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Those Icky Surprises When Remodeling a Bath

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

The first thought that entered my head when the general contractor from Lowes said our drywall was compromised (due to a long-time slow leak from our sink's shutoff valves) was where in the garage did I put a utility knife and level. Because the Lowes' crew were getting ready to leave for lunch. Figured I would just cut out the drywall while they were gone and remove it. A weekend to dry out. Should be OK.

But no, the general contractor carried on like this was an enormous issue. Hey, I get it. You can tell people there isn't much you can't do, from tiling, to plumbing, to electrical; how I have built a fireplace, a garage, installed 3 skylights and remodeled a good number of houses, but they look at this 5-foot, 66-year-old woman standing in front of them and they say, right.

Before I knew it, they had a guy in the bath cutting out the drywall and popping up a few tiles.

It's not that I object to additional charges -- even though I have not yet received my refund for things Lowes charged me for that they will not do -- it's the amount of those charges and the way it went down. Still, I expect we will resolve it on Monday.

Next thing to do is vacuum all the gecko poop droppings from the sillplates. Wipe their drippings off the sheetrock. There are almost always extra surprises when remodeling. You can see it in the photo above.

You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: Day One of Hawaii Bath Remodel with Lowes.

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments (9)

Sham Reddy CRS
Howard Hanna RE Services, Dayton, OH - Dayton, OH
CRS

Once you start to remove drywall, you never know what you going to find

Aug 19, 2018 09:49 AM
John Pusa
Glendale, CA

Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Real Estate Agent, Top 1% of Lyon Agents Sometimes, remodeling a home can get complicated.

Aug 19, 2018 10:25 AM
Nicholas Crane
Woodland Companies - Cadott, WI
Managing & Appraising Forest Land

Thanks for sharing.  Remodeling always seams to have those wonderful little surprises. 

Aug 19, 2018 10:28 AM
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Realtor

Hi Elizabeth... sounds like a "typical" story of living through a bath renovation... something is always not a quite what you expected. I have friends in CT who recently went through one of these and the job took at least 6 weeks longer than planned and every day it seemed there was something else that delayed it. I joke that when I'm ready for a different home, I build new and move on to the next one before I need to renovate anything! 

Aug 19, 2018 11:46 AM
Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist
KD Realty - 408.972.1822 - San Jose, CA
Probate Real Estate Services

Elizabeth,  I'd been watching a clean out and tear out for three days last week. Holy Crap was it an eye-opener.  Like you, I have done a lot of "construction" work and have experience and know how. These days, I prefer not to do it myself. 

Aug 19, 2018 12:41 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Well Elizabeth at least you got one out to your house and started the project... none of the "Good Ones"  have even time to come out to see our little bathroom and I am getting annoyed about that:)Endre

Aug 19, 2018 04:09 PM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Nina Hollander Surprisingly, I rarely encounter any surprises with my remodeling projects. Probably because I am so danged anal about them, making sure I have provisions for emergencies and always scheduling people to work earlier than I need. It can still be stressful, tho.

Aug 19, 2018 04:17 PM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Endre Barath, Jr. That's precisely why I hired Lowes to do this project. I called a dozen GC's in Kona and few returned my calls and those who did are too busy to tackle my projects this year. If I were here year-round, I would have hired my own workers and spearheaded the job, but given the fact I am under a time crunch, I just paid a premium to work with Lowes.

Aug 19, 2018 04:20 PM
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

You are a smart lady to know it had a much easier fix than they made it out to be. It doesn't build confidence in the workers when they act that way.

Aug 21, 2018 07:18 PM