Blame it on the ghosts!

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JBloggs

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Trying to get renovations done with guests in the house (and my handy-dude) requiring weekends to git r done. I have come up with a cunning plan. He has assured me he will not use the tile cutter today (as you know how loud those things are) but can still lay the majority of the bathroom (large bathroom) tile - minus the pieces that need to be cut.
So what does this mean, well you know the usual trowl scraping sound.
I have decided today is the day we will declare we have ghosts, should anyone inquire about the strange scratching and scraping sounds. I will assure them there really is nothing we can do, when we have guests in-residence the ghost likes to play up, he is a bit naughty.
THAT'S MY STORE AND I'M STICKIN' TO IT!
 
A wonderful solution! Be sure to come up with a Civil War history for your ghost.
 
You'll need to mix in a vampire and a zombie to appeal to the younger crowd (the doilie haters).
 
A wonderful solution! Be sure to come up with a Civil War history for your ghost..
gillumhouse said:
A wonderful solution! Be sure to come up with a Civil War history for your ghost.
Our house isn't that old, circa 1895. But sure it could be any of those buried in the back I s'pose. :)
 
A wonderful solution! Be sure to come up with a Civil War history for your ghost..
gillumhouse said:
A wonderful solution! Be sure to come up with a Civil War history for your ghost.
Our house isn't that old, circa 1895. But sure it could be any of those buried in the back I s'pose. :)
.
Was there a house thre prior to yours being built? Was it the garden of another house? He proposed to his love in the garden there and has come back to find his lady.
 
he has come back to do the diy jobs he didn't do in life more like!!
 
The sounds I have been hearing since Friday sound like ghosts! It has been freaking me out. I am sure it is our guests in the room above my kitchen just can't seem to put a handle on what they could be doing to cause such a strange sound. Without mentioning anything to them, they told DH at breakfast that he is a ghost hunter. Maybe he was trying to stir one up here... did not ask, will not either!
 
Joey Bloggs said:
...we will declare we have ghosts...
Are you sure they aren't ghouls, not ghosts? I'd be much more afraid if they were ghouls.
 
When your b & b is old, like ours is too 110 years now, there are always renovations to do.
I can sympathize with you cause we have been renovating this place since we arrived 6 years ago including 4 more bathrooms. If we don't update, guests will not come.
It is often difficult to hide this from guests, most are understanding, but there are some (who sit behind a desk all day) who think it should be perfect
and of course renos always take longer than anticipated. There is no pounding nails when guests are in the house so that is why things do take longer than expected.
And, no, we innkeepers all know we can't afford to close down to do the renos as there would be no cash to do them with.
 
When your b & b is old, like ours is too 110 years now, there are always renovations to do.
I can sympathize with you cause we have been renovating this place since we arrived 6 years ago including 4 more bathrooms. If we don't update, guests will not come.
It is often difficult to hide this from guests, most are understanding, but there are some (who sit behind a desk all day) who think it should be perfect
and of course renos always take longer than anticipated. There is no pounding nails when guests are in the house so that is why things do take longer than expected.
And, no, we innkeepers all know we can't afford to close down to do the renos as there would be no cash to do them with..
what makes me laugh is when they say "oh why don't you close for renovations?" I say cos then I would always be shut! lol They clearly have no clue what things cost to do, how long and how much money you would loose to shut. I am lucky as my handy man/tiler/bathroom fitter has worked a lot in B&B's and so has my decorator so they know the drill and only do noisy things between 11am and 4pm when most people are out. We are lucky in that we were 2 houses knocked into one and I can easly lock 2 doors (one on the ground floor and one on the top landing) and shut off a section of house till work is done and this limits the noise as well if I need to. Usually the mess is contained within the room being worked on so its not a problem. I also try and pencil it in when there are less people in but as we all know that doesn't always work out as planned.
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Hey JB's DH! Lots of work & it will pay off. The part of laying new tile I hate is the clean up. It seems the residue takes for ever to clean up. But once done, LOVE the look!
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
.
Silverspoon said:
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
Well we aren't seaside, so don't have the added moisture and salt air, and we have the central a/c running typically from April through October here, so we have never had a mildow problem. If anything the caukling wears out crumbles from cleaning before it gets black. I know what you speak of from living elsewhere.
Wait! We do have it in our own shower. Mainly because we have a separate tub and shower, so the shower is enclosed. What do I do for that? I bleach it every month, which makes it better but not good. It is an old shower too and we think probably leaking into the basement by this point.
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
.
Generally that moldy caulk is because the water is getting in behind the caulking somewhere and the mold is growing thru, that's why it never goes away, even with bleach. We do the same recaulk every year as well. We've found some of the issues but not all of them.
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
.
Silverspoon said:
Looking forward to seeing the finished bathroom. What did you do to minimize the mildew issue? This is the one issue that adds a lot of work to my daily schedule during the humid summer months and I am always anxious to hear how other innkeepers deal with it. I would love to get rid of the yearly chore of scraping out and replacing the caulk between the tub and wall. Even though I do a nightly turn down including a thorough drying of the shower/tub, that stubborn black mildew insists on discoloring the caulk. Any hints you care to share?
Well we aren't seaside, so don't have the added moisture and salt air, and we have the central a/c running typically from April through October here, so we have never had a mildow problem. If anything the caukling wears out crumbles from cleaning before it gets black. I know what you speak of from living elsewhere.
Wait! We do have it in our own shower. Mainly because we have a separate tub and shower, so the shower is enclosed. What do I do for that? I bleach it every month, which makes it better but not good. It is an old shower too and we think probably leaking into the basement by this point.
.
we use a high quality sealant with microban this is supposed to be guaranteed for 10 years but for us lasts about 3 which is better than most. for the grout we use a grout sealant which isnt cheap but means your grout never gets stained which is a saving.
 
DH laid the last tile this evening...
Had to tear up the prev tile as it was sitting on plywood, installed hardy backer, stripped all wallpaper, removed all trim (which was shoddy!) and removed a section of closet that was a cut through and sitting on the floor, not even screwed in. Rewired the outlets that were just hanging over this section of drywall just sitting on the floor, rewired the outlet in bathroom so the current doesn't draw only when the light switch is turned on. And added more receptacles, since there was only one. Added another outlet near bedside. Painted. Repaired cracked ceiling with spackle and painted. and will paint some more...
this is the largest bathroom and the smallest room, so we had to move so much out to work in the bathroom. It is all in here now.
http://twitpic.com/8l91ek
http://twitpic.com/8l93n6
http://twitpic.com/8l92p3
if the link doesn't work cut n paste the urls
wink_smile.gif
.
Your hard work will pay off! I need to come visit you and see the results!
wink_smile.gif

 
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