S16.E04: Cistern Wives

[RedDelicious]

38 minutes ago, Twopper said:

So the cistern is a ditch and not an actual tank?  Sounds like something they would come up with, but they will never build on prairie dog flats so the ditch will just stay there as a hazard.   HIs treatment of Sol and Truly sorta reminds me of Ma Duggar losing a child in an airport and taking  a picture of the one who fell into the orchestra  pit or something similar.

No, the cistern is the tank, and the ditch is to house it underground. I don't know why Kody doesn't just call it a water tank. To call it a cistern isn't incorrect, it's just kind of confusing. In my mind, a cistern is a reservoir that fills with water either from a well with a pump or from rain. A water tank is filled by a truck. But technically, a "cistern" could be filled either by a well/rain or a truck. I kind of think Kody's just trying to be all smart guy with his words.

But beyond all that, I don't think a 20,000 gallon tank is nearly enough for 1-2 small houses, let alone 5 regular size houses. Usage goes beyond dishes and showers. It's irrigation for the landscaping and I don't know, WET FIRE SUPPRESSION KODY? I don't think there are any hydrants out there on The Pass, and if there was a fire in the desert that is their property, the Stink Pond ain't going to cut it. 

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by RedDelicious

[Sasha888]

I have never in my life seen a grown man get that excited about a freaking hole in the ground. Especially a guy who doesn't know his ass from one.

I guess Robyn sprinkled some amphetamines on his bran flakes or something. He was off the charts excited about that stupid hole. What a dweeb.

I was hoping someone would appear from behind the trees and shoot him in the butt with a tranquilizer dart.

[Tabbygirl521]

15 hours ago, RedDelicious said:

A GIANT HOLE that could collapse on a LITTLE BOY? Are you kidding me right now? I am in complete and utter disbelief. What an ASSHAT 🤯

That actually did happen to my dad when he was a child. So lucky someone was there to get him out. He was buried!

[Tabbygirl521]

4 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I agree with this 100%. Not that living a plural lifestyle means no one is every allowed any privacy ever- the kids storming into Meri's bedroom/bathroom without knocking wouldnt be acceptable, but like you said, Meri was happy with Janelle paying the bills. Happy with Christine cooking meals and watching Mariah when Meri and Kody had their date night etc etc. Meri was happy that Mariah had brothers and sisters even though she didnt have any more kids, yet you wont let Mariah's brothers/sisters walk through the living room???? 

Dont buy it.

Meri said she herself was working two jobs. Not sure that Janelle was paying all the bills. 

[Twopper]

10 minutes ago, RedDelicious said:

 

45 minutes ago, Twopper said:

So the cistern is a ditch and not an actual tank?  Sounds like something they would come up with, but they will never build on prairie dog flats so the ditch will just stay there as a hazard.   HIs treatment of Sol and Truly sorta reminds me of Ma Duggar losing a child in an airport and taking  a picture of the one who fell into the orchestra  pit or something similar.

No, the cistern is the tank, and the ditch is to house it underground. I don't know why Kody doesn't just call it a water tank. To call it a cistern isn't incorrect, it's just kind of confusing. In my mind, a cistern is a reservoir that fills with water either from a well with a pump or from rain. A water tank is filled by a truck. But technically, a "cistern" could be filled either by a well/rain or a truck. I kind of think Kody's just trying to be all smart guy with his words.

But beyond all that, I don't think a 20,000 gallon tank is nearly enough for 1-2 small houses, let alone 5 regular size houses. Usage goes beyond dishes and showers. It's irrigation for the landscaping and I don't know, WET FIRE SUPPRESSION KODY? I don't think there are any hydrants out there on The Pass, and if there was a fire in the desert that is their property, the Stink Pond ain't going to cut it. 

 

The 2 of us use slightly less than 3000 gallons per month.  there are 7 people at robyn's plus Janelle and Savannah so that's already 13500 right there assuming my math is okay.  Doesn't include the green house and other irrigation   Looks like the tank would need refilling weekly

[Roslyn]

After seeing the graphic that this 20,000 gallon tank was supposed to house water for 4(5!!?) fully operating households I did a little google. The average per person household water usage seems to be a bit different but it comes down to 62 gallons per person per day and another as high as 100 gallons per person per day. It has been years since I was on municipal water, so I have no clue what my household uses for comparison. 

