A bathroom remodel isn’t for the faint of heart to begin with, and as a DIY remodel, even less so. This will be the first in a series of posts about our process.
The Plan was formulated nearly as soon as we laid eyes on the house, before we purchased the 1938 traditional. Kitchens and baths sell houses, every real estate agent will tell you, well, that is one reason this house didn’t sell. While it was livable, there was room for improvement with function. Both bathrooms in the house required toilets to move, you can read about the hall bathroom on my Blog Post dated 6-21-18 (http://www.designsrefined.net/blog) for aesthetics and function.
Moving the toilet to the stall shower cavity was the main reason to do this remodel. Putting a shower in the tub was much discussed, since we were not getting younger, and stepping over the tub might prove difficult in the future, but we have the hall bath shower just around the corner.
Originally, this house was a two bedroom and one bath model. The main bathroom, had been remodeled sometime in the 1960s. When we bought the house, the room was attractive enough for a sale, and functional enough to use, but no one liked the toilet placement, which felt as though it was sitting in the middle of the room.
The vanity was a new addition in the 1960s, to allow for double sinks. However, the drawers on the left side were so shallow as to be practically useless, deeper drawers would not open because of the toilet placement.
Once we had removed the old vanity, our suspicions were confirmed, there had been only a pedestal sink, with a wall inset heater and a toilet on the adjacent wall. Once we moved the toilet, we knew that it was in its original placement.
The remodel in the 1960s opened what had been a closet or storage cabinet, and made into a stall shower. This shower had been “updated” probably in the 1990s, along with the floor tiles, while functional, it was dated.
Once we had decided on a new, better functioning layout and the finishes we wanted, we began our journey. My very handy engineer husband loves working with all kinds of materials, wood being his favorite, electricity is pretty high on the list, plumbing falls much lower, but tile is a fun puzzle for him.
Getting supplies was a challenge in the New World Order of Covid; we couldn’t just go and buy it in the early days, and as the project progressed materials became scarce. More challenges were the need for surgeries, and not to mention holidays that came and went and came and went again. We aged and it was beginning to show and slow us.
But, perseverance prevailed and we saw the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the key factors in this long process was my husband kept the bathroom nearly fully functional at all times.
Next Post: Getting a new plumbing system for a shower in the tub.