Home Renovation Update #11 – The Bathroom Part 3

Come along with us as we renovate our 1946 home! This week’s home renovation update is the bathroom.

If you’ve missed anything and would like to catch up, here are our past home renovation updates.
Update #1 – The Bathroom
Update #2 – The Roof
Update #3 – Foundation
Update #4 – DIY Rustic Shutters
Update #5 – Foundation
Update #6 – Foundation Part 2
Update #7 – Foundation Part 3
Update #8 – Dining Room Windows
Update #9 – Living Room Picture Window
Update #10 – The Bathroom Part 2

We are continuing on with our home renovation and updating the bathroom. I promised you the next part today because I didn’t want to overwhelm you with photos.

We have been working really hard to get the bathroom finished. Right now we are installing the shower tiles and that is not as easy as it looks on TV!

Where’s Chip Gaines when you need him?

Let’s get on with this week’s home renovation update!

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Before I get started, I wanted to let you know that I have started another exciting journey. I’ve teamed up with Kole Jax Designs as a stylist. I’ve been eyeing their beautiful vintage jewelry for quite some time. So as soon as a position opened up I signed right up!

Don’t worry – I’m not going to force you into buying anything. I wanted to share it with you because I’m pretty excited about it! But if you love vintage jewelry at great prices then please take a look!

And just for looking, I’m giving you a coupon code to save 50% off all items in the sale collection! Just use code SAVE50!

This is one of my favorite pieces because it reminds me of my granddaddy:

And if you’d like to sign up to be a stylist with Kole Jax Designs, just click here. It doesn’t cost you a dime to sign up and you don’t have to keep up with inventory!

Our Home Renovation – The Bathroom Part 3

Last week I left off with all the plumbing that had to be done. New pipes had to be installed to replace all the old ones.

While replacing the pipes for the bathroom sink, we also replaced the ones for the kitchen sink since they are all one big connection. All the grease that had collected in those pipes was absolutely disgusting! I never pour grease in my kitchen sink, so all that grease had to have been there for years!

After the plumbing was all in place, I gave the ceiling a good scrub. I honestly didn’t realize how dirty it was until I cleaned it. Then I gave it a coat of paint, which really made a huge difference!

After the ceiling was dry, I removed the old insulation from the walls and put the new installation in. When I was removing the old insulation it would just crumble apart.

Last year when we thought we were going to be able to start this process we went ahead and ordered a new bathtub, which ended up sitting in our basement for a while.

Putting the bathtub in was a pain in the butt. We ended up putting it in and taking it out about 5 times before we were 100% ready to install it.

Keep in mind that our home is really small so having a bathtub sitting in a narrow hallway makes for some talented acrobatic walking.

Sorry – I apparently forgot to take a picture of it before we covered it with paper to protect it. I was probably too tired after all that work to remember!

After the tub was installed, it was time for the walls to start going up.

After the walls were in place, dry wall mud was added.

Notice the hanging light fixture? This is all the light we had until it finally had to be taken down. Now we’re using a work lamp that gets extremely hot!!

Once the drywall mud had dried and had been sanded, it was time to put on the primer. After the primer was dry, the wall had to be sanded again, another coat of primer added and sanded one final time.

I think it’s starting to look better already!

Hardie backer board was installed in the shower/tub area, which is water-resistant and perfect to use in bathrooms and kitchens when tiling.

Once the boards were installed, we put Mapei Mapelastic Aquadefense on the walls, which is water-proof as well as mold and mildew resistant.

It’s funny how it’s almost the same green color that my entire bathroom was painted before. Good thing that’s gone!

Next, we laid PermaBase cement backer board over the boards on the floor.

Finally, we could start laying the tiles!

First, we laid the tiles down to get the pattern the way we wanted it to go. Then my husband planned it all out.

And the first tile was in place! Honestly, this has been the most exciting part for me because these beautiful tiles have been sitting in my back room for a year. I couldn’t wait to get them down to see what they looked like!

Now we are starting to add the tiles to the shower/tub area.

This is too funny. We used a laser level to make sure all the tiles were level and straight. The level started out on a tripod but the tripod would only go up so high. So to get the laser line further up the wall, we invented the bucket tower! Our tower consists of buckets, some coloring books, my mom’s high school dictionary, and an Edgar Allen Poe book. (Those last two books are the thickest ones!)

Sometimes you have to be creative and work with what you have. And usually those creations are the most memorable!

We completed the back wall of the shower/tub area Monday night and we’ve started on the side walls. So stay tuned for another update shortly! I’m excited that this is all finally coming together.

Have you ever renovated gutted and renovated a bathroom before? If so, would you ever do it again?