Bathroom Renovations

After a few weeks of long days, lots of work, lots of mess and lots of cleaning, our bathroom is finally back on-line and functioning. As I mentioned before, there was no ventilation fan in there when we moved in, and although we had installed one, there was still water damage and mould issues in there which needed to be addressed. We took some pictures along the way, and I kick myself for not taking better "before" pictures, but these will have to do...

This is the bathroom as it was when we first saw the house, a few
days before we bought it. Cozy enough I guess, but it was missing
a fan, was much lacking in storage, had some nasty paint finishes,
was hiding some water damage, and had stick-on vinyl tiles that
were shifting and not looking all that great. This is move-in day, with Lauren adding in some of our bathroom
stuff to make it feel more like home. We left that wicker unit in
there for convenient storage but never really liked it. We did
replace that toilet seat, but never did any painting in there until now.
And the tearing out begins! We did this for a few days before moving to my parents... it's not exactly the most convenient thing having one bathroom and renovating it. We were very thankful to be able to stay with my Mom and Dad! My Dad also trucked back and forth to St. Catharines with Mike helping him with all the work, which was greatly appreciated.
Our home was built in 1934, and you can tell the house is old by the way it was constructed. No drywall here! It was all plaster, with mortar and lathing behind. If you look carefully at the mortar you can see horse hair in it to keep it together. And of course, no insulation anywhere.
We discovered this lovely paint colour behind the shelving unit by the tub. Sick! Probably also lead paint, so it was high time that the kids and I got out of there, and we purchased some good dust masks and filters. I think it was first painted this colour, then pink (which the bathtub also was painted at some point), then blue (which the front, visible part of the bathtub was painted) with sponge paint and very thick wallpaper. The windows were all replaced before we bought the house, but we
found four of these old window weights in the wall beside the new window.There are only two closets in our house, one in the laundry/entrance room and the other in Peter and Aaron's bedroom. Both of these jut into the bathroom... and don't go all the way to the ceiling, leaving some empty, unused space. Space = storage! We claimed these spaces for the bathroom, and it will be nice to have some extra storage in there, albeit a little inconvenient. I'll have to find a step stool. Down to the bare bones! The walls are down to the studs, the floor
tiles are off, and we're ready for the expensive stage of rebuilding. Ex-bathroom material makes a big pile of garbage outsideNew insulation was installed on the exterior wall of the bathroomMildew-resistant drywall goes up, a lovely shade of blue. Dave came to help out Mike with the work and helped
install the wainscoting and a few other thingsWainscoting installed and walls almost done mudding
Oh, my house was such a disaster! Dust on every possible
surface throughout the whole place... it took a lot of
cleaning to get it back to live-able
Dad Vander Deen came to help Mike cut and install the porcelain tiles
I came the next day to help grout the tiles and paint the bathtub
and trim. It's a little nerve-wracking to watch the grout
drying on the tile surface while it sets but we didn't have a
problem getting it off againNewly tiled and grouted floor, all cleaned up.
We are so happy with how it turned out!
The bottom of the tub, which probably won't be seen again for
a very long time. It was made in Toronto on June 10, 1930
and weighs an awful lot. It waited in the kitchen during the
renovations and got a new coat of paint.Bathroom walls and ceiling painted, a fresh cool blue colour on the walls
Oops! Mike, you forgot to put the shower curtain back up...and
do you always shower with your clothes on? There were very
few complications putting the fixtures back in, for which we were
thankful. Mike's a pretty good impromptu plumber!
Bathroom just about finished!
Medicine cabinet and shelf underneath is installed... this is how
it is now. The over-cupboard storage still needs to be finished off,
and a cabinet needs to be built for behind the tub. New medicine cabinet and sink area