# "Master" bath remodel.



## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

I've been posting in other sections based on what I don't know, but I thought I'd start a thread here about my upstairs bathroom remodel.

The house is old (for CA) and there is no Master Bath.  There are three bedrooms upstairs that share one bathroom.  For a family with children, this would probably be a problem, but we don't have any, so it's not really an issue...except that it's been demolished for the last two months and the wife wants her bathroom back!!!

Here are a few before pictures.  This was a pretty simple bathroom.  Big Box single vanity, tile floor, shallow short tub with tile surround.  We didn't think it fit with the old house, so we decided up remodel.


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## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

With the decision to reno', we had to decide if we were going to pull permits or not.  It's basically a remove/replace, but with subtle changes to the plumbing and electrical.  We've got a "difficult" neighbor, so we decided to take the high road and ask the City.  Of course they said we needed permits...   No big deal.  I sketched up the plan, my wife walked it down to the planning dept. and got the permits on the spot.

We started demo the day after we had a family dinner (Nov. 3).  Because this is an old house, and this bath was added after the home was built (it was a closet originally), we didn't know what we would find behind the walls or under the floor.

We decided that the boxed in corners needed to be opened up to make the room appear larger than it is.  When we broke through the wall on one side, it was clear that there were shelves in there at one time, and there were actually still items on the shelves!


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## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

The "new" tub is a 67" long by 24" deep Cast Iron clawfoot tub.  I found it on Craigslist in a nearby town.  I need to polish it inside, and it will get a fresh coat of paint on the outside (not yellow).  The clawfeet aren't in the picture because they are out to the plating company getting an Oil Rubbed Bronze finish on them.
The tub weighs 300# dry.  It will be about 750# full with a person in it.


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## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

I built the custom vanity that will be in the bathroom.  It's Philippine Mahogany with a sprayed Poly finish.  Two White porcelain bowls are undermounted to a 3/4" White Carrerra Marble slab top.  It's 64", 22" deep, and 36" high.  Plenty of storage...


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## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

The walls of the room will have 4' tall beadboard panels attached with a cap.  I have chosen a layout (after many discussions and polls asking opinions) like this:


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## Hack (Jan 9, 2008)

Our inspiration for this bath came from looking through countless magazines of old houses, going on home tours in our town, searching on the internet, and our own personal goals of having a bathroom with TWO sinks, and a tub large enough to take a "real" bath in...Here's what we're aiming for.  We can't do a commode with a high tank because it would be in front of the window, so we're recycling ours and putting it back in the room.  It's in good shape anyway...

Once I remember to bring the camera in, I'll post some other pictures of the progress, and keep posting until we're done, or until I get banned from this site...


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## inspectorD (Jan 10, 2008)

Looks like a good project. I love the ol clawfoots, plenty of lean back area.
Just make sure the photos have bubblebath and good angles so you can show the cleanliness.


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## Rustedbird (Jan 10, 2008)

That is a beautiful job of cabinet building. Wow.


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## Hack (Jan 11, 2008)

Well, we've got all the rock up.  We used the new (to me) yellow panels.  What a PITA to work with.  They're heavy as heck, and they have glass in them, so you should probably wear a mask and long sleeves...   I'm not a big fan of this stuff...

I hired a guy to smooth out the walls and ceiling.  He's charging me $200 for the whole room (I taped and did the first coat of mud).

I was torn about what to do with the very large vent pipe in the room.  I thought at first that I'd just leave it exposed and paint it, but it angles up into the wall, which would have made it difficult.  I talked with the wife about it, and we decided to box it in.  This leaves a small cubby behind the pipe box.  The wife wants me to put a small door over the space and she can hide the toilet brush and plunger back there...seems like a good idea...


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## ToolGuy (Jan 11, 2008)

Getting rid of that ridge at the bottom of the curved ceiling makes a big difference. In that very first photo my eyes were drawn directly to that ridge, and looked like it was hacked together. Looks a lot cleaner now.

You're doing a real ace of a job there. I thought I had commented about the cabinet earlier, but apparently I didn't hit the submit button hard enough. Anyway, it's way impressive. You must have a really nice work shop setup to produce that kind of quality. I'm green with envy!


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## Hack (Jan 14, 2008)

ToolGuy said:


> Getting rid of that ridge at the bottom of the curved ceiling makes a big difference. In that very first photo my eyes were drawn directly to that ridge, and looked like it was hacked together. Looks a lot cleaner now.
> 
> You're doing a real ace of a job there. I thought I had commented about the cabinet earlier, but apparently I didn't hit the submit button hard enough. Anyway, it's way impressive. You must have a really nice work shop setup to produce that kind of quality. I'm green with envy!



