First of all, I obviously have been busy up the wazoo....my last post was October 24th. However, I have sat down and began this blog so many times that I had to empty my drafts page because there were too many entries. Haha.
So, a few months ago I smelled what seemed like urine in the main bathroom. This IS the bathroom that all the kids use, as well as all the guests that come in our home. I figured it was safe for me assume that my kids had peed all over everything and I missed a spot or two. So, after a deep scrub down of the floors and the toilet itself I left the bathroom believing that the smell was gone. I went back in after a while and found the smell still lingering in the air. O-kaaaay.
I deep cleaned the tub and sink thinking MAYBE that awful smell could be coming from that. (Not sure why I thought that, but I did.) Nope, not it. Alrighty, then. I began my online hunt for sources of stinky smells in the bathroom. The list was endless. But, the one thing that kept repeating was the possibility of a toilet wax ring needing to be replaced. (That, and blaming women for trying to do something that only men should do. HA!) Corey had just replaced this some weeks before the smell began, so I thought (double haha) that maybe it had been installed incorrectly and just needed a replacement. I looked up how to do it myself, because, it was now July and my husband was full force in the harvest season. I wasn't going to bother him with something as petty as the replacement of a wax ring. I did it myself. It took hours, and it was gross. But, it made sense - The smell, that is. It made sense that the smell was probably coming from a leak in the wax seal and that all it needed was a little replacement. The next day, the bathroom smelled again. Well, shit. Hard headed as I am, I just figured that since it was my first time replacing such a thing that I did it wrong. I went and bought another ring and spent another day doing what I now think is one of the worst jobs ever. The next day that damn bathroom still smelled. Seriously? Could I have really done this wrong TWICE? I told Corey about the smell and he said he couldn't smell anything. Since Katie backed him up and said she smelled nothing, too, I honest to God began to question my sense of smell, and my sanity. A few months back I swore (still do) that I smelled something coming from a vent in our house that had to have been a dead animal, like a mouse. They both smelled nothing then, too. Anyways. because they were so certain that there was no smell, I quit worrying and went about my business. I left it that way for a few more weeks. Still, I smelled it. No matter how often, how deep or how hard that bathroom was cleaned, that smell WAS there. At this point we had reached the middle of October. Because nobody would believe me, I decided to take that toilet up and inspect it myself. What was causing such a horrible smell?? I found nothing, once again, so I replaced the wax ring again, in hopes that, despite it not working for the past three times, it would work this time. It didn't. This time I actually hurt my elbow, and I felt something happen in my arm as I pulled the toilet up. In pain and frustrated that it wasn't working for me, I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to raise a ruckus about it. After dragging my husband and daughter in and forcing them to smell every inch of that bathroom to smell what I could smell, they finally said it. "I smell it!!" I think I nearly collapsed from the exhaustion of just trying to get them to believe me! Anyways, it was decided that because it had been 8 years, it was likely that the septic tank needed to be pumped. So, I got someone out here to pump it. I got momentarily excited that the smell would be gone, but, the following day it was still there. Shaking my head in such disappointment at this point, unsure of what to do next, Corey decided to replace the pipes because, the likelihood of a small pipe leak seemed more prevalent now. There were no leaks under the house and the floor seemed to be fine because it didn't seem smooshy. Two days before we were set to head out of town for a few days, Corey began detaching the pipes, doing whatever it took to unglue the pipes that were glued together to prepare for the installation of new pipes. Seemed easy enough, right? Nothing is ever that easy with us.EVER! The pipes were so off the wall extraordinary that he couldn't do it. So, he called a plumber. Unfortunately, the plumber couldn't come until we got back - So while we were gone grandma and the four kids had to share one bathroom. That wasn't good. We returned from our trip and began working immediately to fix that sucker. The plumber came out to inspect it, and we discovered that the sub floor under the linoleum was actually quite water damaged, and if we didn't replace it we might find ourselves sitting on the toilet under the house. Corey tore up it all up and replaced the sub floor. In preparation to put the new flooring on top, we called the plumber to come back and replace that pipe. We thought things couldn't get any worse. We were wrong! Upon arriving, the plumber proceeded to tell us that he couldn't see under the house before and that the pipe that had been installed when we first put our house in was so WRONG that he couldn't fix it. He'd actually have to "Frankenstein" some new pipes together to make them work. This required another visit another day. FOR. SHITS. SAKE!!! He finally returned, got a new pipe in and Corey got that new flooring on. It was beautiful! But, but, but?!?! Yeah, that smell was STILL there. I was on the verge of completely gutting that thing or burning and rebuilding. But, out of desperation Corey and I smelled everywhere in that bathroom, including the wall behind the toilet. It was THERE!! There...we found the source. Apparently (duh) matte finish paint in the bathroom is not good, because if your potty training little boy misses the pot and splashes on the wall, even if you clean it it's already so absorbed into that wall that it will only become bad when, years down the road, the smell begins to release into the air and a crazy, sensitive nosed wife hunts desperately to find the answers. It was now the end of November, and we were so tired of that bathroom. Corey put up an antibacterial primer and, Voila! The smell was gone.. Right? Well, almost. We've primed, repainted, replaced moulding, and scrubbed ever inch of that bathroom. The smell is mostly gone - There's just enough now to mess with us. It's like that bathroom's saying "Yeah, you can't get it all! I'm still here, suckas!!" New flooring, no leaks, scrubbed toilet, disinfected and painted walls......thank goodness for super smelly candles!! lol And, little boys who are no longer potty training in my house!!
