(Welcome to Bathroom Month! We're taking inspiring bathroom submissions from our readers and giving gifts in return. Join us. All info is here.)
Welcome to Liz, the first reader to heed our call for bathroom month show-and-tell.
She says: This was possibly the ugliest bathroom in the universe. Think leaning, sagging, rusty fixtures. Mold in the flooring. Peeling wallpaper in the tub. And most frightening of all, mirrored tiles across from the toilet. [before pictures after the jump]
This isn't my most current bathroom, but I was so proud of this remodel, I wanted to share it. We had to rip out all our rotting iron sewage pipes and so I decided we might as well gut the bathroom while we were at it.
We couldn't expand the bathroom, which was only about 5 by 8 feet. I really wanted a clawfoot tub but I couldn't afford a reproduction and I couldn't fit a standard tub in the space. But I found a 4-and-a-half-foot vintage tub in the antique store around the corner! The shower conversion kit came from an online store; it turned out great but the riser pipe was a little thin and so the water flow was somewhat restricted. All of the other fixtures came straight off the shelves of Home Depot. The floor tiles were commercial-grade linoleum squares from the local hardware store, which was having a sale.
P.S. In case you were wondering, I did relocate the toilet to the right of the door, so it cannot be seen in the picture.
Thanks Liz!
I also love claw foot tubs. What an improvement. In my humble opinion you should frost the bathroom window (only if you are worried about people looking in) and then use a clear shower curtain. It would bring some light into the small space and maybe open it up a bit.
Wow, what a difference. Nice tub! Nice job.
Agree about the windows - you can frost them really cheaply with film.
http://www.wallpaperforwindows.com/
Their film is several mils thick and uses no adhesive, so it's renter friendly too.
Not the most modern of patterns, but economical.
I used some of their films on my mirrored closet doors - it was cheaper than replacing the doors and ended up looking pretty slick.
Only caveat - it's not as UV proof as they claim, but if you're not buying for UV protection then no worries.
Great job, I love claw foot tubs but just never thought I could fit one into my space, but I will now research it! Love the bathroom wall color.
hey you have my shower!
amazing! it's a complete different space. I love your mini-clawfoot and your checkerboard floor most of all.
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! my question for the before picture...
what kind of crazy person wants to watch themselves do their business?! ewww..
I agree, the view out the window looks so green and beautiful, you need to incorporate it. Why cover it up with a plain white shower curtain?
I have a serious question;
How did you address the mold issue. I suspect that one wall in my shower is infected with mold behind the tiles. I would appreciate any tips you may share with respect to removing the mold and killing any remaining spores...
Any I'm just curious- if you wouldn't mind sharing, how long did the reno take and at what cost...
Thanks!!
hey, liz, is that towel hanging on the rod in the after picture from macy's by chance?
Julian - I'm no expert on mold, but I think if there's mold behind the tiles you're going to have to replace the tiles and whatver is behind them or it'll get worse, or never go away completely.
You need special drywall for bathrooms, and tile shouldn't be mounted on drywall at all, it needs a special backerboard.
Only learned this recently when I gutted my bathroom last month to remodel it.
As for cost - labor is the biggest. Do the demolition yourself. Tiles are relatively easy to remove. Someone had tiled my bathroom 25 years ago right onto the drywall (which was standard practice back then but's against code now).
I pried the old tiles off with a screwdriver tip and it was surprisingly easy - but your mileage may vary. You can always go the sledgehammer route...
Drywall is super easy to remove.
If you're adventurous you can even put up the new backerboard and let the tile setter do the rest. I haven't priced out backerboard yet but it's more complicated than plain drywall to install (it's cement based) so you might want to let someone experienced mess with that part.
Here in the northwest (WA state) tile costs about $10 a sq.ft. to have installed by Home Depot - I haven't priced independent contractors yet.
Tile itself is cheap - get the best you can get since it'll be a tiny part of the overall cost. Home Depot and Lowes have really nice ceramic and travertine tile for about $2 a square foot in nice big sizes (13x13 and 18x18). I went for the 13x13...
Good luck!
Thanks so much for all the comments! Even though it took much more time and money than I expected (of course) I was sooo happy when it was done. I literally would go into the bathroom just to be there and enjoy the new look.
Erinorea and Keith -- I took the photo at night, it was never that dark during the day - but I did end up removing the white shower curtain and replacing it with a clear one in the back. The window just opened to our very private yard and you cannot see in anyway.
Julian -- This was a complete, down to the studs gut job. Even the floor was completely ripped out. This did provide access to the pipes that had rotted out and were spilling raw sewage under the house. Yay for powdered lime, it helped a lot with the smell.
My renovation cost quite a bit due to all the replumbing. I think I ended up spending about $10,000, which was a lot for me! The tub and shower combo cost about 1500 in materials. The sink and toilet were fairly low-end, probably another 1K combined. I got the commercial tile on sale, I think it was Anderson.
The length of time was a huge issue. I believed my contractor when he said a week. Unfortunately I had subcontracted the plumber. He ripped out the plumbing and promptly disappeared. Two weeks later my contractor told me he was going to have to move on to another job if the plumber didn't come back. So I had a teary meltdown, which scared him I guess, and he called the plumber and shamed him into finishing the job that day. I think all told we were out of the bathroom for four weeks! Thank God for understanding neighbors. So my advice is don't ever believe anyone who tells you it won't take long, becuase it will take much much longer. And expect some cost overruns. A good contractor will check in with you EVERY day and let you know what's going on and give you financial options on whatever issues have cropped up.
My newest bathroom also had mold issues so we had to rip the walls down to the studs. You really have to do that, you can't just replace what's in front.
Bean - the towel was not from Macy's but I don't know where I got it - I'm ashamed to admit it was probably WalMart or some place like that.
Shauna - Yeah, the mirrored tiles were pretty bad. The people who owned the house before us had also installed their washer and dryer in a bedroom (big hole in floor, mold on walls) and put linoleum in master bedroom over beautiful hardwood. They also installed the plumbing with no P-traps, so all the methane from the septic tank was backing up into the house. And the shower was draining directly into the basement. And the foundation in some areas was rocks and pieces of wood stacked up on top of each other. Definitely a labor of love to fix all that up.
My word. You have cured a lot of ugliness!
Oh. My. God. You are right, that was the ugliest bathroom in the world. Congratulations on making the world a so-much-better place.
Joanne
you should win awards. I would kill myself if I had that before bathroom. bravo!!!
LOVE the reno, you did such a good job! Wow what a difference, this is very inspiring... Plus can I borrow your neighbors, they sound much better than mine!