Two Bathroom Upgrades

[Sir Henry]

That’s a big bathroom.

[BrokenolMarine]

That's not all of it.
The previous owner was married to a princess... She wanted a luxury bathroom. So he built one. Huge.

[Sir Henry]

That's not all of it.
The previous owner was married to a princess... She wanted a luxury bathroom. So he built one. Huge.

What are the dimensions?

[BrokenolMarine]

That's not all of it.
The previous owner was married to a princess... She wanted a luxury bathroom. So he built one. Huge.

What are the dimensions?

Like I said, Huge, twelve foot by fourteen feet eight inches. Larger than a lot of bedrooms.

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Then there is another walk in closet off that bathroom that was all floor to ceiling shelves for just shoes and purses.
Yup, a true princess bathroom. I told Miss T I would have made that bathroom HALF that size, and enlarged the Master Bedroom. You could have doubled the size of the Master Bedroom and still had a very generous Master Bath.

[Sir Henry]

That's not all of it.
The previous owner was married to a princess... She wanted a luxury bathroom. So he built one. Huge.

What are the dimensions?

Like I said, Huge, twelve foot by fourteen feet eight inches. Larger than a lot of bedrooms.


07 huge.jpg


Then there is another walk in closet off that bathroom that was all floor to ceiling shelves for just shoes and purses.
Yup, a true princess bathroom. I told Miss T I would have made that bathroom HALF that size, and enlarged the Master Bedroom. You could have doubled the size of the Master Bedroom and still had a very generous Master Bath.

Thanks. That is huge.

[Hatchdog]

12 x 14’8”

We were just measuring our dining room for a rug and it’s 8x11’. It does open up into the kitchen and living room so doesn’t feel tight. Bathroom princess for sure.

[BrokenolMarine]

Like all projects, we have run into a couple hiccups. When the box was opened for the preformed pan for the shower, it was found to have a crack in the face of the curb. $800 was supposed to make life easier, lay a base of thinset, set the pan in place and level it, and allow it to dry, then tile the pan. Called the company, to see if tiling over the thin crack would be okay. NOPE, box it up, return it to Home Depot and have them return it. Another would be shipped when they have it in hand. Ten Days.

Our tile gal said she'd form and lay the base the old way. No problem. Save the money and still only be a day or so behind.
She and Miss Tina got to work. Laughing and cracking jokes all day. They got a LOT done and will be ready to start on the base tomorrow.

The first pic shows the wall up and the plumbing run for the main shower head and the hand held. You can also see the supports for the various grab bars and the seats on that right hand wall. They should be more than sturdy enough.

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They stayed busy throughout the day, got the backing board up and secured. Won't be too long and they will be tiling.

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It's just still rough, but starting to look like something. Still a lot of work to do, but you can get an idea now of Miss T's vision.

[BrokenolMarine]

I mentioned the "Antique Nail Puller" in an earlier post. For those who like old tools, here is a picture of the tool.

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To use the tool, you open the bird beak looking thing at the bottom, placing it on either side of the nail with the tool held vertically. Your hand wraps around the grip just above the beak with the foot pointing toward you and helping to stabilize the tool. The handle at the top of the tool is lifted about a foot then hammered down onto the tool in a sliding motion. The teeth bite into the wood on either side of the embedded nail. Pulling back on the handle closes the teeth on the nail. If you don't get a bite on the nail, you reopen the teeth and reset them on either side of the nail in the same grooves you just cut, and slam it again. Reattempt to bite the nail. Once you have that bite, you can use the leverage of the tool like a crowbar to pull the nail, levering against that foot. Stubborn nail? Extend the upper handle and increase the leverage. It will easily pull large nails from stubborn wood.

Once you learn the use of this old thing, you can get good with it and pull most embedded nails with just one or two strikes. The key is proper positioning prior to the first strike and a steady bottom hand so that the tool doesn't move on the down stroke. Slip and strike off target.... move and reposition 90 degrees off or the tool will slide off into the old grooves every time.

The really important thing is that the lower hand STAYS in the grip area. If any portion of that lower hand rises above that little ridge on the lower grip... It's a mistake you only make once. You'll have a huge blood blister at minimum once that upper portion slams down. That pinch can cut the skin. Leaves a cut that looks like scope bite. Don't ask me how I know this.

[Sir Henry]

MADE IN USA

[BrokenolMarine]

Made anywhere else back then was forboden. LOL.

[BrokenolMarine]

They have pulled the flooring and started on the walls. First our GAL textured the walls and ceiling, then painted the ceiling gray. The textured walls look pretty good, especially after they get painted.

