I promised to show the remodel . . . so here goes . . .

September 20, 2010

I finally had some time to upload the photos from my projects this spring and summer. Travel has been taking up a lot of time this summer with several projects ongoing at any given time but I was able to finish several things going on.

The bathroom project took much more time than originally thought. It started during the winter after the first bathroom remodel went quickly over a couple weeks. It was minor compared to the master bath.

A quick make over with a new moose light fixture, paint, and remove and replace the vinyl flooring with tile. I also relocated the sink and base cabinet to give additional room by the toilet. I took bi-fold doors from the bedroom and installed them in the small closet. Two weekends and the project was done and looked great.

I can’t remember if I came home from a trip or just home from work a couple weekends later to find my wife had taken hammer and chisel to the tile in the master shower. This was between Thanksgiving and Christmas and once the full impact of gutting this room we realized there were some repairs that needed to be completed before we could begin the actual remodel.

We had some water damage and the vapor barrier in several places was compromised allowing cold air and moisture to come inside the room. New floor joists and a few repairs and it was time to start the new work. I wanted to add some new electrical outlets and relocate the light fixture from center over the mirror to two light sconces on each side. That work was done and the shower work started. I relocated the shower valve from the common wall between the bedroom and bathroom to a small wall on the far side of the shower. I relocated the drain so it would be centered on the new floor layout and I tore out the existing tile seat and changed it to a small ledge for your foot while washing or shaving your legs.

The vinyl flooring was taken out and tile was replaced. I put a drop ceiling in over the shower so I could install can light fixtures and centered a rainfall shower head between them. I also installed backing so I could install at a later time a teakwood fold down seat for the steam portion of the shower. The new shower valve has a diverter valve so you can either have the water come out of an overhead rainfall head or to a slide bar shower sprayer.

I took out the wall between the bedroom and bath so I could put in a header so I could install a pocket door since I hated the swing of the existing door. Once everything was roughed-in I insulated everything and installed the sheetrock or tile on the walls. Since my wife wanted to do this she needed some sweat equity in the project so as I cut tile she did a great deal of the tile installation. The hard part for both of us was in getting the ceiling done having to put up wooden poles to hold up the tile until it set up.

The walls and ceiling went in great but the floor drove me crazy. I could not get it to look right as it kept shrinking and had places in it that were wavy and not consistent. The floor had to be redone several times as I was not happy with it and finally the third install passed muster or I finally had enough to let it slide. I was able to get the glass doors for the shower at a decent price going with a brushed nickel finish which was painted the color of antique bronze to match the fixtures. We did this to several items saving a ton getting the common color and not having to wait for the color of items to come in at a later date. The wood trim has a leaf pattern to it because I get tired of seeing the same old trim all the time.

It finally all came together so here are a few finish pictures to show you the work.

Here is a picture of the Lavatory.