Home Ownership Vent...

Archer

So, I'll add my own vent here. Several years ago we renovated our ensuite bathroom. Part of that was installing a larger shower, with a steam unit. This is what it looked like:



We didn't want to tile the shower with ceramic tiles, because we didn't want to deal with grout, so we had friends who had used a local company to install some sort of resin based shower material that can be cast in large sheets, and they were very happy with it. That's what you see in the photo above, and we really liked the look - they called it Onyx, but it's a mildly translucent material with black streaks in it. But not long after the installation, we had an issue close to the steam vent (small square vent on the back wall) where the wall was bulging out from the heat. We had our general contractor and the people who did the shower look at it, and they came up with a repair that involved going through the back of the wall, and pushing the bulge back in, and adhering it to some plywood. This "fixed" the issue, at least mostly, but in hindsight, we should had then rip it all out and start again...

Fast forward a few years, and the bulge was stable, but one day after tennis I was having a steam with a cappuccino. I put my glass up on the shelf just above where I was sitting on the bench, and all of a sudden there was a huger bang - sounded like a small caliber handgun being fired. I heard my glass that had a spoon in it jumping around on the shelf it was that violent. I wasn't able to see anything for the steam, but when that cleared, I found this:



A crack coming from the corner of the bench, that is about 18 inches long. We contacted the company that did the shower stall, and that didn't go well - they tried to blame it on a steam leak. I said "Come on out, we can open up the wall from behind again, turn on the steamer, and we'll quickly see if there's a leak." They declined that offer, and at that point we got our general contractor involved again, because the company didn't want to deal with us directly (they technically sold this to the contractor, not us). Over several months of back and forth, the company that did the shower agreed to replace the back wall, but the cost of doing just that was more than we had paid for the entire shower stall back when this was done. We asked if they could do anything for us on price, since this is now the second issue we had with this, and they replied that they had already removed their profits from the price, and it was the best they could do...🤦

Yes, I'm very pleased that at least they didn't build in a profit off their own mistakes...🤬

So my wife and I said "no thanks" and we decided to get it fixed some other way. Through this whole thing, no one was able to explain why this happened. However, I think it was pretty clear that they cut the corner around the seat of that bench with a sharp inside corner - this created a stress riser, and lead to the crack. I also think the sheet they installed may have been just too tight a fit, which set-up stress that caused the bulge and the crack.

Since we were getting this fixed, I used the steamer once after this, and again a huge bang, and the crack doubled in length. This time my wife was in the house, and she came running from the other end of the house, because she didn't know what the noise was. At that time, I stopped using it - I was worried that pieces were going to start flying off the wall.

So we did a ton of looking around for different materials, and eventually found that ceramic tile can be bought in large sheets (59" X 118" in this case). We thought about trying to match the other walls, but nothing was going to be close enough, so we decided to make that back wall a feature wall instead. We looked at all kinds of colours and patterns, and ended up on this one...



So we had our general contractor come in and carefully cut out the back wall - that back wall was installed first, and everything overlapped it, so that was tricky to do without damaging the other walls. He then used cement board, with Kerdi waterproofing on top.



Had to install the tile in 4 pieces instead of 2 pieces, but it still came out well I think...



Today I took the time reinstall the shower control valve, and the steam vent...



Final job done...



Enough browns in the colour that it picks up the rest of the shower enclosure, and is different enough to be that feature wall we were looking for. Cost us way more than it would have to have the original company replace the back wall, but they weren't going to see another penny of my money...

mjb

Wow, some good stories here. Our current house, which I call the money pit, was built in '97 and we bought it in 2015. One of the water heaters, in the attic, let go and flooded the house. We've had to replace the roof. I had a toilet leak and of course I didn't know about it until it came through the ceiling below. A ceiling fan in the kid's room nearly fell on his head when it let go. Mice in the house. Squirrels in the attic. Oven controller went out. Bad light switches. Bad outlets. Don't even get me started on the irrigation system. Wood rot, not from water leaks but just sun exposure and low quality wood. Bad windows. Lousy HVAC systems. Collapsing front entry stairs. Doors that won't shut. Doors that will shut but fall open if you look at them wrong. Garage door opener that open itself randomly. OMG the trees, having to take out 22+ Leland Cyprus trees that were all diseased and either dead or dying. Plus the three that fell over d/t snow.

