A year ago, after a particularly stressful day, I decided - though not after much deliberation- to take a sledge hammer to my bathroom. I wanted to rid myself of this major design flaw since the day I moved in, but didn't have the energy, the motivation, or any idea of what to do with it. On this day, my teenage son was having it rough. I don't remember what precipitated his 'rebel-without-a-cause' attitude, but I decided he needed a chisel and metal mallet in his hands.
Allow me to at this point to show you the 'before' photo of this master bath that came attached to the house. I don't know what I love more- the floor to ceiling tile or the toilet stuck in the corner. Or, maybe it's the opaque covering on the middle part of the piece of glass that is tiled into the wall?
No, the best part has to be the fact that instead of a door, the door WAY was framed with tile on the outside with a clear view of the toilet from the hallway. Oh, yes, THAT was my favorite feature of this custom designed master bath.
One of the first things I did when I moved in was hang a curtain to obstruct the view.
Let's move along to what we changed, shall we?
That would be nearly EVERYTHING:
I tackled this bathroom demolition in stages, not knowing how far I would go. I knew I wanted to remove the tub, (it leaked and the jets never worked) and the tile surrounding it, including the wall separating it from the toilet. The decision to remove the tile from EVERY wall came later. After breaking the tile off the bath surround, I had to loosen the tub from the wooden frame.
Ripping that tub from the bathroom was possibly one of the most cathartic experiences I've had.
What's hilarious about the entire experience is seeing -- after removing the wooden frame- that the electric box and the water lines that were designed to connect to the whirlpool feature of this "jacuzzi" tub were never connected. That explains why it never turned on. The faulty plumbing underneath explained the leaks.
Glad to be rid of that monstrosity!
Once the tub was removed, and I decided I would put in a free standing tub, the next step was to remove the floor tile. After that, knowing I wanted to replace the large pane of half opaque glass, I had to remove the tile from that wall... then the next wall...
and before I knew I had broken away tile from four walls leaving only the shower intact.
Removing the tub and its surrounding material revealed another hurdle- above floor plumbing.
Next step- find an affordable plumber to put in a drain for a free- stand tub and get rid of the above floor drain.
DONE
In the meantime...a friend found glass bricks on a resale group on-line for the window space. It was not quite enough for the existing space, so he reframed the space to accommodate the exact number of bricks.
Now to the sheetrock....
More demolition-- rip out the cabinet. I won't show you the yuck I found behind it. Trust me; this cabinet had to go. (and please note that the cabinet top is covered with the same tile that covered all the walls.)
To replace the cabinet, I scoured big box stores for sales. I missed cabinets on clearance as they were being carried out the store by other customers. I followed links to nowhere, and considered antique pieces that needed to be refinished.
Then I walked into my dining room and noticed a dresser I've had for twenty years. Perfect. I decided to have only one sink so that I could have more counter space.
… and skip ahead to the part where a friend from church comes to my rescue with a long list. From sheetrock and vinyl flooring up to bathtub, he put together most of my bathroom. From there, the plumber brother of a friend gave me a GREAT rate to connect the rest of the drains and install the toilet and bathtub, WHICH was FREE!! … because I found an antique tub for sale on Craigslist, but when I went to look at it, the man practically begged me to take it home so he didn't have to pay for the rental unit where he had it stored! (sorry, I get excited thinking about that)
My son-in-law trimmed out the sheetroock, and finished the spaces left undone, and added a door.
The boyfriend of my other adult daughter trimmed the glass bricks. (can my daughters pick'em, or what?!)
If I weren't so desperate to get this post finished this evening I would run back and take another photo of the print hanging over the tub. It's probably the element of which I am most proud.
While visiting a friend in her new apartment, I gazed out her window at the view of the green belt..
and the dumpster.
And there it was- this beautifully framed print leaning against the trash dumpster. It was in pristine condition with no visible marks or dirt. Someone simply grew tired of it, or couldn't fit into the moving truck. In minutes it was mine!
The wall lamps I found at Habitat for Humanity. A change in color with spray paint so that they matched the existing ceiling light was all they needed. The mirror still needs to be hung, but it's always something, right?
