May 5, 2010

Bathroom Reno

Yes. Sadly, there is very little redeemable of our downstairs bathroom to restore. The original terrazzo smeared together with a later 70s linoleum (saying bad 70's linoleum is redundant - it's all bad), the shower board behind the white 3x3" tile saturated with water/mold and well, that's about it for the bathroom - it's tiny. We are reusing the original Universal Rundle toilet - lovely lines as far as fixtures go. The sink, which is wall hung with a slant back that holds a sweet little Mueller fixture is cracked and according to the guy who repainted our upstairs bathroom - is "toast".

Original sink, toilet and white square tile above sink.

So I have been on a manhunt to find a replacement from the same era. It is proving 'challenging' to say the least and I am now scouring the Ohio Craigslists' and salvaged building material stores (and oh yes, I started in Canada, then moved to western US. I am slowly moving east).

Jason and his brother, who so kindly came out for a visit just after we moved in, took a sledgehammer to the bathroom shower one weekend in March.

The demo crew taking a break on the front steps.

They quickly discovered that in 1950s houses, drywall was designed to withstand nuclear warfare and is connected by this impenetrable web of metal mesh. Once you start removing drywall, it's hard to stop. They ended up taking off just a 'leetle beet' too much. Oh, well. By doing so, though, we found out that hey - no water damage beyond the shower! Something I'm sure we would be wondering otherwise...

We hired a general contractor to finish the rest (Cornad Contracting) and work started this week.

For one of the only reno's we will be doing in this house, we will be undertaking the following. With a wee bit of help from our g/c, Fred, Murray the electrician (he's excellent and made some super suggestions to add period appropriate lighting) and Justin the plumber (I will add contact info shortly) and various others that are coming and going all day long:

  • New concrete board in shower and opening up door so anyone over 5'7" doesn't have to duck to get in
  • New shower door and taps and shower head (by Moen) (pix to follow)
  • New 'tile-o-rama' from our BFF Corrine at Deerfoot Carpet & Flooring- dark grey floor tile, white subway in the shower with a 3" border of teal/blue glass penny tiles, dark grey pebble on the shower floor (heavenly)
  • Refurbished wall hung sink, which at this rate, I'll probably have to ship from Zimbabwe - using original taps
  • Original toilet
  • Original vanity mirror
  • Original light over vanity
  • Paint yet to be determined, by the Johnston clan

We're at the boring insulation/vapour barrier/lot's of hammering that gives me a headache stage so I will spare you progress pictures at this point. But maybe that's exciting for some of you. Whatever floats your boat.

Me, the vanity and some studs.

L


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