On another episode of this old house....
We've lived in our 1950's home since 1993....that's 27 years. We've wanted to update our bath for awhile, but have just done minor things to it, like hardware and paint. But, finally, at this (st)age we had to something about that darn bath. It's deep entry into the shower was becoming a real issue.
Old shower/tub combo was such a curious set up.
The picture doesn't show the entry height, but
it was about 20" off the floor to get into the tub.... "like why?"
This remodel took us about 5 weeks to complete, but then we waited on Lowes for our vanity top until Sept 29th!.... Working every weekend, and most evenings, we did the majority of the work ourselves. We hired out a few jobs: like sheet-rock, electrical and painting. But, did demo, tiling, install and remodeling ourselves. We've made at least 50 trips to Home Depot and Lowes, but in the end, it turned out like we envisioned and planned.
** This was done during the COVID so, our plans to have custom cabinets was not a possibility...at least, we didn't get any calls back for months. Seems we weren't the only ones remodeling.
Here are some inspiration pictures:
or look at my
We wanted a modern, but warm bathroom. " Modern Farmhouse". The key is to bring warmth into this modern color scheme with greige toned carpet in bedroom and painting walls the S.W. Agreeable Grey in both bed and bath with Dover White on woodwork and trim.
My dream counter (above) was not going to happen....this granite is only available as a full slab :(
After deciding on the color scheme, we needed to decide where to put the colors: it could've gone either way...Black floor, white shower , but we did the reverse, with a slate looking tile on the shower walls. So glad we did.
June, 2020....Let the Demo begin!!!
Danny started hitting the tile walls, thinking it would all crumble. But, it was all stubborn and made to last. We were pleased to find very little water damage.
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| I knew this was how it would start.....one day Danny would just start to demo the shower and tub enclosure. BANG! |
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| Replacing with lighted Halo mirror. I may miss those side mirrors. |
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| Originally a water heater closet, currently we have make-shift shelving and removed door. PLanning for open shelving and lights. First the dirty work 
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| Demolition was over, but we had some plaster in need of repairs. As it turned out the plaster that was covering the original Sheetrock would take an expert to make it look right, so instead Danny hired someone to remove all the plaster walls and replace with all new Sheetrock. Good time to replace all insulation, too. |
Danny's able to work with the original plumbing. He did all the plumbing, didn't need to hire out. 👍
The redwood and nails they used over 50 years ago were made to last a long time.
Let's do this!
(one last time)
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| Making a clean cut in the Vinyl floor to tile over. It's close to impossible to remove all the old flooring, and not necessary. |
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| Widening the wall by the toilet just a few inches to allow more view & light into the room. |
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| Instagram post....I was a bit proud of my organization skills.😀 It truly helped. |
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The Vanity and Closet area before new Sheetrock is installed.
Now the Prep Work
Getting the shower floor ready. You can see the
walls are ready for plaster and tile.
Next....Installing
It took us a few days to fully tile the shower. By the way....Large tiles are heavy! Danny decided half way to add the portion of floor tile as a border....good decision. It makes for a really nice contrast. We chose "Cascade Ridge" tile from Home Depot for the shower walls with Charcoal Grout.
Time to paint....hired Ron Brown for this job.
This dark grout scared the crap out of me to do. I didn't apply it properly,
when I would wipe it, it just spread all over the place. It needed to be dryer, and I kept it wet.
Danny did the shower floor.
We now know the difference between sanded and non-sanded grout. 😄
Floor tile was also very large and heavy to install.
We chose Daltile's "Hamilton Lineargray" for the floor with the Charcoal grout.
bathroom completed
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| Blushing Ivory quartz counter top by Allen+Roth from Lowes, square modern sink and Moen single faucet in brushed nickel. Counter accessories from Target. Thomspon Vanity Cabinet in dark grey is from Build.com. And, of course, the Haushcen LED lighted Vanity Mirror. Waiting for the vanity and sink top for almost 2 months was annoying, but really happy with our choices. The quartz was thicker than expected and the modern sink and faucet are a great look. |
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| Custom insert by Danny with lighted shelves. He did a beautiful job. |
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| Toilets are important....taller, and yes, that's a bidet. 😉 |
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| Highly recommend these dispensers... eliminate the messy bottles. |
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| Moen showerhead with magnetic wand. |
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| Modern Wall Art from Homegoods |
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| The slate black shower with marble accents and penny flooring look great, but the flooring feels so good, too. Oh...and what about that Vigo shower door in matte black?! Danny's find. It's sophisticated, but not over the top for our small bathroom. Modern, yet cozy, don't you think? Someone said it was "spa-like".... I love that. Now for some real figures....this stuff is hard work and not cheap, but doing it ourselves definitely saved us at least10K. We paid too much for a few items, just due to availability, but that's how it goes sometimes. |
We spent about $8400 on the bathroom remodel. But, our professional
quotes were all over $20,000, so we did good.
Some of the cost breakdowns:
Labor:
$1600 - sheetrock replacement on all walls and ceiling.
$985 - 7 recessed lights in bedroom and bath. New exhaust fan and update all electrical outlets/switches--Tyler Trull Electrician
$720 Painters; Primer and paint -- Ron Brown
Large items:
$1200 - Dark Grey Vanity (Build.com)
$1200 - Vanity top and sink (Lowes)
$730 - Halo Mirror
$930 - Shower Door
View from our bedroom where we also installed new carpet and fresh paint. Still haven't decided on an area rug, but I know I'll find it. Kind of fun to drag it out a little longer :)
** SPECIAL NOTE This was done during the COVID virus pandemic. Made it more difficult to purchase items, low supply and contractors were busier than usual. It was a very busy DIY time for homeowners and contractors were extremely busy.
