Here We Go Again

Ahhh, another day, another project. This time it's the shower. Upstairs in the Mennonite house, the shower has developed a problem. Of course, this sort of thing is always an opportunity to lend the manly touch to the decorating scheme of the house. It always surprises me just how quickly I can populate a space with tools and bits of stuff - all necessary to the art and science of repair.

Handy Tool Storage

Tool and Supply Storage

I said that it had developed a problem. Actually, that was two problems. The first is the shower head itself. Since PVC pipe is used almost exclusively down here, that can create problems. For example. Our shower head used one of the shower head apparatus that hung off the shower pipe. You know the kind - with the hose attached and all that. Plus, we had a wire shower caddy attached with all the stuff that is normally kept there. Altogether a lot of weight on that little piece of pipe.

Well, the problem developed over time as the weight began to warp the PVC fitting the pipe screwed into. It seems that no matter how much teflon tape I used, and no matter how much plumber's putty or epoxy I used, it was going to leak.

As it turned out, not only had the fitting warped or stretched, but, when I removed the old piping, I saw damage that had been there since the piping was installed. Now, it probably didn't leak from the get-go, but over time, something like this just provides an avenue for water to begin its inevitable attack on fittings. Combined with expansion and contraction from hot and cold water, it's easy to see how driposis can begin.

Part of the Problem

And leak it did. At first, as you can imagine, it was a barely perceptible drip. Over time, that has increased to such an extent that we had to put a bucket under the pipes downstairs in Dianna's workshop to contain the drips. And it was only going to get worse. Something had to be done.

At first, I was going to tackle the leak from the front, removing a piece of tile and hacking away at the problem. I soon realized that if I was going to fix it (at that time, we didn't realize exactly what the problem was other than that we had a leak), I had to access the back side of the shower anyway, so that soon developed to be the preferred method of attack.

Not that that access was altogether easy. We first had to move our armoire out from the wall about two feet. Not the easiest thing to do, considering that it is about eight or nine feet long and made out of solid mahogany. It weighs a ton.

Narrow Working Quarters

I carefully measured where the shower head was and transferred a small 'x' to the back side to mark the shower head location and then used my trusty stud-finder to help define how large a hole I was going to need. Since metal studs were used, that was relatively easy to do.

Access Hole

I used my hole saw gingerly, mostly to gouge a small hole to be able to feel what I was running in to. I then used a razor knife to score and cut through the sheetrock so I had enough access to do any required work. This had an additional benefit in that using the knife really minimized the dust that would have been produced using the saw for the entire hole.

Small Mess

Replacing the damaged fitting is fairly easy. It's nothing I haven't done many times around here with as much PVC as we have all over the place. I am going to add a bit of wood to the setup, because the metal studs that were used in the walls of the Mennonite house just don't provide the lateral support needed to give the shower head fittings the rigidity needed.

By using the back side for access, I was able to leave the tile on the shower side alone. So, that meant just having to mess around with the two floor tiles. A bit of a relief.

Showerhead Hole

There's no way to really fasten the pipe to the stud to obtain the necessary rigidity any other way. So, I'll add a piece or two of wood and cobble something together out of wire or something to bind the pipe to the wood to hopefully obtain the stiffness it needs.

That was my initial thinking. As it turned out, I was able to use two pieces of wire run through the metal stud and around the pipe to securely fasten the pipe so it won't move at all. 

Coming From Faucet

Also, what we'll do is not keep the shower head and hose attached to the pipe. I'm going to see if I can get a wall mount for the shower head itself. If I can't , then it looks like it will be time to get a new shower head assembly that comes with a wall mount.

Here, you can see some of the wire used to hold the pipe in place. You can also see some of the staining that began to develop because of the leakage. By the way, that's not sheetrock that's stained, it's a concrete board product called Plycem. So, even though stained, it's quite undamaged by the water.

Shower Outlet

Here you can see the new pipe fitting jutting through the wall. I'm going to try to mount whatever hook I can find right in that area. I'll have to figure out an alternate location for the shower caddy. Who knows, maybe the one hook will do double duty. We'll see.

Showerhead Poked Through

The other big part of this project (remember, I mentioned that there were two parts) is we have a couple of floor tiles that cracked. They're rather large tiles (one-foot square) and removing them is proving to be a challenge - especially since we don't want to demolish the adjacent tiles. The grout is tough and the Thinset (used to mount the tiles themselves) is also tough.

