Bathroom Renovation Update

Back in August I shared the tale of our bathroom remodel and then in December gave you an update on the status of the space below the bathroom, the butler's pantry, which finally had a ceiling after some six months of going topless. Today I am ready to reveal the finished bathroom.  This tiny little space (only four feet wide) has again become my husband's bathroom.  He picked all the materials and did the tiling himself.  Almost everything is white -- white tile, white walls, white towels.  I think that made his choices easier!  He is coming around to the idea of a colorful rug, though, and he plans to hang some artwork to the left of the sink but hasn't quite gotten around to it yet.  Still, he is so happy with the results.  He now has a real shower in place of the weird half-sized tub shower that used to be next to the window.  It certainly won't make the pages of House Beautiful, but it is way more functional than it used to be and it works for him.  Plus there's a real sense of accomplishment in a DIY.

bare bones in July

finished in January, taken from inside the shower (yeah, it's a small room)

How hard can it be?

It started with a small leak.  There is a tiny bathroom in what used to be a tiny apartment on the second floor of our house.  After we reclaimed the apartment and turned it into an office/den, the tiny bathroom became the guys’ bathroom.  Then one day we noticed a water stain on the ceiling in the butler’s pantry down below.  Uh oh.  

One thing led to another as things do in an old house.  Now we can see into the bathroom from below.  So convenient when I want to call up that dinner is ready!

After much time and lots and lots of thought, my husband gutted the entire tiny bathroom.  “If only we could switch the location of the shower and the toilet,” I said.  Can’t be done, the joists run the wrong way, we were told.  Finally, a nice man who works in the Lowes plumbing department asked, “Why can’t you drop the ceiling below and run the pipes under the joists?”  Light bulb!  That’s what led to this.

A total reconfiguration and all new pipes – including moving the vent stack.  Who knew such things are possible?  And it’s only money, right?  (Our plumbers like us a lot.)  We’re still only partway through this latest adventure in home remodeling.  Today my husband is putting in new joists and a subfloor and plotting his next move.

Will keep you updated.