pudiera alcanzar la alcachofa de la ducha para cambiar los controles más fácilmente. Esto requiso varios viajes a la ferretería para encontrar las piezas correctas para hacerlo.
In the end, the shower extended too far down, and after many purchases of different size parts to extend the pipe, it turned out that I was able to reach the shower head without it. So all of that time and work was for naught. I do appreciate the thought, though, babe!
Al final, se extendía demasiado, y después de muchas comprar de piezas de distintos tamaños para extender la tubería resultó que yo podía alcanzar todo sin la tubería extra así que se perdió todo el tiempo y el trabajo para nada. ¡Sin embargo, aprecio todo lo que haces por mí, mi amor!
You can tell how thrilled he was with me in this picture.
Se nota qué tan feliz estaba conmigo en esta foto.
The shower head was installed one weekend, and the holes were patched the next. First, Douglas cut squared shapes around all of the holes.
Una vez que la alcachofa de la ducha se había instalado en un fin de semana reservamos el siguiente para remendar los agujeros de la pared y el techo. Primero, Douglas cortó unas formas rectangulares alrededor de los huecos.
Cutting the drywall to the proper dimensions required a lot of measuring for Douglas. Crème has been training Ponche Crema, and he seems to be learning quickly. For this job she allowed him to perform the inspection on his own without any help from her. It makes us proud that our boy is such a fast learner!
Cortar la tabla roca a las dimensiones exactas requiso que Douglas midiera mucho. Crème ha estado entrenando a Ponche Crema y parece que él está aprendiendo rápidamente. Por este trabajo ella dejo que él investigara sólo sin la ayuda de ella. Nos da orgullo de que nuestro hijo aprenda tan velozmente.
Unfortunately, the fact that the hole in the ceiling was not one big square required much measuring, fitting, and trimming by Douglas. In such a small bathroom it was hard for me to help. This took several hours longer than we expected.
Desafortunadamente, el hecho de que la abertura en el techo no era un cuadro grande necesitaba mucho medir, ayustar y cortar por parte de Douglas. Como era un espacio tan pequeño me fue difícil ayudar. El trabajo duró muchas horas más de lo que pensábamos.
In the end our bathroom looks atrocious, but at least there are no more holes in the walls.
Al final el baño se ve horroroso, pero por lo menos no hay más agujeros en las paredes.
Happy Homemaking!
¡Que todos sus sueños caseras se cumplan!
The picture of the water spraying everywhere is blurry because it was much worse than when I had last turned it on. It was a simple spray straight at ceiling, but when I turned it on to take the pic, I suddenly found it spraying water everywhere. I was in process of taking pic when I was suddenly showered and started to dive for the faucet to turn it off. Sorry I didn’t pause to get a better shot, but there was a lot of water going everywhere.
I guess trying to stop a flood is an acceptable excuse for taking a blurry picture. I will let it slide this time.
Wow! I’m very impressed with your meticulous patch, Douglas! I would have probably just screwed a piece of plywood over the whole mess. Great job!
He was regretting the decision to try to patch it so carefully a couple of hours in!
Nothing worse than a water leak to aggravate a person. Very good repair/replacement going on here. It’s always great to have inspectors on site. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
Our inspectors never let us down!
I don’t mind them inspecting, I just wish they’d stop micromanaging…
They are just trying to help.
When you’re renovating, you sometimes have to compromise with temporary solutions. If that makes you feel better, my bathroom is unpainted and there’s a rectangle of ugly plywood to cover the bathtub!
It is nice to know that we are not the only ones!
I really understand your comment that even though you’re sure there are no bugs, a dark hole plays tricks with your imagination. I’m rather morbidly fascinated with what’s inside our old walls, but I know that a spider could lurk anywhere. Egads!! Nice patch, Douglas. Repairs and improvements like this take time. You’ll get there, and it will be better than ever!
PS – Congrats to Ponche for completing his first solo inspection!
Ponche is quite proud of himself and glad that someone recognizes what important work he does since he does not seem to get the kind of respect he feels he deserves from us. As for the spiders, don’t be afraid of them! Don’t your cats hunt them and eat them for you? Creme loves a nice spider snack.