The day before yesterday we had chiseled, grout-sawed, pounded, cussed, sweat, cajoled, cussed, poked, prodded, grappled, (did I mention cussing?), drilled and drilled, and all manner of other rites and incantations to try and remove the old tile, all to no avail. Both Dianna and I took turns attacking the tiles, and have gotten pretty much nowhere. What to do?
What to do came to us yesterday evening. Dianna suggested calling Carlos to see if he could come and fix the tile part of the project for us. By that stage, that seemed the most expedient solution to the problem, so I called him. He'll be able to come over and help us Friday morning. Some things are just best left in the hands of the pros, I guess.

There were also a couple other spots where the grout was failing or where, for whatever reason, a couple of the little plastic spacers were left in the grout track. Carlos removed those and will re-grout those as well.

Carlos Chipping Some Defects

Here's Carlos showing just how easy it is to remove the tile - if you know the trick. Obviously, we're not qualified to do this stuff.

Carlos Almost Done Busting Out Tiles

It might not be quite like they would do on Hometime or This Old House, but it's getting the job done, and it will last.

Carlos Doing the Tiles

Carlos will finish up the grout tomorrow morning and we'll have our shower back. It's not like we haven't been able to shower in the meantime. We've been using the shower down at the pool house. It's just a convenience thing, y'know?

And just like that, it's this morning. Chilly, gray overcast. Reminds me of the Northwest. Only thing missing is the drizzle. Come on Sunshine!

Carlos showed up around 8:00 AM this morning and was ready to tackle the grout. He opened the bucket that had three bags of left-over stuff in it. Was any of them grout? Of course not. A partial bag of Thinset, a partial bag of white cement, and a partial bag of sand of all things.

Well, it just wouldn't be a good project without at least one trip daily to a hardware store or something. So, off we went, Carlos riding shotgun and me with the reins, to Creative Tiles and Windows in Corozal.

Carlos was pretty sure they sold small bags of grout. I wasn't sure. I had never seen a small bag of it before, at least at Creative. Lo and behold, they actually had two-kilo bags, which was great. Even greater, it was available in a tan color that closely matched what we already had in the shower.

Carlos Working the Grout

After scoring the grout, we swung by Lano's to see if they might have a bracket for the shower handle. Naturally, I didn't call it a bracket. I called it a 'hook' which presented a minor problem which was easily solved by the same girl I had the discussion with about 'inch and a half' pumps'. She asked if I meant "a bracket". Perfect was my response. And they had it too. Now all I have to do is bore a couple of holes through the wall tile and hang the thing up there, probably just off center from the pipe outlet in the wall.

As you can see, the outlet is framed nicely by the chrome bezel from the old shower setup. I had to use a hole saw and my drill to expand the hole for the outlet pipe. A bit dicey, but it came out quite nice, I think. All I need to do now is apply some caulk around the inner and outer edges and that's done - well beside hooking up the actual shower hose and handle.

Add Some Caulk and Done

The only thing left, which Dianna will do this afternoon, while I'm at an all-important Corozal Men's Group meeting (solving the world's major problems, of course) is to apply grout sealer to all the new grout. Dianna thinks we'll have just enough to handle the job.

So, after all that, guess what? We'll have a functioning bathroom once again. Just in time to relax Sunday and gear up for another episode of Downton Abbey in the evening.

More and More Progress

The guesthouse is moving along, so is the grading of the canal banks. So, I'll cover both as they occur.

As you can see below, the canal bank between our house and Doug and Twyla's has been pretty well smoothed out. In fact, you can see Doug and Twyla coming our way with a cooler full of refreshments and snacks.

Nothing like a 94° (f) pool to cool you down on a hot day. And it really does. Our air temp has been upwards of 96° (f) or so the past couple of days, so 94° really does feel cool. Besides, it's almost like being in a spa or hot tub. We aren't worried about the pool getting too warm to get into. Just the fact that we can get in it and even if you get out for a bit, with evaporative effects on your skin, it makes you feel a little cooler, which is good enough for us.

Doug and Twyla Coming For Pooltime

In the background, you can see Pastor Doug. He's helping Robert by supervising the grader which was still smoothing the banks of the canal out.

The grader has even moved over to the other side of our and Elsie's property. Here's a shot of the grader smoothing all that spoils area as well as a bit more work out toward the canal entrance to the left in the picture.

