03 September, 2009


Well up until now its been mostly about stripping wallpaper and painting so lets get to some real remodeling! The upstairs bath was technically fully functional but cosmetically it was beat up. Once we took down the concealing wall paper all the water damage, cracks and swelling in the plaster became visible. We were unable to keep the plaster wall in this room. We tore it out to the studs. The original wood floor was removed and saved for future use or repairs. We insulated the walls and then put up water resistant hardy board. The floor was also torn out to the joists and a new sub floor put in. The original plumbing to the sink had been altered sometime in the 70's. The bathroom originally had a sink that hung on the wall. We could see the old mark in the plaster. We purchased a pedestal sink from a 1918 Bungalow that the owners was redoing the bath in. Their loss, our gain! The tub is original to the house and the toilet is new. We installed under floor heating and laid thumbprint tile on the floor. The walls are done in subway tile up to the new red oak rail. We tried to save the original rail but it was too badly water damaged. The plaster ceiling was also removed and a new sheet rock ceiling put in. There was a squirrel nest the size of a basketball above the ceiling and squirrel droppings and urine had ruined the ceiling. It looked like they had lived there a long time. Most of the accessories are either original or antique purchases. The toilet paper holder and clothes hooks are original to the bath. The soap dish, toothbrush holder and glass holder are period pieces I purchased. The mirror,towel ring, rack and shelf are period reproductions. The WC tile above the toilet is original to the bath. It was hanging over the door when we moved in. My husband restored the tub. The inner enamel was in great shape so he sanded and painted the outside surface and the feet. The really hard part was getting the tub down the stairs! You can see our new electrical going up to the attic through the bath room wall. Since the walls were in such bad shape in this room our electrician used this area to go into the attic and that way we didn't have to tear up any good walls. We hope to add a ring shower when we save up the money to. My very patient husband has had to take baths for two years...he misses a shower! The mural of iris was done by me is very muted purples and greens. We called a plumber to reinstall the tub but he wanted 900.00 so my ever resourceful husband did some research and did it himself for about 42.00 dolloars in parts. He did a beautiful job with some customized copper pipes. The bathroom took about 4 months and cost us less than 3000.00. Not bad for a new tile bath!









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