Outdoor Shower Renovation -- Big Island Hawaii

[Mary1793]

Aloha!  We rent out a lovely screen house (no windows on the front or sides -- just screens) set in the middle of a 1/2 acre tropical garden next to a marine sanctuary on Hawai'i's Big Island and, little by little,  I have been reinvesting what the house earns into fixing up those parts of it that needed a little (or a lot of!) TLC.   Most fixes have been minor aesthetics or just wear and tear.   But the one space on the property where I have always had to deliberately avert my eyes because I just couldn't bear 'the ugly" of it was the outdoor shower thoughtlessly tacked onto the back of the house -- most likely sometime in the 70s or 80s.    We finally had a gap in the calendar long enough to sledgehammer out the horrifically ugly stone and change out the shower fixtures.  Ahhhhhh!   Sooooo much nicer.  😉   Would love to hear from the community (especially other Big Island superhosts) about how you squeeze in those upgrades and what you prioritize ...

[Mary1793]

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[Sarah977]

@Mary1793  Wonderful redo, I love outdoor showers and have one myself, although mine is under cover. Next on my list is to redo the shower grout on the floor in the guest room bathroom. It's all intact and nothing actually wrong with it, but when I first tiled that shower floor (using iridescent pool tiles) I first used black grout, which I thought would look cool. But when I stepped back and looked at it, I didn't like it at all, and as it was still in setting-up stage, I just wiped it out, let it dry, then did over in sand color. But there's some areas where I didn't manage to wipe all the black out, so some areas are black still. Could look like it's black mold (although none of my guests have thought that when I mention that it's not mold- they said the rest of the place is so clean, it would never occur to them that it was moldy).

In any case, it's a job I've been procrastinating for a few years, but plan to get on it in the next couple weeks before my high season begins.

But one of the things about not getting around to something for a long time is that when you finally do, just like with your shower, it feels so great to be able to look at it and enjoy it instead of having to avert one's eyes or feel stressed that it hasn't been tackled yet.

[Mary1793]

Aloha Sarah!  We are frequent visitors to Sayulita (or at least used to be for more than a decade before buying / fixing up a Big Island house - although hoping to make it back this spring).  I have been thinking about buying down there after my daughter graduates high school and would love to talk to you on DM about what it's like to run rentals there / how the market has held up.   

[Sarah977]

@Mary1793  Cool! Yes, we can chat on private messaging. Also, I just finished writing a reply to your post on Insects and pressed reply, but that entire post of yours disappeared! 

[Mary1793]

how odd!  maybe the community moderators had an issue with it or something?

[Mary1793]

that is really annoying!  why do you think that happened?  community moderation team?  glitch?  i just went to look for it and it's like i never wrote it at all.   does that sort of thing happen often on here?

[Sarah977]

@Mary1793  I can't imagine there was any issue, sometimes posts do disappear, it's just glitchy software. Maybe private message one of the moderators here, Lizzie or Stephanie and see if they can get it back up, it was a good topic. In the meantime, I had copied it before clicking on reply, as I am used to glitchy stuff here, so almost always do that now, so I'll try pasting it into a private message to you-check the little envelope symbol up on the headings in awhile.

[Linda108]

@Mary1793   I don't have a Big Island renovation story to share, but I do have a Big Island outdoor shower experience.  My daughter and I stayed at a lovley home where we each had an outdoor shower in our bathroom.  LOVED IT!  Felt very private and free.  So close to nature that one time a little coqui frog hopped onto my foot which caused a high pitched squeak 😄

Like you, I have reinvested some of my Air BNB income into my home, including renovating the guest shower.  I figure I get to increase the equity in my home and write off some of the cost of the renovation all due to my Air BNB listing.  

[Helen427]

Well done @Mary1793 
An observation, do you have somewhere for the guests to place there toiletries or towels,  hidden out of sight?

Love your listing and tongue in chek comments about the geckos!!

Are you in the Captain Cook region of Hawaii doing any celebrations in your location for the 250th  anniversary?

All the best

Central To All Home & Location

Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand

[Ann783]

Nice reno. I'm new to hosting, but plan on reinvesting most of our proceeds into upgrading the space. First on my list is our unfinished basement - which we now use for storage and laundry but can easily hold a rec area and extra guest bed and bathroom.

[Linda1213]

LOVE it!!! I am so intrigued by a screen house.... can you share your airbnb link? I switched out counters in between guests.... with only hours before next guest came 🙂