Sunday, June 28, 2009

Upstairs Bath Renovation - Part 1

I loved my house from the day we moved in. Really. But I HATED the upstairs bathroom. It was pink tile. Everywhere. Every surface. And was stuck somewhere around 1989. I did the best I could with it for a year and a half, but always felt it wasn't even close to the level of awesomeness as the rest of our house.

Although we have a full bath on the first floor (with a stall shower), the upstairs bathroom is the only other full bathroom (and only tub) and is shared among all the bedrooms, including the master on the third floor. So basically - it gets a ton of use. I was literally counting the days until we could dig in and make it a place I want to retreat to with some bubbles and a glass of wine.

Here are some before shots of the pink atrocity:

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We waited until May to start. The downstairs bathroom just isn't that warm in the cooler weather, plus we're out of a tub so I figured I could just bathe the kid in the yard once in a while if it was really hot :)

First step - remove all the fixtures! We are keeping the toilet and tub, as they are in good condition and a totally non-offensive white. Everything else is going to be sold/given away depending on its condition.

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Now for the messy part - demo. It was done in two parts - the main part of the room first, then the tub area. So Andrew first took care of the demolition of the non-tub walls and the floor, and I cleaned up every couple hours to keep him from drowning in broken tile and dust. We had to wear masks and gloves and still ended up coughing, sneezing, and a little cut up. By the end of Memorial Day weekend, however, the bathroom was down to the studs and subflooring.

Andrew immediately started putting the greenboard up (drywall with a water-resistant paper covering) on the non-tub/shower walls. Our son had decided to become potty trained that week and I desperately wanted the upstairs toilet to be back in commission.

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It certainly seems like a mess at this point (and oh boy, it is), but I also think it looks better already. My two men are working nonstop to make "spa" bathroom a reality!

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