Half Bath = Full Remodel

It’s been a long while since I’ve updated the blog, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy doing minor remodels in the house. So why no updates, well it simple, most of what we have done recently was painting, and when I took photos, the color didn’t show up. It looked like we painted a white wall, white (even though it was slightly grey or tan)…and that’s not too exciting. (I’ll post some of the smaller projects we did in the next few days). Anywho…it’s time for a major remodel in the house, and that would be this horrible half bath near the kitchen.

First off, it is TINY. The whole room measures 3ft wide x 6ft long, so trying to fit two people into this room to do the work was impossible. That being said, it needed an overhaul. The white laminate flooring was the same that we replaced in the kitchen, and I wanted it gone from the memory of our house. The toilet leaked, even after we called our home warranty company three times to fix it (they finally gave up…awesome), the sink and vanity were dirty and falling apart and for some reason there was a full towel bar as if you’d be able to shower in here.

Lucky for me, I have a very good friend (Josh) who wanted to sacrifice his weekend and give me a hand with all this. I really thought (like an idiot) that we could get the demo done and tile down in a day. Guess what…that didn’t happen (shocker). To start the project, we had to clear the room. We removed the leaky toilet first and carried it to our front lawn to dry out, followed by some sawing and hammering apart the vanity, which also ended up on the front lawn (before going to the dump later). Once that was cleared, we were able to make some discoveries.

First we discovered that it wasn’t only the toilet that leaked, but also the valve. Even after shutting off the water at the valve, water continued to come out, which really had me worried about the sub-floor. The second discovery was that there were two different laminate floors in the bathroom, as you can see. Not only the ugly white laminate, but an even more original floor that was (at one time) blue checkered with flowers. Not so blue anymore, though. Josh and I continued with the demo, ripping out all of the laminates, and the plywood that they were glued too so that we could expose the sub-floor. The good news was that the sub-floor was just fine. A small bit of wetness, but no mold. We turned the vent onto the wet spot so that we could dry it out while we ran to the dump and Home Depot for a new valve. (PS – Josh pointed this out to me too, you know the wax ring that goes around your toilet…why did they make the wax the same color as poo? Bad choice, just sayin.)

Once we were back and the floor was dry, we cut and laid down some cement backer board that the thin set for the tiles would be applied to. The cement board, while heavy, cut just like a piece of drywall. A few measurements (and actually a few extra after we cut the board the wrong way the first time) and a few backer board screws, and that project was done.

By the time we got to this point, it was the end of day 1. We were getting hungry and exhausted, so we set down a few tiles (without the thin-set) to make sure we liked the layout, but called it a night. We also debated whether or not to cut out the door thresh-hold to make it even with the level of the tiles. All that was for day 2.

Starting Day 2, we ended up cutting out the wooden thresh hold in the door way after I took this. The reason being is that the threshold sloped down onto the laminate, but if we installed tile, the slope would go below the tile, and not be even with it. I’ll eventually buy a new thresh-hold and stain it, but at least this way we would do it right the first time. With a bucket of pre-mixed thin-set mortar in hand, we were ready to start laying the tiles.

We decided to start in the back left corner (the wall with the sink) as visually your eye would probably see that wall line over anything else. It took me a while to get the hang of laying tile. As almost with every job I do, it got messy. I had thinset all over me by the time we were done. In case you are wondering, the tiles are 8″x8″, so pretty small. We bought two boxes (36 in each box) and only had a few leftover by the time we were done. Thanks to Josh and his magic tile saw (and the knowledge of what the hell he was doing) we were able to bust out the tile work in about 3 hours. I had a few mistakes, mainly Josh would cut something and I assumed it was right the first time, so I would just lather it up and put it down when he really just wanted me to test and make sure it fit. Most of the time it needed a second cut, but I was on a roll. Once all the tiles we cut, down and level…we had ourselves a new floor.

We haven’t grouted it yet, because we needed to let the thin-set dry overnight, and we were exhausted. Once this dries, here is what will happen next so that you can picture it. We’ll grout later this week with our “antique white” color (did you know there are 30 shades/colors of grout!?). Once that dries and we can walk on the tile, I’ll begin patching the walls, and there is plenty to patch for such a small room. I’ll also work on laying down new baseboard and shoe molding. We’ll pick out a pedestal sink and I’ll cut open the walls to build a brace for that, then patch that up. Install a new light fixture and mirror to freshen up the old outdated look. We have paint almost picked out, so we’ll do a few samples and get the paint all done. Once ALL OF THAT is finished, we’ll install the new sink and toilet last, and hopefully that will be that. Oh, and I almost forgot, the new thresh-hold and a new door (and hardware) will also be going in. That, I feel will the ultimate last step of the bathroom. In case you are wondering, we already have a new toilet, and it is currently sitting in our living room.

Got to love a toilet that says “Bold. Power.” That what I want to think about while doing the business. Anyway, it is still a large project to complete, but I think the hardest step is now down. I could not have done it without Josh’s help, he was a master at this, and a patient friend for having to put up with my 100 questions and my frequent trips to the store to get new supplies. We’re really happy with it so far, hopefully we can finish it up in the next few weeks. That being said, projects always take longer than expected. Lesson Learned.