Second Bathroom Renovation

I realize that it has been almost six months since the last post but there is a ton of work being done at Casa de Sheldon.  Long story short, there were three large projects all occurring at the same time because they all required the sewer, water, and electrical systems to be modified together.  I try to post one full project at a time so I have held off posting about these projects.  These projects are: relocating the kitchen, raising the first floor ceiling, and re-building the master bathroom with a new layout. 

One project that has been completed that I will share with you is my guest bathroom on the second floor.  I had to complete this bathroom first so that I could move into the guest bedroom while I tear out the master bathroom and bedroom.  Below is a picture of what the bathroom used to look like. One has to love the blue speckled tile.  

Everything in the bathroom was existing to the home when it was built in 1978 except the vinyl floor.  The first thing I did was tear everything out.  Unfortunately once I started pulling the tile off the wall I found that the tile was mounted directly on the drywall in the shower.  Because of this, I removed all the drywall since I did have a little mold.  Below you will see this process.

The next step was to go ahead and remove the three handle shower valve and re-pipe the shower to a single handle.  It is good to know that I still have my pipe fitting skills and am good with a blow torch.  

After the plumbing was completed, I then replaced the drywall around the shower with cement board. This will prevent mold in the future and is really how it should have been done in the first place but was not common in 70's construction.

At the same time I also completed some drywall patching where I removed the old medicine cabinet and replaced the doors and jambs like I have throughout the house.  While I was at it, I also added a LED can light above the shower so there was more light when the shower curtain is closed.  

Once all the wall prep was completed it was time to start laying tile.  I chose to use a 12" x 24" tile with a straight pattern where all grout joints line up.  When you look at a shower it does not look like much surface area but my shower was actually over 80 square feet of tile. Because the tile was so large and was hanging on the wall, I could only do a few rows at a time so the thin-set could cure before the weight of the next tile was pushed on it.  The next few photos will be the progress over multiple days. The metal bars taped to the wall in the pictures are transition pieces that make the tile transition into the drywall better and match the finish on my faucets.  

About 2/3 of the way up the wall I wanted to add a decorative tile insert.  I used a tan tile to break up the brown but also to tie the shower into the floor tile and wall color.  The pieces were much longer but I cut them down to match the grout joints on the shower. I then continued the brown tile above the accent strip.  

After all the tile was completed it was time for grout.  I chose an off white color grout to match the floor tile.  I prefer to use a pre-mixed grout because not only is it easier to use, it seems to hold up a little better.  Below is the tile with the grout completed.  

Once the tile work was completed around the tub and I would not be working in it anymore, I needed to have the tub resurfaced.  The tub had a small chip on the side from before I bought the house and was a dirty almond color.  I had some contacts through my apartment vendors so I had them resurface it and it only cost about $150 to make it white and look like new again.  This was much easier than trying to change out the tub.  

After the tile surround was completed, it was time for the floor.  I found a tile I really liked but it was 18" x 18".  Just for your future knowledge, the larger the tile, the harder it is to lay.  I started out by putting cement board over the entire floor.  This was to help make a level surface but to also make the floor more rigid to prevent grout cracks.  Then I started laying the tile.  You will see plastic tabs between the joints.  This is a floor leveling system to help keep the tile level.  I haven't decided if it really helps or not because there is definitely a trick to using it with extra thin-set, but the floor still turned out well.  The next two pictures show that process.  With all the cuts I had to make, having my own wet tile saw really came in handy.  

 After a couple of days the floor had cured so I went back and grouted the joints with the same grout as the shower. Below is the completed tile work.  

I then added a freestanding vanity I picked up at Lowes, a framed mirror, and a new light fixture. To finish the bathroom up I added a curved shower rod and added all new molding.  The bathroom was also re-textured and painted like the rest of the house.  Below are the pictures of the finished project.  

This project took a lot of time with all the tile work but it turned out pretty well.  

So that finishes one of the three bathrooms.  The main plumbing is completed on the Master Bathroom as well so I will start the tile soon.  To end this post I will give you all a sneak peek of what the kitchen looked like during construction.  I am about two weeks from completing the kitchen and I cannot wait to show you the pictures since it turned out better than I could have expected.