The ridge was the result of placing drywall directly over lath and plaster.  It was the first thing I looked at when I first saw the room, too...

Glad you like the new vanity.  My work shop doubles as a garage, but it's a big garage, so I have enough room to work...


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## Hack (Jan 14, 2008)

Got more done over the weekend.  We spent Saturday putting down the HardiBacker.  On Sunday, the drywall guy came over and did the final sand.  We primed and painted Sunday evening.  I don't have a picture of the final paint, just the beginning of cut-in...We'll see how this color looks after it's all in.  Might be too much for the room...


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## glennjanie (Jan 14, 2008)

Hey Jeff:
It all looks great to me man. Nice shop, nice job on the bath and even a nice color. Perhaps you could add a nice border or crown mould at the ceiling for an extra appeal.
Glenn


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## Hack (Jan 14, 2008)

glennjanie said:


> Hey Jeff:
> It all looks great to me man. Nice shop, nice job on the bath and even a nice color. Perhaps you could add a nice border or crown mould at the ceiling for an extra appeal.
> Glenn



Good idea Glenn.  I think crown molding would be very difficult due to the angles at the wall to ceiling transition (especially the round part).  An accent color would probably be easier.

My wife is scraping and sanding the tub today.  It's going to get a coat of primer, and then a dark green color on the outside to complement the light green of the walls.  Maybe we could stencil a pattern at the top of the wall with that dark green color...


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## glennjanie (Jan 14, 2008)

Yeah, I had forgotten stencils. Some Ivy vines would look good up there.
Glenn


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## Hack (Jan 16, 2008)

Here's the paint done.  I had thought to paint all the way down to the floor in case some future owners wanted to remove the beadboard, but they'd probably be repainting anyway...


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## inspectorD (Jan 16, 2008)

Nice colors. Don't forget to paint the lower rail of the upper window sash.....to late huh.


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## Hack (Jan 17, 2008)

inspectorD said:


> Nice colors. Don't forget to paint the lower rail of the upper window sash.....to late huh.



LOL...

Yeah, I saw that after I posted the picture and thought:  I wonder if somebody's gonna smack me on that  

I need to remove the lower sash before I repaint the trim around the window.  One of the weight ropes was cut (not sure why) so the window doesn't stay up.  We don't really ever open it anyway, but it still bugs me.  You can see that we replaced the bottom sash glass with "privacy" glass.  This is because there's a rather large building directly across the street that looks directly into that bathroom window (eek!)  I'm going to repair the weight, repaint all the trim while the lower sash is our, and in general get the window functional again.  I think it would be nice to be able to open the upper sash in the summer for some airflow...


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## Hack (Jan 22, 2008)

Got some more done over the weekend.  We got the marble flooring in and grouted last night.  The wife got the tub painted and I installed the claw feet that were re-plated.  I need to buff out the inside of the tub and get it to shine.  I hope to get the beadboard up this week so we can move the vanity into place this Saturday.  That way, we can get the counter top guys in Monday to make a pattern for the top.  Again, I forgot the camera, so I'll have to post pics later...


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## Hack (Jan 28, 2008)

Good progress this last week on the remodel.

Got all the tile in last weekend.  Installed enough beadboard to get the vanity installed tonight so we can get the marble shop started on the top.

The beadboard went in pretty well.  We've still got quite a bit more to do, but it should go quickly...You can see the joint between the two panels just to the left of the cold water supply on the left sink.  I forgot to paint down that line when I painted the trim in place.  I'll have to remember to do that tonight.

Let me know what you think.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know them as well!


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## inspectorD (Jan 28, 2008)

Nice progress, are you going to seal the marble? Usually a good idea, keeps those strange rust spots away. 
Nice.


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## Hack (Jan 29, 2008)

inspectorD said:


> Nice progress, are you going to seal the marble? Usually a good idea, keeps those strange rust spots away.
> Nice.



We sealed the marble on Sunday.  Used 511 Miracle natural stone sealer, which was recommended by the tile place.  My wife tested it yesterday by putting some water on the tile and grout.  She let it sit for about 30 minutes and then wiped it up.  The floor didn't absorb any of the water, and left no discoloration.  

We installed a "room occupancy" light switch to pass inspection (it's a code item).  Once finalled, we've got a push button switch for the light, and an electronic timer for the fan that will have an Oil Rubbed Bronze cover plate to match the dup outlets.  It was really difficult to find an electronic timer in black, but some friends of ours run a lighting shop, and they were able to get one made by Lutron 

We placed the vanity last night.  The room seems much smaller now...


