Happy New Year!

I took off work last week and between travelling for the holiday weekends, I put in three long days working on the bathroom. Pat and I drove to St. Louis for New Year's weekend. Friday and Saturday we spent at a Buddhist temple getting in touch with our inner zen. We wrapped up the trip with a short visit with my brother and his fiancé.

I didn’t get to grouting the shower yet, but I still have a long list of things to get done before I can get the plumber back for the finish work. I’ll dig into it again later this week. The majority of the work last week was getting the bamboo wall element up. I’m tired of looking at the plywood so I’m happy to be making progress on this. Installing the bamboo pieces is slow and tedious work. Seems that bamboo flooring is quite hard and my "HF special" pneumatic finish nailer can't quite drive the nails flush so I needed to go back to manually finish driving the nails in each board. Makes for time consuming work. To maintain a clean look and minimize the amount of trim, I decided to miter the outside corners. That involves careful measuring and cutting. Three corners done, two to go!

Bamboo planking almost complete

Ran into a few challenges that slowed me down a bit. One of which was the last box of bamboo floor planks did not match the color of all the others. The color difference was significant enough for me to need to return the box.  I thought the color would be more consistent. Anyway, I was lucky to find a box today that closely matched what is already installed. Now I can finish the dozen or so remaining pieces.

I started this hanging the planks without knowing how I was going to finish the edges. I think I have figured out what how I am going to work out the trim. Luckily, there is a premade edge trim that can serve as the chairail. Bamboo baseboard is another story, however. For now, I am planning to make my own using 5/8" bamboo floor planks. If you know of a source for bamboo baseboard I am open to suggestions.

I assembled and installed the cabinet frames that will serve as the linen closet. Nice to get these out of the garage; hopefully I’ll be able to park a car in there soon…

I elected to use IKEA cabinets because I like the ability to select the style and ability to customize our storage options. Here, I chose IKEA tall kitchen cabinets because they are 24” deep and will provide lots of storage. Many of their bath specific cabinets are only 12” deep. I modified the cabinets to fit my built in space and added a custom plumbing access panel to one. I also built a simple platform using their feet. This allows me to level both cabinets at the same time.

Adding a side piece made from plinth

The cabinets in position

For another step back, we decided we don’t like the color I painted the walls. It works OK with the bamboo but not the shower tile. Today, Pat and I selected a couple more color samples to try. Although I'm professional designer, I still find selecting paint color tricky. Stay tuned...

Tile and other things

A trip to "Newalens" two weeks ago slowed my tiling progress. I didn't have time to take photos this time, but here is a shot from a trip there last summer.

French Quarter musicians.

I burned the midnight oil working on the bathroom last week to make up lost time. Progress was slow and tedious, especially the storage niche. I discovered using large tiles requires making accurate cuts because mismatched grout lines are very noticeable; so I'm taking my time to get the measurements right. I'm glad to get this step done. Now I just have to make a decision on grout color; not as easy as it seems. Trying to find a color matched caulk makes it more challenging because retailers don't carry all the caulk colors that they have in grout! Sort of reminds me of the hot dog/hot dog bun conspiracy...
 

Shower tile progress. No grout yet.


While I try to track down the grout color, I painted the walls and started installing the bamboo wall paneling.


Bamboo flooring on the wall where the vanity will be installed.

I'm off work all next week so I am hoping to get allot done. Pat and I made a decision and purchased the floor tile. That will go down after the walls are finished.

That's it for this week. Thanks for stopping by.

Tiling...finally!

Made some progress this weekend. I finally started tiling the bath/shower surround after a lot of planning and measuring. Anticipating all the surface transitions takes some thought (for me anyway).

I selected a 12"x18" tile. I like the look of large tiles plus it's less grout to maintain. Placing large tiles is actually  more difficult than smaller tiles. Maintaining flatness (preventing lippage) is a challenge because it is very difficult to press the tiles into the thinset due to the amount of tile surface area. This makes the progress seem slow. Anyway, I am pleased with the look and am looking forward to completing this step. I anticipate late nights this week since I will be in "The Big Easy" all next week.


Just getting started tiling the bath/shower walls.

I decided to purchase a used tile saw rather than rent so I can take my time tiling. When I have rented them in the past I feel rushed because the clock is ticking so to speak. I found a decent one on CL. What I didn't realize is that this type of saw cannot accommodate cutting large tiles lengthwise. I had to make a larger bed attachment. I had plenty of scrap wood left over and it seems to work well so far thought I have to flip the tiles to get all the way through.

 

Tile cutting station with custom bed attachment

I anticipate allot more tiling and cutting this week. It will be interesting when I have to go around the plumbing openings. I suppose I'll figure that out as I go. I'll post more later this week. Thanks for stopping by.

Quick update.

So, I am going to try a new strategy; more frequent short posts. Hopefully this will prevent one year passing between entries. For the past several days, I have been working on finishing the walls and the tub surround. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just need a bit more sanding and one more coat of Redgard. Next step is to prime, paint, and then tile.



Tub surround with Redgard waterproof coating painted on.



Westerly view showing new door entry and the toilet area.

 I ordered the vanity faucet yesterday. It was a tough choice between these two designs. There is something about faucet/fixture designs that I find intriguing. Maybe it's the design nerd in me, but I think a nice faucet provides a makes a statement; smilar to how fine jewelry completes an outfit.   

Option A

Option B

I stumbled on another great blog of 'old home fans' documenting their home reno. Impressive work with fantastic results. The whole house is amazing and the kitchen is superb. Enjoy.

https://madisonsquare.wordpress.com/ 


Oh, I went with Option B.

Unbelievable. Has it been over a year since I posted? This year has gone by incredibly fast. Probably had something to do with work, home projects and lots of travelling in there, too.

I bought a new laptop earlier this year and still need to install my photo editing software so I will be light on photos until I can get that situated. I'll post what I can.

As far as home projects, it's been a busy year. I painted the remaining bedrooms late last winter and at the beginning of September I started a complete bathroom remodel. So that is still in progress and taking up my evenings and weekends. I hope to have it complete by Christmas. It is the last room to be remodelled and I will very happy to be finished with this project.
I almost don't remember what it looked like. These are some "before" shots. Terrible plastic wall tile, ugly shower tile, some weird wall covering, and lots of doors. Just bad all over. 

I think someone did a minor remodel in the 50's. I found a date on the pedestal sink from 1952, the floor tile is not original, and some of the plumbing, but not all, has been updated to copper.



I hate the shower. I'm tall. The shower head is way too low and soffit creates a clausterphobia inducing box.



Separate doors for the main bath and "water closet". There is also a connecting door inside.

After demo, new framing for the entry and linen closet. The old cast iron tub is in the background. Took three guys to get it down and loaded in my junk truck. It weighed over 350lbs. They certainly don't make them like that anymore.

A view of the throne.

I made a lot of progress in the last month or so. Dad, again came over to help out for a few days.  I definitely would not be this far if it weren't for him.


Today. Notice the height of the shower head spout.

Now that the walls are closed it is starting to take shape. I am putting bamboo flooring on the lower portion of the walls. I need a good surface to secure it to so that is what the plywood substrait is for.
All the new ceiling lighting is in. It is much improved. The old bathroom only had two wall sconces by the sink.



View of the new entry with just one door!



 My objective for the rest of this week is to finish installing the cement board around the tub, and finish the second and third coats of drywall mud. I want to start tiling the tub next week. I'll post more photos and progress next week. Hopefully, I will have some more progress to show. Thanks for tuning in.