Work on the Far Side

It still is taking a bit to get used to all the changes in the neighborhood. Add to it the changes, suddenly with the guesthouse and it seems like everything is going topsy-turvy.

Plastering the ceilings and walls inside of the guesthouse is pretty much done. There's a couple hose bibs and stuff like that that have to be added so plastering can get done, but otherwise, it's pretty much done inside.

Gaposis in the Utility Room

I'll be making a sheet metal plate to cover the gap above the breaker box panel door. It'll hide the other wires till I'm ready to use them.

Below are some shots of the plastering outside. The first coat is almost completed, as you'll see.

Finishing First Coat

Raw Backside

Magically, It's Done

A couple of days ago, I had to order 40 4-inch concrete blocks. I tried a new block factory, quite a bit closer than Belmont or the others. This one is owned by Israel Gomez on San Andres Road. Reasonably priced and they delivered when they said they would. that works for me.

Delivering the 40 - 4" Blocks

The blocks are needed for the shower walls in the guesthouse.

We're going to have custom-made glass door for it as well. Something else we found that Texaco (pronounced Tex-aco - the 'a' sounds like the first 'a' in actual)  in Corozal can make. Two or three weeks ago, I went in to ask about some screens I was having made. While waiting, I noticed the young assistant working on a pickup truck outside rear view mirror - the old kind. I thought, "hmm", and asked him if he could repair a broken inside rear view mirror. Not a problem. And they did. Apparently, the mirrors take a tapered mirror so the 'day/night' lever feature works. It was fixed as good as new for $5.00 BZD. And I had driven around with it broken into about 8 or 9 pieces for about 2 years.

So, based on that, I was wondering how we were going to get a shower door the right size. One of our workers said "Go see Texaco. They can do it." Well, of course. Why didn't I think of that first?

Yesterday, Dianna and I went out to see if we could find tile for the guesthouse floor and shower. We stopped first at Texaco to see if they really could make a shower door for us. Of course they can. Tempered glass, polished edges, and the fancy gripping hinges and cool looking handles for the door too. Whatever size we want. It takes about two weeks to get the glass tempered and it comes either in 1/4" or 1/2" thicknesses (I think it even comes thicker, but I don't remember for sure). The hinges cost around $80 BZD each and the door (roughly 2'x5') will cost about $300 BZD for the 1/2" version. Is this good or what?

So, on we went to find tile. We stopped first at National Hardware and spent 20 minutes going through most of the tile they have on display... Their display consists of a couple hundred tiles piled on the counter and floor. you have to move each and every one to see what they have. We found one that we really thought would work for the floor (with non-skid grit built-in). We could get it but it would take at least 3 weeks to get here as it comes from Brazil, and as Andy, National's owner said, if they don't have a full container, shipment would be delayed. That wasn't going to work for us.

We tried the next place we'd heard of across the street (in front of, as they say here) the new Cinty's.  He wasn't open. We asked at the auto parts place next door who told us that the guy kept really strange hours. For Corozal, that's really saying something. We decided to go on to Creative Tile and see what they had.

We've had hot and cold experiences in dealing with Creative. If they have what you're looking for, you can usually get it right then. If they don't, the lady seems almost reluctant to order it - and absolutely hates to check other  Creative stores throughout Belize to see if they have something in stock.

Also, I swear their inside displays that they've been working on for two years, haven't changed at all in that time - still half-finished.

Well, this time, we lucked out. We found a salt and pepper looking tile with a nice grit to it for the floors. We also found a rectangular white tile for the shower. We also found an alternating light and dark blue 1" glass tile to use as a decrative band in the shower. Everything was in stock. We paid for it and thought, "Now how do we get 35 boxes of 12" square tile home, plus 4 boxes of the rectangular tile"? Inspiration struck. I called Isidoro, Our Contractor. He was about ready to go out to Consejo for another job he has, but could take the time to pick up and deliver the boxes for us.

39 Boxes of Tile Ready To Use

And, there they are. After helping unload the boxes, I thought for sure that I would be hunting up the Diclofenaco back-pain pills we get here, but I again lucked out. My back stayed quiet - probably because of spending a good part of the afternoon in the pool.

We're making progress on the canal and on the guesthouse. Things are in stock. Apparently, we can get anything made at Texaco that we want. Life is good.