Robyn has the 3 older children and two younger, plus she stated that "Kody likes long showers" so for giggles going by the higher number for water in her household of 7 puts it at 700 gallons per day. And the maths says that the 20,000 gallon tank would not even last a month for ONE household...let alone the proposed 5!! and then they keep saying about subdividing the property into smaller parcels for "inheritances".

And...my husband works in commercial construction.  If a hole like the one Kody was forcing Solomon into (by his neck no less) was not fenced off or reinforced the people responsible would have been fired from the job and most likely fined.  Fresh dug holes with loose dirt sides is highly dangerous...for adults let alone children.  Kody is beyond irresponsible, and that's not even before mentioning his handling and forcing Solomon.

[RedDelicious]

2 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

And the maths says that the 20,000 gallon tank would not even last a month for ONE household...let alone the proposed 5!!

Forget about it if one of the houses caught fire - that's what I keep going back to in my head.  The fire department would have to bring tankers out and those don't last but 10-15 minutes. So like Twopper said they'd have to fill it weekly! 

[Roslyn]

Instead of editing my original thought...I'll just add another.

HOW on EARTH can you sell a property that shares a cistern water tank with 4 other properties?

[Sasha888]

22 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

HOW on EARTH can you sell a property that shares a cistern water tank with 4 other properties?

Exactly.

Also, if they were all to finish their homes and move out there, which is nothing but a pipe dream but just for argument's sake, imagine all the fights between them because somebody used up all the "community" water.

Janelle should be more concerned about her access to this than her access to a mud puddle.

[lilysmom]

1 hour ago, RedDelicious said:

No, the cistern is the tank, and the ditch is to house it underground. I don't know why Kody doesn't just call it a water tank. To call it a cistern isn't incorrect, it's just kind of confusing. In my mind, a cistern is a reservoir that fills with water either from a well with a pump or from rain. A water tank is filled by a truck. But technically, a "cistern" could be filled either by a well/rain or a truck. I kind of think Kody's just trying to be all smart guy with his words.

But beyond all that, I don't think a 20,000 gallon tank is nearly enough for 1-2 small houses, let alone 5 regular size houses. Usage goes beyond dishes and showers. It's irrigation for the landscaping and I don't know, WET FIRE SUPPRESSION KODY? I don't think there are any hydrants out there on The Pass, and if there was a fire in the desert that is their property, the Stink Pond ain't going to cut it. 

 

Because then," Water Tank Wives" for the title of this episode wouldn't have the same zing as "Cistern Wives!"

When you think about it, Cistern Wives would make for a good renaming for the series!! No offense to cisterns around the world!

[Sandy W]

9 minutes ago, lilysmom said:

Because then," Water Tank Wives" for the title of this episode wouldn't have the same zing as "Cistern Wives!"

When you think about it, Cistern Wives would make for a good renaming for the series!! No offense to cisterns around the world!

In terms of utilities, perhaps Septic Wives would be more fitting, they all carry a lot of crap just below the surface.  No one would ever think of them as Electric(fying) women.

[TeeMo]

Is no one going to talk about how ridiculous Kody looked in that visor as he waxed poetic about the giant ditch? 

[WhatAmIWatching]

46 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

Instead of editing my original thought...I'll just add another.

HOW on EARTH can you sell a property that shares a cistern water tank with 4 other properties?

My SIL bought a house in TX, and apparently 3 of the neighboring houses had been tapping off the well on her new property for years and years! She only found out about it because they dug up everything  for repairs when the dug to replace the old septic tank. The  previous owner didn't care about the well sitch, because it was his vacation home. (and didn't disclose this tidbit at the sale)

 Well, as soon as she she knew, she notified all the neighbors that they needed to figure out what to do for themselves, as she was capping their access. As you can imagine, she was very popular after that, lol.

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, Tabbygirl521 said:

Meri said she herself was working two jobs. Not sure that Janelle was paying all the bills. 

Meri was working too, ( I did not mean to imply that she wasnt). She and Janelle were paying communal bills (as was Kody), while Christine provided domestic support (chores, childcare etc). I get the impression that Meri liked benefiting from the "family pot" (extra income, childcare, household labor etc) but did not want to be inconvenienced by the family.

[Absolom]

From the book it seemed Meri worked at entry level type jobs and quit when Kody was going to take a trip and she could go with him.  Sometimes she worked two part-time jobs without saying if that equaled the hours and income of a full time job.

