The Via Colony: Another (MAJOR) Transformation: of the Master Bathroom variety

There is a super long story that goes with our Master Bathroom.

I will spare you MOST of the details,

but the backstory makes this bathroom transformation all the better!

Because God's timing and provision were behind all the details.

Plumbing and rotten wood have been issues with this house since before we purchased it.

It started with us having to keep the plumber's number on speed dial

because inevitably, whenever we would have a huge get-together at our house

the pipes would back up and we would be left with only one working toilet.

And it was not uncommon for us to be standing in a 3-inch high puddle in the shower.

It got so bad that we were forced to shut the door to our bathroom and use the only other bathroom in the house with the kids for nearly 9 months.

And even with that, plunging became a tag-team event with our closest of friends, ha!

The first two photos above were taken of our bathroom shortly after we moved in.

The last photo was taken after the bottom of our shower rotted out.

A company came out and had to tear the whole shower bottom out to the basement/crawlspace,

and then peaced out after realizing all the work they would have to do to

make our bathroom functional again.

It sat like that for months!

We called several companies and friends who gave us different estimates and answers to the ongoing,

and seemingly unresolvable, problem(s), but still nothing was happening.

We were beginning to think that we were never going to find somebody to help us fix everything.

So we closed the door and pretended like nothing was wrong.

But somehow, every time I sat down in certain colony member's pee on the toilet I was quickly reminded of the problem we had on our hands.

But after one look at it by our friend from Journey, Ulises,

he surprised us by actually taking on the job...and FAST!

Within two days he had a crew together to begin demo on the bathroom, plumbing

and replacing all the joists and supports under the house.

Left: The demo from our bathroom went straight through to the basement.
Right: looking into our bathroom from our bedroom.

Left: Josh made the guys breakfast to show them just how THANKFUL and GRATEFUL we were for their help.
Middle: While the guys were jacking up the house and banging under our feet for 2 days we made up fun games to play.
This particular one was setting up all the action figures to see which one would be left standing last.
Right: Jude was motivated to get his own hammer out and "work" on some projects too.

Lowe's trips were ~~one of the most stressful things~~ an adventure with five kids.
The guys were working SO quickly that we had to get supplies and make decisions very fast,
and ALL the kids wanted to give their input as well, ha!

Ulises was SO sweet and patient with Jude.
He didn't mind all his questions and was always finding a job for him to help with.
These two would create quite a bond over the next few weeks as
Ulises team helped finish up a couple of other projects in our home.

We had some friends help us draw out a new, more efficient floor plan
and Ulises' team nailed it!
The day we finally got a full floor down in our bathroom was a day to celebrate!