And I live in an upscale neighborhood, so any estimate is doubled. Tree work, for example, ranged from $3K to $12K.

I still wouldn't live in an apartment again if it were free.

I do most of the plumbing myself, all of the electrical, but I am sheetrock-impaired, it looks like a special-needs child did it, blindfolded. As Clint Eastwood once said, "A man's gotta know his limitations". I know most of mine, it is a long list. It is a real challenge these days finding qualified, experienced and conscientious tradesmen and women.

My neighbor was getting quotes to redo her bathroom, and was told by one contractor "we won't even bid on it if it's less than a $50K job". Another neighbor wanted to put in a pool, and there was an 18 month wait just for an estimate. This was during the lockdown, natch, and when they finally got the estimate, which was $125K, they decided to redo the kitchen instead. Which also cost $125K.

That's more than my first and my second house cost me, combined.

mjb

Wow, some good stories here. Our current house, which I call the money pit, was built in '97 and we bought it in 2015. One of the water heaters, in the attic, let go and flooded the house. We've had to replace the roof. I had a toilet leak and of course I didn't know about it until it came through the ceiling below. A ceiling fan in the kid's room nearly fell on his head when it let go. Mice in the house. Squirrels in the attic. Oven controller went out. Bad light switches. Bad outlets. Don't even get me started on the irrigation system. Wood rot, not from water leaks but just sun exposure and low quality wood. Bad windows. Lousy HVAC systems. Collapsing front entry stairs. Doors that won't shut. Doors that will shut but fall open if you look at them wrong. Garage door opener that open itself randomly. OMG the trees, having to take out 22+ Leland Cyprus trees that were all diseased and either dead or dying. Plus the three that fell over d/t snow.

And I live in an upscale neighborhood, so any estimate is doubled. Tree work, for example, ranged from $3K to $12K.

I still wouldn't live in an apartment again if it were free.

I do most of the plumbing myself, all of the electrical, but I am sheetrock-impaired, it looks like a special-needs child did it, blindfolded. As Clint Eastwood once said, "A man's gotta know his limitations". I know most of mine, it is a long list. It is a real challenge these days finding qualified, experienced and conscientious tradesmen and women.

My neighbor was getting quotes to redo her bathroom, and was told by one contractor "we won't even bid on it if it's less than a $50K job". Another neighbor wanted to put in a pool, and there was an 18 month wait just for an estimate. This was during the lockdown, natch, and when they finally got the estimate, which was $125K, they decided to redo the kitchen instead. Which also cost $125K.

That's more than my first and my second house cost me, combined.

JwRosenthal

Wow- that just made my head spin. Buy an old house (pre 1960), only old system failures which you are clearly capable of doing. Otherwise usually quality construction and just keep the water out.

And who the fυck thought that a hot water heater on the upper floors was a good idea??? Sure I gotta wait a minute for the hot water to get up to the 2nd floor shower but at least if it blows the sump’s got it.

mjb

Wow, some good stories here. Our current house, which I call the money pit, was built in '97 and we bought it in 2015.

mjb

I do most of the plumbing myself, all of the electrical, but I am sheetrock-impaired, it looks like a special-needs child did it, blindfolded.

Archer

If you haven't seen the movie, you should...

I thought it was good - mind you I only saw it back when it came out, so I might think it sucks now, but I remember it being pretty funny at the time...

I wouldn't have expected so many issues in a home that new. But I suppose it depends on the builder. We replaced some flooring over the summer - dishwasher leaked and ruined the cork flooring we had in the kitchen, which we loved (we do a lot of cooking and it was so nice to stand on but very water intolerant). Anyway, when we went to the flooring store to pick out ceramic tile, the sales person told us "This area is the builder grade materials" to which I said "Okay, where is the good stuff then?" It seems these days, builder grade means the cheapest possible...

JwRosenthal

Yup, Money Pit…says it all

JwRosenthal

now what am I gonna spend that $1k on that I just saved?

Archer

Save some of it as you still have to clear the blockage!