We
arrived at the home of Kathleen's mom and discovered that there
were some "things" than needed to be done. So, given that
mom, Marguerite, was not able to do these "things" we put the
actions on our list of things-to-do and got to work. First
were some plumbing issues. Next was a full redo on the main
bathroom. The bathroom needed some serious help and
generally speaking we were able to address most of the
issues. I am not a tile setter, so that action will have to
wait for another day.
The photos below are what we saw.
Before
we got started on the task, I took a photo of one of the walls
that was used to document the growth of the kids. This wall
was left intact for posterity's sake.
The
gold wallpaper was solid seventies. And, it was mostly held
on by push pins as the glue had degraded over the years. Our
plan was to torch the wallpaper, redo drywall, repaint, replace
fixtures and do any repairs that needed to be done. Sadly,
the black and pink tile were constraints. Since I am not a
tile setter, they would stay and the balance of the project would
"work around" the existing tile. In fact, the color scheme
was chosen to compliment the tile.
The
existing fixtures and wall hangings had to be removed.
The
wallpaper was not fully attached in all locations and that made
removal simple. Note where the drywall is showing there are
markings. Removal of the wallpaper revealed a wealth of
graffiti that had been applied over the years by pulling back the
wallpaper and then replacing it.
Since
the paper was attached with water-soluble glue which had degraded
over the years due to moisture in the bathroom, removal was easy
and quick.
Exposing
the graffiti unleashed a wealth of comments from the clan members
and I was instructed to insure that all the writing was
documented. Non-clan members will not care, but here are the
photos.
The
markings seemed to start around 1979.
I
had to laugh since Kathleen (who used to call herself Kathy) had
made many inscriptions relating to previous boyfriends.
This
one was particularly amusing since the fellow turned out to be
gay. They are still in contact amazingly enough.
There
was so much writing that new inscriptions were applied over old
ones.
Most
of the comments were inside jokes or context sensitive and
therefore less meaningful now.
1982
seemed to be a good year.
No
graffiti is complete without a bathroom limerick.
Kathleen
is still in contact with Franca.
Deby
is clearly an artist.
The
wall was sufficiently important to summon local clan
members. From left: Jesse Jayne, Nancy, Bob, Marguerite,
Jamilee, Kathleen and Dee.
The
girls mug for a group photo.
Back
at work, we discovered more issues. This fan appears to be
circa 1950.
Our
actions required multiple trips to the basement for tools and I
discovered this ham radio.
More
ham gear.
More
gear. I am not sure, exactly, what this is.
Covering
the graffiti on the walls took many coats of paint. Every
non-tile surface was painted with new colors and new fixtures were
added. Holes in the drywall were patched and new fixtures
were added to the sink area over holes in the tile. We chose
a 3 color palette that included a trim color, a main color and an
accent color. The accent color, the darker reddish, was used
for the carve-out in the wall and the door.
The
old light fixture was replaced with one from this century.
Towel rings and bars were added.
The
colors actually play pretty well together. Note the pink
floor tile; yet another constraint.
A
shot of the exterior of the house.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.