On a couple levels today. First, on the house: Our bathroom reaks something aweful. One really shouldn't carpet one's bathroom if one doesn't like mold and nasty smells in one's house. If Jesus were here today, he would tell the pharisees that they were a carpeted bathroom with a pretty door - nice on the outside, but full of mildew, rot, and foul odors on the inside. In any case, I pulled up the carpet and have a fan blowing to try to dry out the floor-boards before I replace it. Rian arrives Monday, and we want it to be nice when she arrives. I'm debating between putting down more carpet (cheapest idea since we have a spare scrap in the shed that will fit), putting down linoleum on top of the carpet (the floor-boards are too uneven to just do linoleum) an actually tiling the floor. Basically, we're only in the house for another six months, so the carpet should stay moderately fresh until just about the time we're ready to leave...good for us, bad for the next occupant. Thanks to Larry, I know how to do tiling - and it would only cost about £30 for supplies - but I'd have to get my hands on a tile cutter, which would basically double the cost. Linoleum costs £10 for the two square meters I need, but again, I'd have to put it down on top of the carpet. Don't know how effective that'd be on preventing moisture build-up in the carpet. I'm hoping Jim or Larry or one of my other readers might have an idea...please let me know what you think is the best option.
Second, on the blog: if you notice, I've weeded out the side-bar and updated my reading list. Just to be clear, I don't have an advance copy of Harry Potter, it's arriving Saturday like everyone else's, and probably I won't actually start reading it until the following week, since Somer has dibs on it first. But I'm so excited about it I couldn't wait to get it up on the reading list. The other two books there are both really good - especially Gempf's book...but I would be a bit biased, since he's a Londoner.
3 comments:
When I did my student teaching, my supervising teacher told me to try things that I wouldn't be comfortable doing in my own classroom. His reason was that I was only there a short while, and wouldn't mess up the kids too much if an idea really backfired. So on the bathroom, whatever you do will surely be an improvement, but if you desire practicing a skill, go for it. I've never seen linoleum over carpet (I would expect it to curl being that usually it gets glued down and unglued corners always curl), and I suspect that the carpet will mildue anyway. My only sugestion is to locate and minimize the source of the moisture ( I'm guessing that aim isn't the problem). Carpet without a pad can get a little wet and than dry in short order if you can leave the door open. We simply lightly sanded the floorboards in the powder room in our last house and then sealed with a good primer, and painted with porch floor paint. (These boards were also too warped to linoleum over.) A cushy bath rug then finished the room nicely.
I can't remember if I told you that I have been making a living installing tile and stone for years, so...
-In most cases the linoleum will not adhere to the carpet or be even, you need a hard surface under it. You could fix this by screwing down a sheet of plywood over the current wood floor boards (but make sure to tear the carpet out) and then install the linoleum over it. Screws will hold much better than nails.
-If you add any thickness to the floor (like adding plywood), you will need a plumber type to come in and adjust the collar that the base of the toilet attaches and empty's into.
-For you to have that much moisture, you must have some type of leak. It would be a great idea to try to isolate and figure out where the moisture is coming from while the carpet is out. No matter what you put down, the reaccuring moisture will eventually smell and destroy no matter what you put down.
-Final cost assessment: I would figure out where the moisture is coming from, and hopefully get that fixed for cheap and just put in the new carpet you already have.
BEFORE THAT THOUGH, I would talk to Andrew H. with LCM to see if they or the owners of the home would at least take care of the cost of a plumber. I think Andrew would try to get you guys taken care of.
I'd just like to take a moment to share in the excitement of the newest Harry Potter book. I'm holding my breath until I have my copy delivered to my door :-) And it will give me something to do if London gets too boring for me ;-)
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