Bathroom Renovation

Ned Bulken

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Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Thanks to my grandfather (mom & aunt, executors of his affairs), my wife and I are going to be getting a newly renovated bathroom... starting 'today', if picking out our preferred materials counts a 'starting'... Demolition will begin on Wednesday. My parents' contractor and his crew come in wednesday to gut this room:

yes those really are Pink (coral?), circa 1958 fixtures. The pink tub, and the built in separate shower are going, as is the wall mounted (?) pink toilet and the vanity. Yep, we're pretty much taking it down to the studs and starting over. That will mean that Lori and I move 'out' of our bedroom, which will turn into the contractor's 'prep' room and landing area. The shower stall has caused a leak on the back porch of the house, so there will be SOME demo back there, at least to patch the ceiling up where the water caused it to fall. We think we have stopped the leak up there ,but since September we haven't showered back there, instead we've used the 'main' bathroom which is just about as close, but across the landing from our bedroom. We've got a 'modest' budget, but Burton thinks he can keep things under control... we're going with one Kitchen cabinet:, vs a vanity: either this:
or this:
and we'll be putting in two drop in sinks:


only in 'biscuit' (beige, instead of white)
and this countertop (though that might change)...
the style on the right...

Lori and I both want a more contemporary 'look'... to the fixtures:so we're going with burnished bronze.

In keeping with that, the tile floor is going to be:

and we're going with:these halogen lights for over the new vanity
th_DSCN0160.jpg
... and it looks as though I didn't take a shot of the ceiling vent/light... but similar dark hardware and an amber/transluscent shade.

Paint... TBD, but we're painting it ourselves, so there's no hurry. We're only going to be putting one walk in shower (and I also forgot to take a photo of that) from a different supplier than the Blue Borg... but that, along with a new toilet will both be in 'biscuit' (tan) to match the earth tones we want to use. This will probably carry over into the bedroom, which will be another project altogether. I'm also pulling for a bit of rewiring... there are grounded outlets (but no GFCI) in the bathroom, so I'm going to have Burton pull a couple of more circuits up so we can upgrade the bedroom and bathroom to grounded outlets. (might have him do at least 2 in every bedroom while we're up there, and install GFCI in the other bathroom as well. He tells me that the house has a better service in it than I feared, but we will eventually need to update the wiring (some of that knob & tube in the basement is still in use...:eek:. (I want those circuits GONE). And while he's here, I'm going to see about at least running the cable out to the garage/shop for me, so that when I can afford to enclose it, I have the power available.
 
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Burton, our contractor and his crew have done 'most' of the Demo... All since last Tuesday...

Here's the view looking in from the doorway...
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and looking back from the far corner

393c3c56.jpg



That water leak was pretty serious... I wonder just how long it had been going on....

462c88fb.jpg


more in a bit... I just shot some and need to drag them through post production
 
Aw come on . . . I'm thinkin' someone in Hollywood (or in a prop department) would love to have that pink 'bolted to the wall so you can clean under it', toilet. Whoo-hoo.
 
Aw come on . . . I'm thinkin' someone in Hollywood (or in a prop department) would love to have that pink 'bolted to the wall so you can clean under it', toilet. Whoo-hoo.

I share the opinions on the pink. (Got a tan set of fixtures in our kids bathroom... :( )
But the "so you can clean under it" is actually a bonus. We had toilets like that in our college dorm years ago and it really really does make cleaning a lot easier.

Now that water damage is quite the scare. Looks like you could push through that wall+stud with not much effort, Ned. I look forward to seeing it fixed up!

...art

Edit to add:

PS: Looks like a nice big roomy ensuite, wish mine was that big. Do I read your post correctly; you are only putting in a shower and not replacing the tub? It's going to be a nice space!
 
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Art Mulder said:
I share the opinions on the pink. (Got a tan set of fixtures in our kids bathroom... :( )
But the "so you can clean under it" is actually a bonus. We had toilets like that in our college dorm years ago and it really really does make cleaning a lot easier.

Now that water damage is quite the scare. Looks like you could push through that wall+stud with not much effort, Ned. I look forward to seeing it fixed up!

...art

Edit to add:

PS: Looks like a nice big roomy ensuite, wish mine was that big. Do I read your post correctly; you are only putting in a shower and not replacing the tub? It's going to be a nice space!

Art, yeah that water damage is giving me the heebie jeebies. There is a bunch of lumber ready to go in.

& yes indeed we are putting in a 55" shower unit, and the rest will be a new closet (the LOML says it is all hers). Double sinks in the new vanity, which will be smaller than the one which was removed, giving us more knee room in front of the new commode.that will be a normal, tall unit (vs wall mount).
Since there is an existing large bathtub in the other bath, we feel safe that this is a major upgrade for the home.
 