[deirdra]

Two pairs of wicked witch legs!

[Scarlett45]

11 minutes ago, Absolom said:

From the book it seemed Meri worked at entry level type jobs and quit when Kody was going to take a trip and she could go with him.  Sometimes she worked two part-time jobs without saying if that equaled the hours and income of a full time job.

Yes, from my years of watching the Brown family, during the Levi years- the majority of the bills were paid by Janelle/Kody's income. Meri had some type of employment for wages and did a fair bit of chauffeuring the kids around as they got older, while Christine was the primary caregiver/handled the domestic management of the house (chores, meal prep etc).

[LilyD]

1 hour ago, Roslyn said:

HOW on EARTH can you sell a property that shares a cistern water tank with 4 other properties?

I wouldn't worry about that too much since they're not building anything, anywhere, anytime ever....

11 minutes ago, Absolom said:

From the book it seemed Meri worked at entry level type jobs and quit when Kody was going to take a trip and she could go with him.  Sometimes she worked two part-time jobs without saying if that equaled the hours and income of a full time job.

So, technically the word holiday allowance or pocket money would be more appropriate than a contribution to communal bills?🤔

[Adiba]

19 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Meri was working too, ( I did not mean to imply that she wasnt). She and Janelle were paying communal bills (as was Kody), while Christine provided domestic support (chores, childcare etc). I get the impression that Meri liked benefiting from the "family pot" (extra income, childcare, household labor etc) but did not want to be inconvenienced by the family.

And sending Mariah over to Christine’s for meals sometimes—when the princess didn’t like what Meri was serving. Also, wasn’t Christine’s pantry raided by the others at times?

I’m not saying that the kids should’ve been permitted to traipse through Meri’s willy-nilly at all hours, but supervised when going to Christine’s for childcare and meals? There definitely should have been a compromise, imo.

[deirdra]

43 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

In terms of utilities, perhaps Septic Wives would be more fitting, they all carry a lot of crap just below the surface.  No one would ever think of them as Electric(fying) women.

They are probably saving that for another episode.  Even if we never see a single septic system going in, we'll probably hear about it since the pond & regional gas pipeline easements will mess with Kootie's plans. Normal people would also have legal land surveys showing where ALL the utilities & septic fields would be located BEFORE a ditch was dug for the cistern.

Edited December 13, 2021 by deirdra

[Kellyee]

I watched the episode. So Kody missed Evie's amputation surgery, in addition to missing Ysabel's spine surgery. And he missed Evie's first birthday. And he didn't hang out with Meri, Mariah, and Audrey at the bed and breakfast. Kody is only interested in his kids with his latest wife. It's so obvious and just like some divorced parents who remarry and make a new family. I don't know why the 3 non-wives carry on this charade.

That muddy ditch looked big enough to build multiple houses around it, and I'm Team Janelle over Team Meri any day. I don't think the new ditch was about to cave in around Solomon, but Kody definitely forced him down into it in some sort of macho bullshit "make my son into a man" move. 

Did Meri say she was "feeling" a wall or "throwing" a wall?? And did that basement in Lehi that Christine had to live in have no windows?

 

 

 

[islandgal140]

To see all the hand wringing over water rights, you would think they were sparring over Pacific ocean views and not some stagnant mud pit. 

It was weird to hear Ysabel say her dad helped her get through all those months when she was living in such pain because the way I remember it, Kody didn't even know she was in that much pain. 

Why did last episode Christine make her 1st two weeks in NJ sound like a fun vacation, when actually it was a required quarantine?

I felt such sympathy for Madison and her husband having to make such hard decisions concerning their daughter's limbs. Poor baby!

Robyn really had Kody to herself that summer with all the wives away.  Witch!

[Sasha888]

10 minutes ago, islandgal140 said:

Robyn really had Kody to herself that summer with all the wives away.  Witch!

That's a punishment, though. 😆

[Mr. Miner]

12 minutes ago, islandgal140 said:

 

Robyn really had Kody to herself that summer with all the wives away.  Witch!

Be careful what you wish for, she deserves him.

[RedDelicious]

40 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

(chores, meal prep etc).

Yes, the mills, the mills!!