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## Hack (Jan 29, 2008)

Well, I talked with the marble counter top people today.  I was hoping to get a backsplash that matched the bottom detail on the vanity because of the location of the outlets relative to the vanity top (drawing below), but as it turns out this could be rather expensive.  If it offsets the cost of the lip they were going to add to the perimeter to make it look 1.5" thick (but decided not to add), I think I could justify it.

If it's prohibitively expensive, I may try something a little different.

What would you think about a Mahogany Backsplash on the White Carrerra Marble top???


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## inspectorD (Jan 30, 2008)

Sometimes I learn something from those pain in ....decorators... .
We had an issue with outlets in the wrong spot...we raised them to sit on the back splash with old work boxes.
Or you can get decorative...designer wise...and build a back splash out of tile. You could let it incorporate your mirror with an arch on top.
Stay away from the funny fixes...they stand out. JMHO.


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## Hack (Jan 30, 2008)

So we decided to go with no backsplash.  I'll mock up a wooden backsplash and see if we like it.  The counter top company had a couple of pictures of vanities with stone tops and wood backsplashes, and they looked really nice..


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## Hack (Jan 31, 2008)

Remember the old tub?  It was painted mustard yellow and the feet were painted white.  We had the feet refinished in ORB and painted the tub dark green to accent the walls and add more color to the room...

I think the picture doesn't show the dark green very well...


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## Hack (Feb 5, 2008)

I FINALLY got the countertop ordered.  There was some mis-communication between me and the countertop company.  They couldn't find a partial slab, so I have to buy a full slab, which added quite a bit to the top.  I asked if they could just bring the rest of the slab to me and I'll drop it in my yard until I decided what to do with it.  They said it would be too heavy, blah, blah...but they could cut other parts from it for $35/sq.ft. polished edge, delivered.  I'm not sure what I want to use it for right now, so that wasn't going to work.

Then I finally talked to the guys that do the work.  They said no problem to cut the rest of the slab into three pieces like I show below at no extra charge.  And, since I changed the edge detail to be just a 3/4" polished edge, the price dropped considerably.

Now I'm just waiting for them to come over and measure the top...

The tub is ready to go up and be installed, so is the toilet.  I've got two buddies on the hook to help move the tub upstairs.  I'll be sure to take pictures of that for insurance purposes


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## Hack (Feb 11, 2008)

Well, today is sort of a big day for the remodel.  This evening a couple of friends are coming over and we're moving the tub upstairs  

I finished putting all the valves on the pipes this weekend.  The countertop people made a template for the vanity top on Friday, so that should be done in a couple of weeks.

The tub getting upstairs will be interesting.  We have to stand it up on end at the landing of the stairs to get around the corner...  I've attached a couple of pictures to show what we're up against.  One from the bottom, and one from the top.  The only railing that has been installed at this point is the top section that goes around the corner on the landing.  The rest of the railing is still being refinished in the garage...

Our plan (yeah, that's going to make a difference) is to bring the tub up drain end first, and when the feet are on the top step (on the landing) tip the other end of the tub up so it's standing on end.  Then we'll slide it over and lower it back down and carry it up the rest of the way.    I'll give the wife the camera and let her take some pics of this all happening...


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## Hack (Feb 12, 2008)

Well, we made it up the stairs and the tub is now in the bathroom!  

Best of all....NO INJURIES!!!

We had two people at the top, one at the bottom (the strongest of the three of us).  We took it about two steps at a time, tipped it up on end at the landing, slid across, lowered it back down and carried it up the rest of the way.  Just like we planned it.

We put it in the bathroom, but I haven't taken the wrapping off the feet or placed it on the coasters.

I hope to have the tub and toilet plumbed and operable in the next day or two.  Then it's time for a good long soak


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## Hack (Feb 13, 2008)

Finally remembered to bring the camera in so I could post a few pictures.

The tub went in fine, but I'm taking my time cutting the drain tube extensions...don't want to cut them too short  

Here are a few pictures of my progress showing the tub with tower drain and faucet, coasters for the claw feet, and the "nook" for the toilet brush...

I should have the tub completed and the commode in by the end of the week.  finally getting close to done


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## inspectorD (Feb 13, 2008)

Looks great, having that relaxing picture is good enough. 
I have always wanted to install one of those outside....hmmm....

Has your building inspector seen it yet? You know you have a cross connection of potable and waste water with the filler below the rim of the tub...just don't want you to have any suprises if they show up...or for resale.


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## Hack (Feb 13, 2008)

inspectorD said:


> Has your building inspector seen it yet? You know you have a cross connection of potable and waste water with the filler below the rim of the tub...just don't want you to have any suprises if they show up...or for resale.



