Hello. I'm Here About The Bathroom?

Ok. As promised pics of the new bathroom. Prepare to be underwhelmed. Like most of my projects I left quite a bit of my precious blood behind during the build. Really, I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near power tools.

This is what we started with. You can't quite see it but that tub surround is pale blue fiberglass backer, poorly installed and quite crappy, thanks very much. If you look closely at that second picture you can see the mold and mildew at the bottom. Icky.

Tub surround off and more creepy nastiness was found and the people did not rejoice. That is just so wrong.

Drywall is off and the studs and plumbing are exposed. Heh, heh. Exposed.

Floor's out as well as the toilet. I stored the toilet in the backyard instead of the front because hey, this is a classy joint. Makes a nice water feature. Princess Chrisi does not apear to be amused though. No, we are not amused at all.

I thought deconstruction was done but.... The tub had a remote stopper that had frozen into the drain pipe. I tried to unscrew it but the house was built in 1969 and it was the original fitting. Yeah, I broke the drain pipe so the tub had to come out. If you've never done this particular task I discommend it. It's a massive pain in the ass. After installing the new drain fittings I had to install the tub 3 times to get the pipe to match up with the drain in the foundation. At this point I tried really, really hard to convince Lu we didn't need a bathtub. She didn't buy it.The old faucet was the 3 pipe type. That is it had 3 small copper pipes, one each for hot, cold and output to the tub/shower. Lu bought a modern unit for the re-model and it required a pretty thorough re-plumb. I hate plumbing.

Ok, time for construction. The concrete backer board goes up and the tiling begins. Lu and I have a system worked out. I do the measuring and cutting while she lays the tile. What a deal. She's a treasure that one. 18 x 18 ceramic tiles with an 8 inch center bordered by 2 rows of subway. Not complex but a pain in the ass to cut and lay. Oh, and the pieced in backer board? Don't ask.

Let the painting begin. Look closely, you'll never see this again. I hate painting even more than plumbing. Luckily Lu likes to paint and has the touch. We chose Sage Green with a Sage tint to the primer. One primer coat and 2 finish.

For the floor we chose a wood finish vinyl. That's Trafficmaster. It comes in 3 foot by 6 inch strips. It fits together with offsetting adhesive strips. It looks and feels like wood but is incredibly tough. We have it in 2 other rooms and the dogs haven't even scratched it after a couple of years. It's free floating and the easiest floor I've ever laid. Screw you FCC, I paid for my floor.
We decided against a regular sized sink and cabinet. This one is half the depth and the sink is only 24 inches wide. The bathroom is pretty small, 5x8, and we wanted to maximize the room we had and increase the feel of space. Oh yeah, I put the toilet back in and now my house no longer smells like an open sewer. Chrisi and Trooper hate it but they'll get over the disappointment.
We installed a new light fixture. You know the Law of Unintended Consequences? When I was installing this fixture I committed a Buffoonery, First Class. The original electricians used this box as a junction. There were 3 primary's joined here. When I screwed this fixture mounting bracket in I stupidly put the screw into one of the wires. It was the hot for 2 of the outlets in my master bedroom. The screw was grounded by the box. When I had Lu throw the breaker a blue spark shot about 3 feet out and things got real dark real fast. Luckily no permanent harm was done except to my BVD's which were bitten into small pieces by my pulsating sphincter.
And there it is. Lu figures we got in under $900.00. Not too bad considering. It feels much larger than it did before and has a warmer look. At least Lu's pleased and you know what they say about keeping Mama happy. 3 weeks from start to finish. No more crappy tub surround. No more heavy cabinets. No more spore monsters hiding in the drywall.

The only problem with finishing a project is that it clears the way for others to take it's place.

Lu's got a list.

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