[Shieldmaiden]

2 hours ago, Roslyn said:

After seeing the graphic that this 20,000 gallon tank was supposed to house water for 4(5!!?) fully operating households I did a little google. The average per person household water usage seems to be a bit different but it comes down to 62 gallons per person per day and another as high as 100 gallons per person per day. It has been years since I was on municipal water, so I have no clue what my household uses for comparison. 

Robyn has the 3 older children and two younger, plus she stated that "Kody likes long showers" so for giggles going by the higher number for water in her household of 7 puts it at 700 gallons per day. And the maths says that the 20,000 gallon tank would not even last a month for ONE household...let alone the proposed 5!! and then they keep saying about subdividing the property into smaller parcels for "inheritances".

And...my husband works in commercial construction.  If a hole like the one Kody was forcing Solomon into (by his neck no less) was not fenced off or reinforced the people responsible would have been fired from the job and most likely fined.  Fresh dug holes with loose dirt sides is highly dangerous...for adults let alone children.  Kody is beyond irresponsible, and that's not even before mentioning his handling and forcing Solomon.

I may not be remembering correctly as I was counting my cable knitting stitches while watching, but I thought I heard him say that there will be one of these tanks for each house, saying that there will be 5 in total…

Edited to add: Diedra on another thread heard more details…this big tank will feed 5 smaller tanks, one for each house.

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Shieldmaiden
Additional info

[Jeanne222]

JUst coming into this one so I haven't had a chance to see what others opinions are.  So....

The problem with the Lehi house was Meri in the middle.  I don't blame her.  I wouldn't want to live in Grand Central Station.  On the other hand I would not want to be Christine and Janelle going outside all the time with umpteen kids in tow.

The solution would have been for Queen Bee Meri to change places with Christine but I'm sure she would not do that.

The house was not right for any of them.

Re the new house I think Janelle is right Meri will be the boss of the pond if she gets that spot.  She wants to sit on the deck in the evening and have a bunch of kids rough housing and wood burning.  No Meri would never stand for that.  She is an entitled little bitch in everything she does.

Why did she wear that tshirt when she was trying to make peace.  Really Meri.

Regarding Sol in the hole I think Kody is trying to make the little kid manly.  He looks like a kind of quiet little boy.  He surely doesn't need to be pushed in a hole.  Darn.  He needs to be able to socialize with other little boys his age.  People are doing that.  Masks and hand sanitizer.

Kody definitely should have been there for Isabel and also for Christine who was so worried.  He could have broken away from Robyn and went with them and then did the 14 day shelter when he returned.  Shame on him for letting them down like that.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Jeanne222

[bichonblitz]

26 minutes ago, islandgal140 said:

I felt such sympathy for Madison and her husband having to make such hard decisions concerning their daughter's limbs. Poor baby!

Did grandpa Kody give one single crap about his grandchild? We all know the answer to that. 

Could Sol be any less interested in the big, muddy  hole? I had to laugh. He wasn't going along at all with Kody's plan to show everyone how he and Sol are so close. Maybe Sol is shy in front of the camera's but damn he acted like he barely wanted Kody to touch him! 

[LilyD]

12 minutes ago, islandgal140 said:

Why did last episode Christine make her 1st two weeks in NJ sound like a fun vacation, when actually it was a required quarantine?

I guess you can look at quarantine in two ways: A necessity that is incredibly boring and a huge nuisance, or you can try to make it (sound) fun.  If you call it a holiday, you can say you're relaxing, spend time doing things you like (indoors) and have quality time with your partner, child or other family members. It doesn't sound half that bad.

I'd say it is a typical Christine thing. She tends to have a fairly positive take on life and looks at it from the bright side. That is, if she wasn't completely thrashed over by douche bag Kody! 

[deirdra]

10 minutes ago, Shieldmaiden said:

I may not be remembering correctly as I was counting my cable knitting stitches while watching, but I thought I heard him say that there will be one of these tanks for each house, saying that there will be 5 in total…

Kootie had a stupid little drawing showing this big cistern connected to 5 separate tanks. Though it is probably designed for one large house.  In addition to water costs, you pay per delivery, so monthly refills rather than weekly makes more sense (as long as it is kept pretty full during fire season.

Edited December 13, 2021 by deirdra

[the-grey-lady]

7 hours ago, Awfarmington said:

Add me to the list of people who don’t get the appeal of the run off ‘pond’. 
 

