SMALL, BUT MIGHTY, MASTER BATH REMODEL (the final remodel)

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

Pinterest Board

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. 

I knew this was how it would start.....one day Danny would just start
 to demo the shower and tub enclosure. BANG!

Replacing with lighted Halo mirror. 
I may miss those side mirrors.

Originally a water heater closet, currently we have 
make-shift shelving and removed door. 
PLanning for open shelving and lights.

First the dirty work

Emptying the tub that collected the tile from the shower walls demo. 

We opened up our bathroom window and threw all rubble out into a wheelbarrow. 

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)

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. 

Widening the wall by the toilet just a few inches to allow more view & light into the room.

Instagram post....I was a bit proud of
my organization skills.😀
 It truly helped.

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.

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. 

                                  Time to paint....hired Ron Brown for this job.

bathroom completed

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. 

 

Custom insert by Danny with lighted shelves. He did a beautiful job.

Toilets are important....taller, and yes, that's a bidet. 😉

Highly recommend these dispensers...
eliminate the messy bottles.

Moen showerhead with magnetic wand.

Modern Wall Art from Homegoods

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. 

     

Arizona

Grand Canyon & Sedona, Arizona

         

We've been looking forward to taking this to Arizona for years. Having a new truck and trailer to haul the Harley was a perfect way to go there. The drive from our home to Arizona is not very scenic...in fact it's quite deserted.

But, it's an easy drive, and we stayed the night in Needles to break it up.
 Highly recommend the overnight break. 

GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA

  
1st ride in AZ:
    A visit to the Grand Canyon is a must DO....however, it's not the best route for a motorcycle. As the tourists are not as cautious drivers and are more interested in the scenery and moose than other vehicles....🤣

    Grand Canyon is a majestic site, and it is in a national park. Expect to pay your park fee and the lookouts are all off the road. Then you park and walk to the edge for these views. If you pick up a little 'attitude' it's because this was unexpected. I expected to see a little more views from the bike, but the views are mostly blocked by trees and shrubs. Now I know... lol


We just went to the South Rim. If we go into Utah some time for another vacation, we'll visit North Rim. It was a glorious site and we saw everything we wanted to see and were done by the afternoon.
We heard later from locals that it was an unusually busy day.

Quick dinner at the Yippee-Ei-O steakhouse. It was about a 3* meal, but 

a needed break and the bloody maries were a nice treat after our ride :) 

  Doesn't take us long to be in "Vacation Mode". 

We also took a quick ride through Williams.

 It's an older western town and quite a popular tourist stop.

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Let me take a moment to tell you about our motel Little America..... it blew me away. I chose it for the location, and the large parking lot. But, was so impressed by all the amenities and the customer service that it has a resort-feel to it.

Spacious Rooms

  We ate at the restaurant every morning and a few nights. I loved walking the paths around the lush green grass. It has a pool, spa, workout room, meeting rooms and playground...even it's own convenience store and gas station.

Rained the night we arrived. 

Rustic Lodge Decor all around

Plenty of room in the lot for our truck n' trailer

Beautiful  landscape at the motel

I was tempted to carve our names in the birch trees. 

Motel Lobby

And the best cappuccino...every day!

We're ready to ride!!!!

Next 2 days we went to Sedona....once from the west side and then the east side. Going through the Coconino National Forest and the first section of the Tonto National Forest were unexpected treats.

I couldn't get enough of the Red Rocks of Sedona, AZ.

 Took a recommendation from the wine expert at our motel and visited Page Springs Cellars..... It was very pleasant and the wines were surprisingly good. I say "surprisingly" because we hadn't heard of Arizona wines. But, it makes sense, their weather is similar to ours and the rocky soils of this area make for some full-bodied red wines. And they're reasonably priced. 
We also had a great snack on their patio and took home a few bottles.

Delicious Salmon Pate and fruit tray

Page Springs Cellars

Friends told us about a little winery, Caduceus, run by a band member of Tool. We love these little adventures. And it was in this historical copper mining town, Jerome. Wish we had more time to spend here, but we arrived a little late in the day.

Jerome, AZ

Quick tasting in the Caduceus wine bar.

Where he lined up 4 tasters and
left a sheet with tasting
notes.... not much presentation.
However, the wines were
 good and we enjoyed the area.
Cheers!

Caduceus Tasting Room in Jerome, AZ

Great day of Riding.....but, I wanted to see more....stay tuned. I'm gonna work on that. 😉

Tinderbox Kitchen...so YUMMY

Excellent Italian at Fat Olives

We found a couple great restaurants in Flagstaff ...separate nights, of course. 😃

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We drove through some rain showers on the 2nd day to Sedona. We took Lake Mary road from Flagstaff. This road takes you past Mary Lakes, Mormon Lake & Happy Jack. Really worth it to see the beautiful pine, meadows, and lake views. 

Lake Mary, AZ

Another great ride suggested on Motorcycle Roads Forum.

We took a break in Strawberry to dry off and warm up at the bar

with a Bloody Mary. They were good....she had her own mix recipe. 

Sportman's Chalet in Strawberry, AZ.

Back on the Road to the hwy 260 heading down long

 sweeping turns, mostly meadows into Campe Verde and

 Cottonwood then into Sedona....coming into Sedona from the

 south is even more wonderful. 

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We also spent a little time in downtown Flagstaff....Danny found a music store.

OH, my that's a pretty bike.
 Grand Canyon HD

On our last day in Flagstaff, AZ we spent going to the HD store....stocked up on Tee's for ourselves and others, checked out 
the Roundhouse Bar & Grill before heading back to Needles...then home. 

Infamous Old Richfield gas station on Route 66

Until next time.....it's been fun and you were good to us, Arizona.