Honeycomb Kid

A small surprise awaited me this morning when the nice men came to lay down my new tile floor in the bathroom.

You remember the bathroom remodel I started, right?

The shower backsplash got replaced with the glass mosaic tile.

The bathroom has since been painted, giant mirrors and glass shelving has replaced the medicine cabinet, a new light fixture has been installed.

Now the honeycomb hexagonal new floor is being laid.

(**Insert your own inappropriate “laid” joke here**)

Nonetheless my tile guy calls me and says, “You know that your developer laid your current floor over the existing original floor, right?”

“Why no floor guy, I didn’t”

“The original floor is almost exactly like the tile that you picked out.”

“Really? So if my developer had left well enough alone, I could have had exactly what I wanted?”

“It looks that way. The floor could have been repaired had it not been tiled over. Naturally we can’t save it now as it was damaged when we lifted the other tile off.”

“Of course.”

He then mapped out my options and let me decide which was going to be a good fit for me and my budget.

I could of set the new tile over the original tile but the original tile was too “slippery” and the new floor eventually would of come up in a couple of years.

Instead I opted to rip out both floors and do it the right way so there will be no drama in a couple of years or in a couple of decades.

Naturally the right way will cost me an extra $200.00

But you know what? I partially blame myself.

I selected to live in this building because I love old buildings. A more savvy buyer would of gone in and done a complete and thoughtful assessment of what was there (original honeycomb tile floor in the bathroom, moldings & built in hutch) and put it’s restoration in the contract.

Moral of the story #1: Trust no one else’s taste but your own. Unless you’re hard up for cash and need the salvage money, there’s no reason to rip out built in’s or cover original tile. Well there is but I was always told its bad manners to point out other people's crappy taste.

Then of course, who says my crib is House Beautiful cover material?

Moral of the story #2: Check everything in the unit you’re going to buy---especially a vintage building---and make sure it’s inclusion or demolition is in the contract.

So the question remains, why am I still paying for Carlton Knight’s (or his general contractor’s) miscues?

God only knows what else I’ll find as I continue to remodel.