We have a business behind our property that has a large run off pond that looks like a real pond. We get enough rain here that most of them stay filled, grow cattails and ducks and other wildlife use them. Still gross to think about all the run off water that helps to keep them full, and I’d never consider it anything other than utilitarian, but it’s much more attractive than the mud pit the Brown’s have. 

 

They're arguing about it because there's only one.

Each of them wants it because it's something only they would have.

It's about the "pond," but it's not about the "pond."

Edited December 14, 2021 by the-grey-lady

[Nancybeth]

Mary was awfully naïve to think she could request this conversation with Janelle, confront her about what Janelle had allegedly been saying and then...Janelle wasn't going to come back at her with anything? She just shut it down immediately. 

Would it have been possible to put a door between Christine and Janelle's apartments in the old house? Or did they not share a wall?

[LilyD]

35 minutes ago, the-grey-lady said:

They arguing about it because there's only one.

Each of them wants it because it's something only they would have.

It's about the "pond," but it's not about the "pond."

Agreed. It's that very childish and selfish attitude that says "I only want it so you can't have it" It makes them special, stand out. And quite possibly, make them rank higher in the hierarchy. There's a lot of envy between the wives. 

[Sandy W]

17 minutes ago, Nancybeth said:

Mary was awfully naïve to think she could request this conversation with Janelle, confront her about what Janelle had allegedly been saying and then...Janelle wasn't going to come back at her with anything? She just shut it down immediately. 

Would it have been possible to put a door between Christine and Janelle's apartments in the old house? Or did they not share a wall?

They did share a wall on the lower level but, as Janelle's 2 level portion was added to the original structure, the wall they shared would have been a foundation wall of either poured or block concrete.  It may have undermined the structure to have drilled through that.  The most feasible solution that I saw was enclosing the exterior stairs so that passage could be made without exposure to the elements.  I assume the staircase in question is at the rear of the house as I haven't seen photos of it.

The present owners of the Lehi house have written a piece about the dwelling (can be googled) and the exterior shot they show indicates a covered porch running past Meri's unit to the stairs leading to the front yard.  Apparently Janelle's former kitchen was 800 sq.ft.!!!  If there wasn't already a door from there to the front porch, it may have also been an alternative to cut one there, across the covered porch, then one into Christine's unit.  This door would have led to one of Christine's bedrooms but that may not have been a big issue for them.  Meri could have kept her damn blinds closed if she didn't want the others peering into her window as they passed by.

[SongbirdHollow]

Well, there were obviously multiple solutions to the cut-through problem but apparently Janelle was more concerned about “not rocking the boat” and holding a grudge for 25 years than speaking up when it was appropriate. And apparently “leader” Kody was uninterested in  helping smooth things over between wives because Not His Problem. 

[Twopper]

On 12/13/2021 at 2:58 PM, LilyD said:

On 12/13/2021 at 2:42 PM, Absolom said:

From the book it seemed Meri worked at entry level type jobs and quit when Kody was going to take a trip and she could go with him.  Sometimes she worked two part-time jobs without saying if that equaled the hours and income of a full time job.

So, technically the word holiday allowance or pocket money would be more appropriate than a contribution to communal bills?🤔

When I re-watched the series a while back, they went to visit an old home where the kids put their names in the sidewalk.  I think this was while they lived in Wyoming.   I think this was the episode where Meri went to visit the place she worked--I think for 3 years--which was a store that sold trophies.

Edited December 14, 2021 by Twopper

[Chris Knight]

Madison and her husband had a very difficult decision about the surgeries vs amputation. My heart goes out to them. Janelle seems like a very good and supportive gram, and I think Madison's brother was also there in NC. It must have been so hard weighing the options, while also nurturing Evie as a growing baby, plus her older brother needs to be supported and loved. Nice to see their family come together to help and try to remain positive. Of course, Kody was nowhere to be seen.

Ysabel is a beautiful girl and I hope she's doing well, no thanks at all to Kody.

I say this every week but I absolutely cannot stand Kody and Robyn. 

[Granny58]

FWIW, I just checked our water usage, family of 3.  It was 45,200 gallons for an entire year.  We shower every day.  

[magemaud]

7 hours ago, RedDelicious said:

Janelle was previously married to Meri's brother and her mom marred Kody's father.

I forgot that. So, Janelle and Meri have been sister wives, sisters-in-law and step-sisters? 

[deirdra]

47 minutes ago, magemaud said:

So, Janelle and Meri have been sister wives, sisters-in-law and step-sisters? 

