We got there alive.....and tired and it was a very chilly -5 degrees.
Once we un-winterized the cabin, cranked the heat, lit the fire, settled the dog....opened a bottle of red wine and plopped on the couch I said to Allan that I felt as though I had just run a marathon .... working 18 of the last 21 days.
I was soon tucked in under the comfy duvet and asleep.
The next morning, in the daylight we surveyed the cabin bathroom floor.
It was a mess. A few leaks over the years had left a mess of warped laminate. Tired as we were we knew that floor had to come up.
As these things tend to....the more we removed the bigger became the problem.
With the whole floor up we could see that the water was coming from the base of the toilet every time it flushed.....Grrrrreat!
We went to the trusty RONA in Hope (having checked it out earlier) to get what we needed.
I found a RONA guy and told him we needed bathroom underlay and then some laminate flooring.
We walked outside to get it.
"So you are using laminate in the bathroom floor?"
"Yes - that is what was there before"
"There is some laminate that works ok in bathrooms and kitchens."
"I am assuming from your voice that this isn't it?"
"Nope we don't sell Aqualock laminate here"
"Ok then I guess we are stuck with this. My husband knows it's not the best choice but we have to get this floor down this weekend."
"Well I used Aqualock in my home and I have a couple extra boxes I could let you have"
"Oh wow...um.....ok....is it this colour we wanted?"
"Nope...it's this darker brown.....but it doesn't matter because it's the right stuff for a bathroom".
"Riiiight....ok...how much would you sell it for?"
"$20 for the two boxes and I will throw in the underlay foam"
"Wow...that is amazing.....let me find my husband and I will be right back"
I dash inside to find Allan in the caulking aisle and breathily relay the story wondering if I am being scammed.....Allan is on board in a minute. A guy who loves a bargain!
I dash back outside and tell Rona dude we will take it but where does he live and when can we get the "goods"? He says "come with me".....of course Allan is nowhere in sight so I wander off with Rona dude to the sidewalk and he points at a house 3 doors up the street and says " Pull your truck in there and I will load it up - I think it's about time for my coffee break anyway".
We tell Rona dude we will be right back and drive across Hope (4 minutes tops) to the Credit Union. I leap from the truck and dash to the door.
It's locked.
I can see the ATM but I cannot get to it.
I do the classic shake of the locked door as if it may magically spring open at my willing.
I hear a honk behind me.
Crap.
I turn and a lovely older lady in a huge truck yells "There is a drive through ATM around back Honey".
I wave in thanks as I take off at a sprint (lest Rona dude sell our goods to the next DIYer or the police arrive) and leap (gazelle-like) around an RV trying to make the corner and beat it to the ATM. Funds in my hands I can't resist running through the rest of the drive through and returned triumphant at the truck resisting the urge to yell "Start the car, start the car!".
We dash to the little house with the red roof by the Rona and the dude loads the two boxes and the underlay and hands Allan the tool to lay the floor with a casual "Just drop it by the store when you are done". We handed over the $20.
Incredible....we just saved $150 and he lent us his tools.
We returned and the renovation was done in around 8 hours. Of course it was the one only time we have had a puppy in tow but he took careful note of all the work and waited patiently for his Dad to be done. It went pretty well with the requisite sighing and dire mutterings from Allan but not many curses..and the result is amazing.
Or did we just meet a nice guy who could have lived anywhere?
Either way we felt grateful.
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