Plumbing issue might be minor

Sean and Joel came by today and checked out the sewage smell. When I had tried sniffing the various drains in the bathroom I didn't feel that it was any stronger in one than another, but Sean said it was stronger coming out of the bathtub. Since the tub and shower are separate and I haven't used the tub in about a month, he figures it was just that the water in the P-trap evaporated. He checked to make sure it wasn't leaking (via the fan hole in the ceiling of the bathroom downstairs) and it sounds like he's going to call a plumber anyway to ask, but he sounded pretty confident that's all it is.

As for painting, he's refunding us half of what we paid for painting -- so $400. Brooke will do what he can, and we'll hire a professional painter for the tricky parts. We wanted Sean to pay for half of the professional painter, and he didn't want to pay anything, so we compromised. After Sean had left, Brooke said something to the effect of, "Well, you know you've had a successful negotiation when no one is totally happy."