Yes, but now they pretend that Janelle just happened to know Meri & Kootie as a married couple before she horned in on Meri's husband (her step-brother). And his hair was not even long enough for a ponytail back then.

Edited December 14, 2021 by deirdra

[RedDelicious]

If Janelle’s mom married Kody’s Dad I think that makes Janelle the stepsister of Kody 😳

[RedDelicious]

I just realized that and I’m so horrified right now.

[Pingaponga]

I understand Kody being uncomfortable flying to NJ to be with Christine and Ysabel - but how long would it taken him to drive? And your daughter was having major surgery - you suck it up to be with her. Robyn has three older kids who could have helped her out with the little ones, who actually aren't all that little any more. Kody really sucks.

Clearly the Browns feel the properties on Coyote Pass will be in the family in perpetuity, because (a) no one will ever want to buy a property that has on it a cistern that provides water to four other properties and (b) no one will ever want to buy a property whose water is stored on and comes from another property.

Does the existence of this cistern mean that wells can't be dug on the properties?

[RedDelicious]

17 minutes ago, Pingaponga said:

Does the existence of this cistern mean that wells can't be dug on the properties?

I don’t know but I fill like it was a “brilliant” idea of Kody’s so he wouldn’t have to spend the money to have 5 wells drilled. 

[Teri313]

17 minutes ago, Pingaponga said:

Does the existence of this cistern mean that wells can't be dug on the properties?

This is my question also. Why aren't they just having wells drilled? I haven't heard any of them say they aren't able to. This water tank thing seems kind of over the top and expensive in the long run.

[Absolom]

I'm going with the conspiracy theorists on this one that the water container may have been being delivered to a different property and TLC managed to get rights to film it with some of the Browns around.  

[Jeanne222]

Now that Kristine is gone why not build one big house!  On the pond. Lol

[LuvMyShows]

4 hours ago, deirdra said:

They are probably saving that for another episode.  Even if we never see a single septic system going in, we'll probably hear about it since the pond & regional gas pipeline easements will mess with Kootie's plans. Normal people would also have legal land surveys showing where ALL the utilities & septic fields would be located BEFORE a ditch was dug for the cistern.

...and before talking about where to position the houses!

[Cetacean]

Any idea on the timeline of the water bomb installation? If this was filmed in 2020, why did Janelle need water trucked out to the RV?  Couldn't she just have tapped into the Brown Family Municipal Water System?  

Even the low flow toilets use about 1.5 gallons per flush. That alone will add up.  I am alone, do laundry once a week, run the dishwasher once a week and use about 3000 gallons a month.  That whole pipe dream is just stupidity to the nth degree.

[Tuxcat]

5 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

It was weird to hear Ysabel say her dad helped her get through all those months when she was living in such pain because the way I remember it, Kody didn't even know she was in that much pain.

That was strange to me too. I thought he didn't know about the pain she was in? And of course the girl had not been properly evaluated for years. This trip to NJ is really the first time she's getting good quality care it seems. 

Kody could have absolutely gone and I understand why Ysabel is upset.  But I think her emotions are made worse by the way Christine reacted to the situation - to Kody and to Covid. I will say that in many families, it's a luxury to be able to have two parents with you for 6 weeks across the country. There's no way my husband could have come with us for that long.

3 hours ago, SongbirdHollow said:

Well, there were obviously multiple solutions to the cut-through problem but apparently Janelle was more concerned about “not rocking the boat” and holding a grudge for 25 years than speaking up when it was appropriate. And apparently “leader” Kody was uninterested in  helping smooth things over between wives because Not His Problem. 

Exactly. Miss working woman problem solver logical one... harbors resentment for how many decades? It was a reasonable concern. Meri's apartment was the hallway - we saw this on season one. And I'll say I was a nosey kid. I'd go through her stuff in a heartbeat! Kids back and forth all day and night? The doors from each end empty directly into Meri's living space - they dont' go into a stairwell or a separate nook.  Plus unannounced sister wives waltzing by? No thanks. I believe also that the basement has a larger Kitchen and some extra space - Christine mentioned it on season one so I'm not sure switching apt. would have been an option - plus Christine would have hated the apartment hallway idea too.  There were solutions to be made. Compromises to be reached. Meri asked. Janelle and Christine stewed. Kody a big nothing. Do these people ever think? It's just a few feet to walk out back - cover it.