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The first coat of paint has been going on, it's a lot of wall space, and the gray ceiling and dark green walls will be brightened up by the "river rock" shower floor" and the light colors in the tile wall of the shower. The flooring is a light woodgrain vinyl tile as well.

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They expect a second coat on the walls will be all that is needed.

[Sir Henry]

[BrokenolMarine]

Our Gal took Sunday off so Miss Tina finished the cutting in on the unpainted walls, and painted them. Touched up some tiny missed spots, and then this morning, when Miss Lisa showed up she put a second coat on the two long walls she felt needed them. Then, they got started on laying the new floors. It looks great. The floor is in and after lunch she can start on the tile in the shower.

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We are getting close...

[BrokenolMarine]

Of course, there are the baseboards to reinstall and there will be trim to put in around the shower and the vanity, linen closet, toilet and stuff to move back in... still plenty to do, but we are close (er)... LOL.

[Hatchdog]

Floor looks great, Miss Lisa must be a Jane of all trades.

[BrokenolMarine]

She is... Carpentry, plumbing, tile, roofing...
... Well, not roofing anymore. Too old according to her. Lol.

[BrokenolMarine]

Tina and Lisa got busy again this morning. Lisa started on the tile work as planned, her first step was to lay out the tile IN the shower floor, then move it to the floor out of the way, and start to actually install it, one section at a time.

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During the install, she sometimes had to take loose sections of rock and shape them with a file to join segments, or fit the edges to the wall or around the drain. The shower floor took a good bit of time, as did cutting the pieces to fit the curb.

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I ended up with a container of loose rock leftovers that I can use in the woodshop/or knifemaking. Accent pieces. I won't throw them away.


The larger tiles for the wall got started in the late afternoon, but she should knock that out tomorrow, then get the first pass at grouting done. The trim work and protective coatings should get knocked out by late Thursday or Friday morning.

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[BrokenolMarine]

While Lisa worked on the tile, Tina helped by passing the various stuff to her as needed, but in the down time, Tina got busy with the reorganization of the bathroom itself. The planned move of the dresser and my Upright Chest, as well as the reorganization of the vanity and the linen closet. The two furniture pieces fit nicely bracketing the window in the corner.

The Furniture in place:

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The vanity and linen closet:

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We both did some decluttering involved with the moves. Items that had ended up in/on the dressers/chests were gone through and put away in better locations, and only those that we really wanted back on the dressers/chests went back there. The vanity drawers and cabinets were decluttered extensively. Bottles of this and that were checked for expiration dates, out of date items were carefully considered. Items NO longer needed were tossed as well. Perfumes, colognes and such that we no longer use were NOT put back in the vanity or linen closet drawers or shelves. Amazing how much space was freed up.

Towel Racks, Grab Bars, and the like are being installed. We are getting there.

[BrokenolMarine]

They got back at it this morning. Miss Lisa spent the first hour prepping by cutting the large tile and some small accent pieces according to her layout she had sketched on some notebook paper. I hadn't seen the layout, trusting HER creative mind for the final design. She was three quarters through the tiling before I saw it laying beside the work bucket. Matched exactly. Tina helped here and there, but mostly watched now and then, or went out and took care of chores or messed with HER projects. I mostly stayed out of the way, or worked on MY projects.

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There WAS a supervisor on hand to keep a sharp eye on things, splitting her time between the work in the bathroom and guard duty in the living room bay window. (Someone has to watch for Delivery Men, Squirrels, and Rabbits.)

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With the large format tile, and the morning precutting, the job progressed well, once she actually started tiling, however, she is a stickler for detail. She noticed a tile she had placed had a small nick along an edge, barely visible. Surely a production defect. Tina told her the grout would cover it, not to worry. She pulled the tile and replaced it.

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Miss Lisa is all about detail. The little spacers, the level to check each run, reminds me of... me.

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At the end of the day, she had nearly finished the tile work in the shower. She has about two rows of large tile to go. She should be able to knock it out first thing, then start grouting the floor and walls. First pass anyway. Then there is the sealing of the rock and tile work, then fixtures and trim... then the lights... and grab rails and seat... another two days or so... and we will be done.

23 two top rows to go.jpeg (430.18 KiB) Viewed 368 times

Very nice so far... looking forward to the first shower.

[Hatchdog]

“ With the large format tile, and the morning precutting, the job progressed well, once she actually started tiling, however, she is a stickler for detail. She noticed a tile she had placed had a small nick along an edge, barely visible. Surely a production defect. Tina told her the grout would cover it, not to worry. She pulled the tile and replaced it.”


Reminds me of some guy who posts about creating knives, holsters and stuff like that.