The Perils of Bath Rugs

So, this might come as a shock to y'all, but it turns out we have old plumbing.

The Mr. and I got back from a trip, started some laundry, and sat down for a we-just-spent-six-hours-in-the-car meal of pb&js. At some point we became aware of the (not-so-tranquil) sound of falling water coming from the guest bath.  There, we find:

Awesome.  We realize (with relief) that instead of all the nasty things it could be... (I shall allow you time to imagine) .. it appeared, instead, to be "gray water" from the washing machine. It smelled great, actually. "Spring Meadow" Gain, I believe.

Our fears of spilling sewage were then replaced with fears of exploding washing machines, so we went skidding into the laundry room, sure that there was going to be a mess.  Nope again, but the utility sink appeared to be burping suds:

We just stood there for awhile, watching it gurgle. Though the suds eventually disappeared, the contents of the tub did not.  Turns out the pipe that leads away from the washing machine is a smidge too small/not vented well enough for the giant capacity of our washing machine, so if something starts to accumulate (the culprit: a shaggy bath rug was losing pounds of lint, apparently) things in our house start spewing drain water.

Ah, the things you learn.  Also, we had to pay somebody $150 for the 10 minutes it took to stick what looked like a GIANT roto-rooter down the tub drain.

So... what do you do?

• Pay somebody $150 every time this happens
• Widen the drain and add a vent
• Throw out the bath rug

Before-n-after: Winged Rocker

Here are some shots of the new rocker (see LRoomarama Part II), before, during, and after the reupholsteration. Before (with a potential new-upholstery swatch stuck to the back cushion): Next we have the (nasty) pieces taken off and laid out on the new fabric as patterns. When I took them off I realized that the bottom used to be pink, and that the top was newer. I think somebody tried to reupholster the top to match the (already faded and yellow-looking) bottom. It was also clear that it had been reupholstered many, many times--judging from the number of nail/tack holes. After I got all the upholstery off (the cushion on the bottom was wrapped in muslin, and I didn't want to touch it. See below.) I cleaned the heck out of it. In the picture below, the left arm has been cleaned, the right not--all together now: "Ewww." So. Um, the cushion. I don't know how old this thing is, but it's definitely part.. hair. I only guessed at the seat cushion, but then when I had to take the back off because both sides where upholstered... The picture doesn't do it justice. We have batting. We have straw. And the brown stuff.. is hair. Disturbingly non-horsey-looking hair. I, um.. tried not to touch it. If you don't want to know whether I put it back, then don't ask. And... done! Fabric closeup. It's cream-y crosshatch-patterned nubbly stuff with sort of a mustard-yellow background. It looks much lighter in the pictures than it is in "real life." Sorry for the blurriness. It's late and I can't hold my camera still enough to take a picture when it's dark outside. It went well, all in all! I burned myself with hot glue (could have predicted that), and I'm going to put more tacks in the trim when my back recovers (there were some weird angles to get into, there). There were also some dicey moments with the back cushion (the one that may or may not still contain unidentifiable hair). I'm really happy with how it turned out--provided my stapling job holds up. There are a lot of half-bent staples stuck in that frame. Next up's the sofa... after a nice, long break.