bathroom

Is it time?

Yes. It's time.

It's time - as in it is finally time to get this bathroom updated for real.

Finally.

We bought this bathroom:

So much blue. All the improvements that have been made over the years are past their prime, too. And they are not really improvements.

Then we ditched the wall paper, the extra layer of molding around the window and door and traded out the light fixture.

Next the sink faucet had to be replaced - The old one was just so, so awful.

Then Hero harvested tiles from behind the vanity and took out the soap dish, tooth brush holder and towel bar - all blue and built into the wall to last forever.

We edited the counter top, too - That thing just kept on going.

And we ended up here after I painted the vanity white. Not the worst looking bathroom ever, which is why we were not rushing to do the big renovation, but we sure don't love it.

And then this happened.

This is the soap dish in the shower. It is supposed to be attached to the wall forever like the others, but it has rebelled and broke loose. It has happened before guessing by the amount of caulk that is smooshed on there like bubble gum. (sorry about the fuzzy photo.)

This little issue was the thing that finally propelled this project to the top of the list. 

Yay!

We measured and figured and came up with a budget ($1000!) and made our plans. We were on our way.

And with that excitement Hero did a little "research" to see what was behind the walls and under the floor. 

Looks like mostly dust. And insulation.

Which is better than lots of other things. Like critters. Or mold.

But money would have been better than dust. Maybe next time.

Look at that!

A whole (partial) wall with no blue.

Things always look worse in the middle of a project - Holy cow, what a mess.

Hero scoped out the other end of the shower / tub and found some previous water damage, but nothing wet, and the studs are in good shape.

 Another good sign.

We are really hoping the wall with the rebel soap dish is not too awful. Fingers crossed.

The floor was a little more challenging. Apparently these little tiles are set into about a foot of cement. Since the tub we ordered was a little wider that this one, Hero took the opportunity to get a new cement cutting saw blade and take out a section.

What a stinkin' mess!

Seriously, there was so much dust in there. Even with respirators, we could hardly breathe. 

Fortunately, Hero determined we should be able to pop the rest of those tiles off the cement. After prepping the cement the plan is to lay the new floor right down.

He only cut about 2-3 inches off. I cannot even imagine the crazy mess we would have going if the whole thing needed to come out. 

Need toilet paper? We keep it right next to the reciprocating saw.

But what a difference in our lovely floor with all the dust. After the first swipe cleaning, the white dust settled into the icky gray (probably used to be white) grout. I always knew white grout would be a huge improvement for this floor.

The real demo work starts this weekend. 

So excited!