Nope, they don't come out until it's all done.  I'm a bit concerned about that, but our inspector seems to be more interested in our having smoke alarms in all the bedrooms than having working GFCI's or a dedicated circuit to the room  

There's really nothing else I could have done with the fill.  The spout is above the wastewater overflow because of the offset faucet, but that's the best I could do with this tub.

The only other option would have been to replace the tub with one that has NO faucet holes and have the faucet above the rim of the tub, like the one shown on the first page of this thread.

Resale is not too much of an issue around here.  We purchased the house "as-is" knowing that there were problems.  In fact, most of the old houses sold on this side of town are sold "as-is"


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## inspectorD (Feb 13, 2008)

I like the old style clawfoot....at least it's not an old wooden tub you dump water in.  
Enjoy.


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## Hack (Feb 14, 2008)

Yeah, me too.  Our old bathtub was about 12" deep, 20" wide, and only 54" long (inside)

I'm not a tall person, but I could not take a good bath in that darn thing.

The new tub is 18" deep, 26" wide and 64" long (inside).  Enough for two  

I got all the plumbing connected and had NO LEAKS!  That was probably a first for me.

Tonight the wife gets to take a soak...


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## Hack (Feb 19, 2008)

Spoke too soon    Got one leak I'm having trouble with, but I think I'll get it soon.

Went out to the marble fab house yesterday to do the lay out of template on the slab...I had thought that the slab was going to be 4' X 8', but it's more like 6' X 10' 

It does have some problems around the edges, so the "workable" area is probably 5 X 9 or so.

I think they'll be cutting it in the next couple of days


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## Hack (Feb 25, 2008)

One more project off the list  

The marble was cut the day after we did the template layout.  They called on Thursday and asked if they could install Friday  

I was at work when they installed it.  Only my wife was home.  She said they did a pretty good job of keeping things clean and not dingin' up the walls.  I had to touch up a couple of areas in the beadboard that they scuffed with the jigsaw, but that was all.  They said to let it sit 24 hours before I did any plumbing (to let the silicone dry).

The marble top on the vanity turned out to be 1/4" deeper (front to back) than I wanted, or the template reflected.  The door passes within 1/4" of the top...phew!

I got all the plumbing done Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

I haven't made the threshold for the room yet.  I'm going to make something from the same Mahogany as the vanity (I have some left over).

Enjoy!


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## Hack (Feb 25, 2008)

more...............

The white light switch will go away after final.  It's an occupancy sensor switch per code.  The other part of that plate (that just looks black) is a timer switch (custom order from Lutron) for the fan.


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## inspectorD (Feb 25, 2008)

Very nice completed job.  

For a DIY project it was a challenge I'm sure, but you shared it and showed everyone what a little hard work looks like. 

Congratulations.


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## Hack (Feb 26, 2008)

inspectorD said:


> Very nice completed job.
> 
> For a DIY project it was a challenge I'm sure, but you shared it and showed everyone what a little hard work looks like.
> 
> Congratulations.



Thanks!

This project was actually more challenging than my wine cellar.  The roof lines and everything being out of square made it much more difficult.  At least with the wine cellar I constructed the whole room, so if it was out of square, it was my fault...

The most challenging aspect of this project was the electrical.  I consulted with a good friend who is a licensed electrician, and he gave me some pointers.  With that, and some advice from this board, I was able to get the job done.


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## Hack (Feb 27, 2008)

Just got a call from the wife.  We passed the final  

Not that I didn't expect to, but there were a few questionable items that I didn't want to have to deal with...

She said he walked in, tested the first GFI he saw, looked at the shower head, opened one of the cabinets, and that's all she wrote


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## shan2themax (Feb 27, 2008)

This looks great!!!!!!!!!!!  When I get my new vanity in the bathroom... I am thinking about bead board in there also.... I have never actually seen it anywhere except on HGTV.... it looks great!!!!!!

Good Job


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## Hack (Feb 28, 2008)

shan2themax said:


> This looks great!!!!!!!!!!!  When I get my new vanity in the bathroom... I am thinking about bead board in there also.... I have never actually seen it anywhere except on HGTV.... it looks great!!!!!!
> 
> Good Job



I think the Beadboard really makes the room.  We painted before the beadboard, and it just didn't look done.

I used pre-primed MDF beadboard.  I didn't get it at one of the big-box stores, but went to a local specialty lumber place.  The big box stores had sheets, but the beading was barely noticeable, and I thought it looked cheap.  The stuff I bought has deep beading, which really makes it pop!  I think it was $25 per 4X8 sheet.


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