Savvy Budget

Day 16- WOW- I Amazed Myself

Yesterday, I retiled my bathroom wall. How is that inexpensive??. Because it only cost me $20.

Here's the whole story. My house is up for sale. Some hoodlums kicked in the bathroom wall as they climbed in the window. This was even before I moved out.

I needed to replace the wall and tile in the bathroom where it had been damaged. My dad was INSISTING I buy a $300 tub surround kit. I told him my plan was to replace the spot in the wall and replace the tile. He swore I would never find enough tile to match. :: Looking around like he must be talking to someone else:::: Did he think I threw the unbroken tile away??? He also swore he wasn't going to be any part of my stupid idea. ( y'all know I was laughing on the inside)

Stupid?? What is so stupid abut saving $300?? Beats me!

My sister and I prepare to go on over to the house and he asks how do I think I am going to make this work. I simply state my whole plan. Measure to the studs, remove damaged wall, replaced damaged wall, replace tile.

What he doesn't know is that I have researched this project right down to the adhesive I need to buy. (They have DIY websites that lay out how to repair this exact same damage.)

He says it will never work, That I'll never get it even, but he will go along to mow the yard. ( I mean heck, all I had to do was measure the depth of the blue sheet rock and round up a piece of the right size- how hard is that to figure out??)

We get there and he starts doing exactly what I had laid out. He measured, cut, and replaced. I glued the tile back, while he mowed the yard. Not one word out of my mouth since he is doing the hard stuff, unasked even.

My sister came in and was smirking as I followed the adhesive directions. "Oh NO, he wasn't going to be a part of this dumb idea. So when are you going to start putting the tile back?"

I laughed with her and said, "For a dumb project it looks pretty good so far."

Her response, "It doesn't look too bad. We'll see how the tile looks when you put some on."

My response, "I have two rows on now."

"WOW! For real? I can't even tell those are replaced."

Me,big smile and swelled pride. "I know."

She asked me how I got them so straight. I told her it was sheer inspiration. I was inspired not to spend $300 plus instillation and still have it look tacky. Mostly the $300.

Of course, my dad is out mowing the yard and does not hear a word of this. I'm not stupid. When he came in, he said, "It'll pass." My sister and I know those are words of praise coming from him.

Today when I called and talked to her, she said Dad was bragging to his customers on what a good job he did and how it came out perfect. I say let the old man have his brag. I have a repaired bathroom wall and my $300.Oh, and the sincere sense of accomplishment. Since I saved all that I decided to put a whopping $1 in the EF jar.

posted by Casper @ 5:04 PM