Whatever it is, I'm done with it. It's hardly noticeable, but, Corey and I were face first in it for so long, we smell it even in it's minuscule amounts. And, in light of the holiday season, I realized that we replaced that golden ring 5 times since July.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me;
12 wasted washcloths
11 days of labor
10 ruined bath towels
9 feet of new pipe
8 feet of flooring
7 new flange screws
6 smelly candles
5 golden wax rings
4 new strips of seal
3 caulk tubes
2 cans of paint
And a bathroom that's usable now!!
I deep cleaned the tub and sink thinking MAYBE that awful smell could be coming from that. (Not sure why I thought that, but I did.) Nope, not it. Alrighty, then. I began my online hunt for sources of stinky smells in the bathroom. The list was endless. But, the one thing that kept repeating was the possibility of a toilet wax ring needing to be replaced. (That, and blaming women for trying to do something that only men should do. HA!) Corey had just replaced this some weeks before the smell began, so I thought (double haha) that maybe it had been installed incorrectly and just needed a replacement. I looked up how to do it myself, because, it was now July and my husband was full force in the harvest season. I wasn't going to bother him with something as petty as the replacement of a wax ring. I did it myself. It took hours, and it was gross. But, it made sense - The smell, that is. It made sense that the smell was probably coming from a leak in the wax seal and that all it needed was a little replacement. The next day, the bathroom smelled again. Well, shit. Hard headed as I am, I just figured that since it was my first time replacing such a thing that I did it wrong. I went and bought another ring and spent another day doing what I now think is one of the worst jobs ever. The next day that damn bathroom still smelled. Seriously? Could I have really done this wrong TWICE? I told Corey about the smell and he said he couldn't smell anything. Since Katie backed him up and said she smelled nothing, too, I honest to God began to question my sense of smell, and my sanity. A few months back I swore (still do) that I smelled something coming from a vent in our house that had to have been a dead animal, like a mouse. They both smelled nothing then, too. Anyways. because they were so certain that there was no smell, I quit worrying and went about my business. I left it that way for a few more weeks. Still, I smelled it. No matter how often, how deep or how hard that bathroom was cleaned, that smell WAS there. At this point we had reached the middle of October. Because nobody would believe me, I decided to take that toilet up and inspect it myself. What was causing such a horrible smell?? I found nothing, once again, so I replaced the wax ring again, in hopes that, despite it not working for the past three times, it would work this time. It didn't. This time I actually hurt my elbow, and I felt something happen in my arm as I pulled the toilet up. In pain and frustrated that it wasn't working for me, I couldn't take it anymore, so I decided to raise a ruckus about it. After dragging my husband and daughter in and forcing them to smell every inch of that bathroom to smell what I could smell, they finally said it. "I smell it!!" I think I nearly collapsed from the exhaustion of just trying to get them to believe me! Anyways, it was decided that because it had been 8 years, it was likely that the septic tank needed to be pumped. So, I got someone out here to pump it. I got momentarily excited that the smell would be gone, but, the following day it was still there. Shaking my head in such disappointment at this point, unsure of what to do next, Corey decided to replace the pipes because, the likelihood of a small pipe leak seemed more prevalent now. There were no leaks under the house and the floor seemed to be fine because it didn't seem smooshy. Two days before we were set to head out of town for a few days, Corey began detaching the pipes, doing whatever it took to unglue the pipes that were glued together to prepare for the installation of new pipes. Seemed easy enough, right? Nothing is ever that easy with us.EVER! The pipes were so off the wall extraordinary that he couldn't do it. So, he called a plumber. Unfortunately, the plumber couldn't come until we got back - So while we were gone grandma and the four kids had to share one bathroom. That wasn't good. We returned from our trip and began working immediately to fix that sucker. The plumber came out to inspect it, and we discovered that the sub floor under the linoleum was actually quite water damaged, and if we didn't replace it we might find ourselves sitting on the toilet under the house. Corey tore up it all up and replaced the sub floor. In preparation to put the new flooring on top, we called the plumber to come back and replace that pipe. We thought things couldn't get any worse. We were wrong! Upon arriving, the plumber proceeded to tell us that he couldn't see under the house before and that the pipe that had been installed when we first put our house in was so WRONG that he couldn't fix it. He'd actually have to "Frankenstein" some new pipes together to make them work. This required another visit another day. FOR. SHITS. SAKE!!! He finally returned, got a new pipe in and Corey got that new flooring on. It was beautiful! But, but, but?!?! Yeah, that smell was STILL there. I was on the verge of completely gutting that thing or burning and rebuilding. But, out of desperation Corey and I smelled everywhere in that bathroom, including the wall behind the toilet. It was THERE!! There...we found the source. Apparently (duh) matte finish paint in the bathroom is not good, because if your potty training little boy misses the pot and splashes on the wall, even if you clean it it's already so absorbed into that wall that it will only become bad when, years down the road, the smell begins to release into the air and a crazy, sensitive nosed wife hunts desperately to find the answers. It was now the end of November, and we were so tired of that bathroom. Corey put up an antibacterial primer and, Voila! The smell was gone.. Right? Well, almost. We've primed, repainted, replaced moulding, and scrubbed ever inch of that bathroom. The smell is mostly gone - There's just enough now to mess with us. It's like that bathroom's saying "Yeah, you can't get it all! I'm still here, suckas!!" New flooring, no leaks, scrubbed toilet, disinfected and painted walls......thank goodness for super smelly candles!! lol And, little boys who are no longer potty training in my house!!
Whatever it is, I'm done with it. It's hardly noticeable, but, Corey and I were face first in it for so long, we smell it even in it's minuscule amounts. And, in light of the holiday season, I realized that we replaced that golden ring 5 times since July.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me;
12 wasted washcloths
11 days of labor
10 ruined bath towels
9 feet of new pipe
8 feet of flooring
7 new flange screws
6 smelly candles
5 golden wax rings
4 new strips of seal
3 caulk tubes
2 cans of paint
And a bathroom that's usable now!!
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