Thursday, February 9, 2012

RENO: Bathroom

I already miss my tub!
Sorry for the teaser yesterday, things got a little nutty around here!

Our house was built sometime in the 1880s or so, but I've had help from the great people Old House Web Forums helped us ID the main part as from sometime in the early 1900s. So someone built on the old log cabin that once stood here, and based on how old the barn is, that might have been built a loooong time ago.

So yes the bathroom looks nice and pretty, these are shots from when we went to come see it the first time. What you don't see is the moisture problem in the back corner (by the toilet) or they leaky drain under the shower. Or what was equally exciting was finding out from hub's plumber buddy today (he's doing the reno work for us) that the drain under the sink wasn't glued on...

We love DIY, we really do; but hubs is a certified electrician who's had a passion for de & construction his entire life (just ask his poor parents!). This puts him in a bit of a different league then you're average home owner, and it was definitely your average home-owner the did a lot of the work around here over the years. Nail holes not filled, baseboard trim not stained, using ugly trim to cover a hole instead of evening out the wall, just those sort of little things that show lack of knowledge. So if you're going to embark on a DIY project please consult appropriate professionals and educate yourself before you ever pick up a tool.

Trust me, if I was doing all the DIY myself, it would be scary. I'm well known for just eye-balling pieces of wood to be straight and going with it anyway. I try really hard, but building stuff just isn't my thing, I'm better at the nurturing/growing stuff.

A drain under the shower that wasn't hooked up properly is why there is a hole above my head on the ceiling of the den, thankfully we didn't have any major damage. The shower is the strangest think I've ever seen, the sides have some sort of concrete on them. This is just about the worst material for a shower I can think of, it's quite rough if you happen to lean against it. Also because of this material the shower and the vanity which was glued to it (!?) had to be removed in order fix the drain. So might as well rip the whole thing out!

My beloved tub will be returning, although turned around in the correct direction, brand new shower. Should be exciting! I did learn that the vanity was built in place many years ago, so now I'm really glad we hired Brad's buddy to do the work, he took it out carefully & now it can have a new life in the barn somewhere.

Expect the "after" photos in about a year...

3 comments:

  1. We're about to embark on our (DIY) bathroom renovation. It's a complete and total gut job, because the last person to "fix it up", well...there aren't really any words!

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  2. Oh! Do you guys have a deign plan?
    We are going to tile the floor & wall, but I'm worried about how modern it's going to look in the old house.

    At the same time I can't exactly put at 18th/early 19th century bath in here. I really don't want to do the hectagonal tile floor.

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  3. There are also beautiful (although in bad shape) wood floor beams under the sticky tile...

    I think they're going to kick me out of the old house club for covering them over again O.O

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