Have you considered sound proof insulation in all the walls that got opened up? We added it to our walls and it makes a big difference. Also consider adding access panels to all locations that might ever spring a leak or need to be maintained in any way.
 
Have you considered sound proof insulation in all the walls that got opened up? We added it to our walls and it makes a big difference. Also consider adding access panels to all locations that might ever spring a leak or need to be maintained in any way.

+1 on the sound insulation. We have it in our current house, and it really makes a difference.
 
From one 6'3" individual to another....

Based on the photo showing the shower plumbing I see that you had some words with your plumber and I totally approve.:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
(When I renovated our ensuite years ago I made sure the shower plumbing exited the wall at a 7' height...
Have you noticed how many hotel showers are basically at chin-height or lower? Ow, my neck!)

And I'm just noticing how that is an incredibly low window. Are all your windows like that? It seems to only be about 12" off the floor!
 
Ned,
Where does that flexible vent line in see in Pic #1 go? Now would be a good time to replace it with a rigid metal (or PVC if it's just from the vent fan) piping.
 
Coming along really nicely. One thing that bothers me is the electrical next to the shower. Might consider moving that to the other side of the door and hinging the door on the shower side? Could then hang a towel hook above where the switches are now. Just my .02. :wave:
 
Coming along really nicely. One thing that bothers me is the electrical next to the shower. Might consider moving that to the other side of the door and hinging the door on the shower side? Could then hang a towel hook above where the switches are now. Just my .02. :wave:

mmmm might be too late, they were hanging rock today... besides, the commode is on the other side of the door... so the door 'should' swing to give that relative privacy. I'll discuss it with him though.

Ned,
Where does that flexible vent line in see in Pic #1 go? Now would be a good time to replace it with a rigid metal (or PVC if it's just from the vent fan) piping.

MMM see above...


From one 6'3" individual to another....

Based on the photo showing the shower plumbing I see that you had some words with your plumber and I totally approve.:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
(When I renovated our ensuite years ago I made sure the shower plumbing exited the wall at a 7' height...
Have you noticed how many hotel showers are basically at chin-height or lower? Ow, my neck!)

And I'm just noticing how that is an incredibly low window. Are all your windows like that? It seems to only be about 12" off the floor!


Luckily Burton is taller than I am, I said, make it so You could shower and still not bump your head, I figured I would be golden.
I'll measure the window sill height in a bit... but yes, all of the windows here are fairly Low, but decent sized...

+1 on the sound insulation. We have it in our current house, and it really makes a difference.

Have you considered sound proof insulation in all the walls that got opened up? We added it to our walls and it makes a big difference. Also consider adding access panels to all locations that might ever spring a leak or need to be maintained in any way.

Ted, Jim...
don't think it will make a huge difference here... it has always been one of the quieter rooms... probably the only room with real insulation all around it in that it was a 'late' addition to the house. Basically built up from the back porch back in the later '50s.

If this were My house I'd be gutting the entire place and re-rocking it after redoing the wiring and insulation and probably the floors as well... It isn't and even if it winds up as 'mine' in the end, we're probably not going to stay in Bridgewater forever...
 
Fri Feb 3

Well the rock went up wednesday:

HDR image... to show all of the details...


Lori is so happy with the new closet space!



There's the sink/commode wall...

Yesterday the finish guys were in... and skim coated all of the walls & even put up a fully textured ceiling... :eek:

Ummmm, guys... don't think that will fly (I thought, as I checked things out right after they left...) sure enough, neither Lori nor I wanted that textured look:


Burton's crews are very punctual... and by 8:15 they were in the house and ready to work...

AND this morning I asked them to kindly smooth out the ceiling... It was not something we'd discussed with Burton, and he spec'd it... but they were just as happy to get out the drywall boom/grinder/vac system and just about 3 hrs later:

fbc842e4.jpg

.

I haven't managed to talk with Burton about those switches, but the shower head will be almost 5' away, and the shower head is a 'rain' style... so we expect we'll be OK with those switches by the door.
 
I haven't managed to talk with Burton about those switches, but the shower head will be almost 5' away, and the shower head is a 'rain' style... so we expect we'll be OK with those switches by the door.

As long as they go through a gfi it should be ok, a glass door would be even better to prevent direct contact from any water, but I understand giving the kamode a little privacy. :thumb:
 
Awesome job. I like how they have it set to nicely frame the vanity! But those are considerably darker than you originally posted. I like the visual depth. Makes things look nice. I'm not sure what colour I'd pick. I note you said those were TBD... Pale orange/pumpkin might look nice. Get the final lights installed and have fun sorting umpteen colour chips! I usually grab two or three of each colour I like, and then tape them together before putting them up on the wall. Otherwise they're too small. Even so, it can be tough to visualize the colour covering the wall!

...art
 
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