The Bathroom Before

The problem with remodeling the bathroom when you only have one is that you only have one. I have been putting off this remodel for years. I kept saying that I was going to do it while the boys were away at camp. It was always something; I didn't have the money or I had to work overtime to get the money. One year, I had norovirus and while I did spend the week in the bathroom, I wasn't remodeling. Then I ended up chaperoning at camp for one or all of the boys. 

This time, I planned ahead. I purchased all of the materials ahead, pre-built the countertop and cabinet, and planned on having the boys stay at Grandma and Papa's house for the week. Mostly, it worked out, but much like the dining room, it took longer than I planned and I still have a punch list. 

This bathroom was last renovated fully in the late 1970's as you can tell by the green tub peeking out from under the shower curtain and the faux marble shell sink (complete with cigarette burns!). The old mirror was framed in a gaudy gold colored plastic with matching tacky lights on either side. The toilet was green like the tub. the floor tile.. oh that was the real gem! They were green and blue marbled glossy and oh so groovy. The wall tile wasn't terrible; off-white with tan "freckles" which was evidently a popular tile at the time. During that remodel, the old claw-foot tub was removed and a shower was added above the new tub - which was installed through the wall of the adjacent bedroom. There were also doors on the shower that were removed when my grandparents' mobility began to decrease.

Since that remodel, some of the tiles began to fall off of the shower wall and the wooden window frame, which was never intended to be in the shower began to rot. My brother, who was living here at the time, opened up the wall, made some repairs, added insulation and then glued a textured fiberglass paneling over it. 

When I moved in, I was pregnant with my oldest (he's about to turn 17) and I was doing a bit of nesting. I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed that bathroom floor and that was when I discovered something disturbing. the back of the toilet was about an inch lower than the front. I went in the basement and looked from below. The floor around the toilet was rotten. Dad kicked me out of the house and took out the toilet and the floor. He patched the subfloor and left me to set the new tile. and came back for the toilet installation. I had never tiled before and I was in a hurry, so I ended up using the wrong product. The grout cracked, tiles came loose and I didn't fix it because I was always going to remodel it "next summer" but I just slapped on a coat of paint and called it a day. I didn't do anything else in there. at some point, the lights in the mirror stopped working, so we removed it and dad put in an overhead light. I hung two different mirrors over the hole in the wall. They both got broken and I gave up. It was also the one room that survived the fire. The only thing that changed was the window. 

so, yeah, this was so very long overdue.

Make sure you follow my blog so you don't miss my next post where I show you how I made my gorgeous glitter countertop!