Tuesday, September 23, 2008

I enjoy starting sentences with And. And no, the house has not killed us.

Yet. But if we don't get to move in soon...
Breaking News: the upstairs bathroom is gone.


Really it's not a loss... did you see it before?


Yes, a replay of the 12X12 white tiles, black grout, Pepto Bismol (or is it more Amoxicillin) pink, numerous towel and toilet paper bars (I think I counted 9 in here,) 2 medicine cabinets, exposed vent pipes and of course, lots of dirt and grime. And that's with a new sink and a new toilet! We realized that the plan we had to renovate the bathroom next year was a little well, stupid. It's our only bathroom apart from the closet in the dining room. How would we shower during renovations? And really, I couldn't imagine myself waking up in the winter months and getting ready for work in that space. Now matter how much we clean it - it's still gross (did I mention the spiders?) And it's not only just because there are a bunch of workmen and spiders using it all day. It's just not user friendly. I mean, the light fixture is on a pull chain! We decided to just do it now. And why not have another delay? We're apparently never going to get to move in.

After making that decision and telling our workmen, we came "home" the next day to find the bathroom almost completely gone. Actually, most of it is being stored in the bedroom (formerly of the huge cracks in the walls.)


I know - nasty! But look at those walls! No more cracks! :)

And if that photo doesn't make you sick just check this one out of the bathroom (with old toilet) while the plumbers were working on it:


Now for the positive aspects:

We're going to do a little bit of recessed lighting in here - just like downstairs in the dining room and kitchen. I don't want a fixture because with the curtain rod I think I'll feel like things are always just attacking my head. Besides the spiders.

I want the new lights to work on a switch so I don't have to use the hall light (and wake up Fernando) or fumble in complete darkness around the shower curtain area to turn them on. And hello - spiders?

The walls have these ever so slight spaces between the beams that you can see here.


They are only about 1 1/2" deep. We're going to use some panel foam for insulation in these spaces. We'll also leave one open along the edge of the tub and built it out over the edge of the tub for a small shelf. At least I think we can do that - I haven't run it by Stanley yet. I'm hoping this will work since there's not much space at the edge of the tub for shampoo and soap. The Deco era tub is staying - we heart it very much.

And this tin ceiling is coming down.


And before anyone screams "BUT WHHHYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!" please realize that this ceiling, contrary to popular belief, IS NOT original to the house. It was someone's cheap and easy fix for the damaged plaster ceiling underneath. We're going to re-plaster the ceiling. And box in the icky vent pipe.

I can't even think about what we're going to use in here. I know that we will eventually replace the pedestal sink with a vanity but this we really are going to try to wait until next year for. Tile wise, I'd like a Carrara marble subway tile on the walls in here. It's a bit of a dilema to plan out though. I see it on the tub wall but since there is a window and a door at opposite ends of the room I don't want a subway tile there. I think it will look strange around the perimeter of the door and window frames. Also, I can't see it covering the boxed in pipe at the corner because I think with all of the cuts that would have to be made to fit over it, it won't really look like subway tile in the end. For the floor, I would like to do a mosaic but I'm not sure if we should pick marble or ceramic tile. So the details are still being worked out. One of these days I'm hoping I'll have a chance to focus and make some decisions!

7 comments:

  1. I love the tub! I have almost the exact same one in my downstairs bathroom, but it's flat on two sides instead of one.

    We were just debating last night whether or not to box in the vent pipe, and we decided not to, since I was worried it would look weird in such a small bathroom to have all those extra corners. But now you're making me feel like it's going to be gross if we don't!

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  2. Oh no - I don't think vent pipes are gross. Mine in particular is gross! I'd take a close-up for illustration but I wouldn't want to make anyone sick. ;)
    I can't figure it out either - a big right angle sticking out with subway tile over it? I just don't know what it would look like. But I think rather than stripping the pipe and re-painting it, boxing it in might be better for us.
    Do you think you'll powdercoat the other tub too? Or is it in good condition?

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  3. Hi Heather, I just found your blog (via MoModerne, via The Mid-Century Modernist) and couldn't stop til I'd read all your posts. Your house is amazing! I can't believe how much ivy was covering it!! I can't wait to see how it turns out. Good luck!

    Amy

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  4. Thanks for the encouragement Amy!
    And thanks to everyone else that stops by and leaves such nice comments - it amazes me that people find this blog interesting that aren't just related to me! ;)

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  5. We boxed in the waste pipe in our upstairs bathroom, and we ran the beadboard right over the box:
    http://flickr.com/photos/doorsixteen/2687279839/in/set-72157602092876602/
    (It's in the corner, behind the toilet.) I imagine you'd want to do the same thing with the tile.

    The tub has some rust around the drain because the faucet has been dripping for about 50 years, and at some point someone painted the whole thing with latex paint, so yeah...we're having it refinished. We don't want to remove it, though, so with this one we're going to try the on-site chemical etch & epoxy process. I don't know yet if we're going to try to do it ourselves with a kit, or if we'll hire someone. I guess it depends how inept we're feeling after we try to do the tile work ourselves!!

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  6. I think we'll eventually do something onsite too because I don't trust that I would get the tub back anytime soon and I want to move in badly!
    I think your beadboard looks amazing around the pipe - you can't even tell there's a pipe there.
    Our pipe is on the tub wall and I think it would look weird to cover the wall with tile and then stop short at the pipe. But then again small pieces of tile would be weird too. If it wasn't so funky I would embrace the industrial chic but this pipe needs some sort of thing covering it.

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  7. The bathroom looks really nice in its unfinished state, with the wood slats and just the porcelain tub. Totally impractical but totally artay.

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