Harold's Renovation Blog: #110: And Then The Bathroom Started Flooding

What started as a straightforward sink swap in the beach house master bathroom ended with a big hole in the wall and a face full of water. And the cause was something we had never heard about before (and just about the weirdest thing ever). We share what happened and how we fixed it – plus we spill all the details on why we continue to put off the renovation of the two upstairs bathrooms here at home. We’re also shouting out a new decorating show that we really like, a piece of technology that Sherry is loving, and the a tale of how our first book snagged the attention of a ‘90s rock singer and two Bravo reality stars (truth is stranger than fiction).

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

What’s New

Yep, that’s the wall in the master bathroom at the beach house after the plumber came by and fixed the hole that we uncovered. You can actually see below the tiny knick that we discovered after I cut away a little bit of the drywall to locate the source of the spray. Luckily we were able to confirm that it hadn’t been leaking the whole time and get it all repaired.

In the photo below you can see the new vanity *mostly* installed. We still need to replace some of the baseboard that runs behind it, along with wanting to add new hardware to replace the tiny pulls it came with (look how close those holes are!).
This is the vanity and we got this single-hole faucet to help maximize counter space.

You can hear more about our gripes with the old sink in Episode #103.
Below is a picture of the sink in the beach house downstairs where you can see what I mean about cutting the baseboard around the vanity base to keep everything flush to the wall.

vanity | light | mirror | floor tile | towel bar

And for all of those interested in Sherry’s run-in with Tom and Jax from Vanderpump Rules during our first book tour, here’s the photo from 2013, along with me and Mark McGrath from Sugar Ray. If these photos aren’t a reminder of how far the iPhone camera has come in six years, I’m not sure what is…

Also, here’s the page from our first book, Young House Love, that proved to be a good ice breaker with Mark.

Listener Question

The before photo above and the picture below shows how far our master bathroom came thanks to some simple Phase 1 updates (more on why we love Phase 1 here).

It was meant to be a temporary “Phase One” improvement, but it’s been 4.5 years since we axed the shower door, removed the wallpaper, and added a cheery paint treatment. And guess what – it works just fine for now.
The situation is similar in our hall bathroom, which is what the kids use. Here’s the before:

And here’s how it’s looking these days. We basically just painted and swapped out some fixtures and have been completely fine with it for the time being.

We’re Digging

It’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed a home makeover show as much as Netflix’s Stay Here, which features Genevieve Gorder and real estate expert Peter Lorimer overhauling vacation rentals (like the Seattle houseboat shown above). The makeovers are awesome and the travel twist is fascinating.
I also found this article with a rundown of all of the featured homes’ actual Airbnb listings. That oceanfront Malibu house goes for $1,500/night, by the way, not $7 Million like Sherry guesstimated. She was close…?
And also check out Making It on NBC (you can find it on-demand) if you’re someone who needs a fun lighthearted crafting competition in your life. Or if you’re just someone who needs more Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman in your life. Which is everybody.
And don’t forget that you can hear Genevieve on our podcast in Episode #9 and you can see Nick Offerman in our second book, Lovable Livable Home, on page 170.

But if you’d rather get off your couch and walk, like a certain strolling enthusiast around here, this is the Fitbit Alta HR that I surprised Sherry with along with this $12 rose gold band (just make sure to get the rose gold colored Fitbit, otherwise it won’t be the same color).

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to You Need A Budget (YNAB) for sponsoring this episode. Sign up at YNAB.com/YHL to get your first three months free!