Going Shopping

A couple of days ago, Dianna and I had started out right at 8:00 AM. We were going to go have breakfast at Miss June's Kitchen, then we were going to Lano's Supply to look at some of the new sinks, faucets, etc., that he'd gotten in and maybe, if we had enough time, head over to Creative Tile to look for some tile for our shower and floors in the guesthouse.

On the way to June's, I was going to stop at Dr. Sheila's (Corozal Veterinary Clinic) to pick up some more thyroid tablets for Miss Blue, one of our kitties. As we pulled up beside Dr. Sheila's, we saw Christina standing outside Sheila's gate with Louie, one of her's and Brad's dogs.

Some explanation is necessary here. Protocol says that when Dr. Sheila is with a patient and you show up, unless it's absolutely life or death, you wait quietly till she's done with the current patient and Sheila has escorted them out her front gate. Then, she'll let you in to take care of whatever the problem is. If it's life and death, it's ok to yell and holler at Sheila to let her know it's an emergency.

Something to remember if you move down here. Also, don't ever you open the gate. She opens and closes the gate - always. And that's good advice for anyone's yard that has a gate. Never open it. Stand there and call for the person you want to see. You never know what kind/size/temperament of a dog might be waiting just out of sight to take a chunk out of you - or at least, to scare the bejesus out of you.

Alright. On with the story. So, Christina is standing there with Louie. As we came up to them, we realized she's holding a compress to Louie's head and it was obvious that Christina was just a tad stressed. So, "what happened", we inquired? Christina told us that a little earlier, she had left her place and took two of her dogs over to a close-by lot where she lets them run and chase balls.

Normally, not a problem. Well, this time, it was a problem. It seems there was a gentleman there chopping the lot. She didn't see him as they approached. She let the dogs loose. They saw him and immediately charged. He reacted, swinging his machete and clipping Louie on the head, just barely missing his left eye and just barely missing the left ear. But, the machete strike took a droplet-shaped hunk of skin and flesh, about an inch across and about three inches long out of Louie's skull. In fact, we could clearly see white bone when Christina removed the compress and showed us. Of course, the man chopping knew Christina and was very upset that he had chopped Louie - even though Louie was intending to essentially do the same to him. Christina got him calmed down and assured him it was her fault for not checking before letting the dogs run.

Then, she tried calling Mae and Craig to see if she could get a ride from them to take Louie to Dr. Sheila. No answer. She tried one or two other folks with the same result. Then she called a taxi. When he arrived he refused to take her and Louie as he was afraid Louie would bite him. Christina was thinking clearly enough that she even had a tarp to spread over the seat so Louie wouldn't bleed all over everything, but he wasn't going to give her the chance to use it.

Finally, Christina saw one of her neighbors coming home. He offered to take her and Louie to the Vet. That's where we entered the picture.

As we're also standing there waiting our turn, Christina was very concerned that Sheila was going to be upset with her for putting her dog in a position to get chopped. Christina also realized that Louie's injury wasn't life-threatening so she was content to wait her turn outside Sheila's gate. Pretty impressive. While we were waiting, we told Christina we'd take her and Louie back home if they needed a ride after all this.

Eventually, Sheila got done with her current patient, showed them out the gate and let all of us in together (I think because she thought we were together as a group). Anyway, she took a quick look at Louie, and immediately loaded up a syringe and gave Louie a shot. We all stood around talking. Finally, Christina asked Sheila if the shot was something to knock Louie out so she could stitch him up. Dr. Sheila said it was and Christina asked if it was ok if she left after he went to sleep and came back in an hour. That was ok too.

While we were waiting, I purchased the tablets for Blue and took care of some other business with Sheila. Then I went out to wait in the car with Dianna, as she had gone outside to have a smoke. A few minutes later, Christina came out, so we all piled in the Isuzu and we took her home.

After all this, we headed back to Miss June's to finally have our breakfast. So it goes in Belize. Your plans change in an instant. Besides, a medical emergency (even if it wasn't life-threatening) may not have been as fulfilling as a hearty breakfast, but it was a lot more exciting than looking at tile. After a very good breakfast at June's, we did make it down the street to Lano's where we saw the following sink and vanity.
Dianna's Choice for the Bathroom SinkHe's really gotten some fancy stuff in. This was a very cool sink. Kind of a floral design on the outside. Below is the vanity we chose. It has woven wood doors and looks really cool.

The Vanity For the Guest House

That was as far as we got that day. By then, it was about 11:30 AM, or so. Time to head back to home. We'll shop for tile another day. I wonder what will happen then.