Mmmmm.....What IS That Smell?

Yesterday began the official first day of our bathroom remodel. It was supposed to happen a few weeks ago (and would probably be done by now!) but lo and behold, our contractor's mother passed away and he was put behind schedule. Although I can be a very compassionate person, words fail me when I try to convey such a trait. So if I sound callous, I'm not. I just don't know how to word things to say what I mean. Our contractor's mother died. He got behind schedule. Those are the facts and I feel for his pain.....I just don't know how to word it to give that perception.

So anyway, yesterday, he and his workers began demolition of our bathroom. They came back today and did more of the "dirty" demolition work, as in, ripping out the shower and the toilet. The reason we are doing the bathroom remodel in the first place is because the shower was leaking into the finished part of our basement. Typically, that's not a reason to replace an entire bathroom but you haven't seen my bathroom.

We have known for awhile that we want to remodel the bathroom but we are not exactly instant gratification kind of people. More often, we do things as we have extra funds to do them and make the best of things while waiting. Our bathroom was one of those things that we had on the radar for maybe next year or the year after. Our bathroom had other plans. So rather than have workers come in and only fix the existing problem, we would prefer to have them do everything all at one time - you know, so we have our bathroom out of commission only one time instead of two times (once now and once again on down the road when we were really ready to do all of it).

Our guys arrived just as I was leaving to go get Reiss from preschool. I spoke briefly with them and then headed out with Milla to go get Reiss. We picked him up in pouring rain. That's the trade-off I get for not allowing Reiss to ride the bus: sometimes I have to get soaked in the rain or snowed on or whatever. Inclement weather is not my friend but for now, I'll take it over Reiss riding the bus. Call me over-protective but he is my first and he's only four years old and I've seen the way some of the bus drivers drive around here. After getting Reiss, we then took James lunch and hung out for awhile. James is his own boss so his boss doesn't mind too much when the office becomes a zoo/daycare on Friday afternoons.

When we arrived home again, the men were carrying bucket after bucket full of demolished bathroom walls, shower tiles, and flooring. The smell of raw sewage smacked me in the face like a dump truck. Now occasionally I have been in that bathroom and smelled a horrible smell and when I told our contractor about this on a previous occasion (when he was here doing another project), he explained the "trap" system in bathroom drains and all that and how gases (is that spelled correctly?) get built up and blah, blah, blah. Don't expect me to explain because I just went with what he was saying. Anyway, I knew there had to be more to it than that and when we began seeing the water stains on the ceiling downstairs, that was proof there really was a problem and that the smell wasn't just gas build up in the pipes.

I walked back to the bathroom and while doing so, the smell got stronger and stronger until I was on the verge of vomiting. And for good reason. One look at the demolished bathroom was all it took for me to find that it was not just raw sewage gas I was smelling all along. There was mold buildup from here to Utah in that darn shower! We knew it had been leaking but nothing could prepare me for this mess......there was mold all over the place. Horrible! Horrible! Horrible!

Even now, as I sit here with most of the demolition mess cleaned up, the crew gone, and that back bedroom closed up, our house still smells like the refreshing smell of poop raw sewage. The ceiling fans are on. Candles are lit. Thank goodness, it's getting to be Fall and cool outside, right? Oh, it's just disgusting but with the candles lit, pretty soon it will smell like blueberry muffins and raw sewage. So I guess I'm okay.

Now, the real decision....do I dare have all the moms and their kids over next Thursday for the coffee chat and playgroup I've been planning for weeks now? Or cancel? I had planned on coffee and donuts. Maybe I could still have it and just avoid buying any chocolate eclairs......