tiling the bathroom

We were lucky enough to have a guest contractor this past weekend. Ben's friend Mike of Katek Construction in Ambler, Pennsylvania spent the weekend hard at work on our bathroom- showing Ben the correct tiling technique along the way.

But before the guys could get going on the tiling the plumber and electrician needed to get their stuff done while the walls were open and everything was exposed.

The Plumber
Much of the plumbers work happened in the basement. New piping was installed throughout the house- the old pipes were, just that.. very old! The water pressure was terrible because of the rust build up from age. While the new piping wasn't something that necessarily had to be done immediately we figured we might as well get it done while everything was open and exposed.

new set up for the shower

new piping for the pedestal sink

But the major more visible work that the plumber got done was relocating the sink and radiator. I first posted about the new layout here.

Originally the bathroom layout looked like this..
It was a little tight getting into the bathroom because the sink was practically installed in the middle of the doorway. And the awkward radiator placement felt like a huge waste of space.
So we opted to swap them and chose to go with a pedestal sink so we could put the radiator underneath it..
Actually planning out when we're going to get everything done is a little bit of a challenge since we are trying to do the work ourselves and because it's our only bathroom. We're trying to make it as functional as possible (I just can't let go of the toilet), so the plumber was nice enough to install the pedestal and the new toilet until we're ready to install the floor.
Above you can see the radiator hasn't been installed yet. The plumber pulled it out and kept it out long enough so I was able to give it a fresh new coat of paint. I must say it was a little challenging- not the painting, but cleaning it out enough beforehand (decades of dust collected in all of the little crevices).
But after some sanding, cleaning, a coat of primer and two coats of paint we now have a clean and very white radiator.
I just love it and can't wait to see it in place.

And of course what's a new bathroom without a new toilet?

The Electrician
The electrician has also been working all over the house. It wasn't surprising that lots of rewiring had to be done- and we opted to install new light fixtures to lots of very dark rooms in the house. But in the bathroom there were really only three major things we needed from him.

1. an outlet
Can you believe there wasn't one in there? He positioned it just to the right of the sink- so it's not a huge eyesore and but still in a convenient location.

2. an exhaust fan
Definitely something every bathroom should have. Installing an exhaust fan is a great way to help preserve the walls and keep moisture out of the space.

3. lighting
With the new high ceiling (you can read about it here) we opted to go with a flush mount fixture over the original recessed light we had discussed. Unfortunately I have yet to find one but I've told Ben from the beginning- I have no problem living with light bulbs, I just don't want to rush and buy something I don't absolutely love.

The Tile Guys
So on Friday both the electrician and the plumber finished up their work and Saturday morning Ben and Mike started in with the transformation.

Installing Insulation..
Because the sheetrock had been removed it gave them the perfect opportunity to insulate the walls. Now we'll have a very toasty bathroom!

Installing the Hardibacker..
After the insulation they installed hardibacker around the tub walls. The hardibacker is much stronger than sheetrock- it will hold up against mildew and mold.

Tiling..
Once the hardibacker was up they started the very slow process of tiling.
It truly was a two man job. Mike cut while Ben tiled.
Unfortunately the tiling took so long they were able to finish the installation but they didn't get to the grout. Luckily Ben was feeling like that was something he could handle by himself and last night he finished it up..

Spreading the Grout..
We opted to go with a grey grout- I love the contrast with the white subway tiles.
Once the grout was spread and covered the entire area, Ben washed it off and we got a hint of the finished product.
Wiping Down with Cheese Cloth..
I'll post the big "reveal" when the bathroom is complete, but at least you got a peek.

We want to send a quick thanks to Mike for his amazing help this weekend. Unfortunately we weren't such great hosts this time around- without a kitchen he didn't get the fresh baked goods he's gotten used to over the years and Ben put him to work all weekend. But we so appreciate all he did to make this process much less painful than it could have been. At least next time he comes to visit he'll get to take a shower! Thanks Mike!

And now on to the floor..

bathroom work begins

With the electrician and plumbers scheduled to begin work this week, Ben spent this past weekend preparing the bathroom...

Demolition Day 1
The first step was removing the sheetrock on the walls. Because we are essentially gutting the space (you can read about the new bathroom layout here), Ben thought it would be easier for the plumber if he had full access to everything.
When he first started removing the tile he discovered that it actually wasn't installed directly on the sheetrock, but instead the previous owner had it installed on a board of masonite. This made the tile removal pretty simple..
but it did add an additional step. Once all of the masonite was removed Ben had to begin removing the actual walls.
Because we haven't discovered mold in any other areas of the house (shocking!) we were sure we would discover lots of different things growing behind the bathroom walls, but we were pleasantly surprised. Most of the mold was easily removed with the sheetrock and there were only a few moist areas left.
Also surprising? There was actual insulation in the walls! Yes it was in bad shape, crumbling in Ben's hands, but we had definitely expected the walls to be hollow since lots of older homes were built without.
By the end of the day Ben had gotten through the tub surround. He lined the walls with heavy plastic so he could take a much needed shower..

Demolition Day 2
Ben started off day 2 wanting to get through the rest of the sheetrock- including the ceiling.
Once Ben really started pulling things down it began to smell- and the dust was overwhelming.
When we met with the electrician last week we agreed that we could only do recessed lighting in the bathroom because the ceilings were so low, but I was thrilled to find out the previous owner had actually dropped the ceiling in front of the vanity and we really had 8 feet in there!
Once Ben shared that great news with me I immediately hit the internet in search for the perfect fixture!

Unfortunately our bathroom will probably look like a variation of the images above for the next week or so. The plumber is beginning today- he'll work on the shower set up and the electrician will be in later this week to figure out the lighting situation. We are scheduled to install the new Duroc and to begin tiling next weekend (we even have a little helper coming up!) Hopefully on Sunday we'll be able to set the new toilet so we're only without it for a few hours or so. When Ben and I were on our way to the YMCA to take showers last night (oh the joy of renovating!) he said he expects the entire bathroom to be usable by the end of next weekend. Expect more updates in the weeks to come!