Flashback :: Bathroom Renovation

We knew when we bought out house that the bathrooms, and their plumbing, were original, however, all the accessible plumbing under the house had been replaced with copper.  That meant that we had some retro 1940s galvanized steel pipes (tied to copper, and if you know some material science you know that will induce corrosion in the metals) and some beautiful 1960s design going on. We knew we would have to renovate both bathrooms relatively shortly after moving in. We lasted about 2.5 years before we had the time and everything else to deal with the bathrooms.

The kids bathroom was full of pink tile. There was also a literal water closet; a small shower that had a narrow door and no light. But the original cast iron bathtub was still in great shape. We salvaged the tub, so there is something original to the house. I also asked the contractors to save some pink tile for me...just because.



The master bathroom was ugly and gross. There was a plastic countertop and a plastic bathtub/shower combo...that was a jacuzzi tub (which is just gross). We had to climb up a few steps to actually get into. There was wasted space everywhere and horrible lighting.


And so, after contracting with a designer/contractor we set off to renovated the bathrooms. We opted to do them one at a time and given our weird schedules (and Calvin's asthma/breathing issues) me and the kids moved out to the guest house. Ellie and I shared the futon bed for over a month. We had the contractor install protections throughout the house and Calvin's room was actually locked down and wrapped in plastic to prevent dust getting into it. It was intense.


It was nice to see the walls come down and see the bones of the house. It makes me happy to have a 1940s home where craftmanship was real and the wood was true dimension (a 2x4 is actually 2" by 4"). I think I drove the contractors crazy with questions. But when you spend a lot of time investigating construction deficiencies because people do silly things...you tend to double check your contractor.






For the kids I told the contractor I wanted a modern mod vibe. I wanted to respect the age of the house, without sacrificing modern conveniences. Our "water closet" because a glass walled shower that is full of choices (three settings on the rain head and 7 settings on the handheld shower). I also wanted color and white. Lots of pops of color and the design totally delivered. Little vignettes of color via tile and tiles with recreations of Warhol pictures. Also, the white tile makes a geometric pattern. Everytime I look around the bathroom I find something new or some little detail to enjoy.



For the master we told the contractor we wanted a zen and natural. There is riverrock tile in the shower combined with marble (which in the shower look like old-school concrete formwork which makes me happy in a nerdy way). The floors are tile, but look like a ashy wood. Its sleek, modern, and relaxing. We moved the shower head and got rid of the tub in the master and now have a glass enclosure. We also have custom floating shelves.



We also put in some custom shelves in the kids room and a custom, floating, vanity in the master. There were also paint colors to pick (a grey in the kids and a celedon-esque in the master).
 


It was an ordeal and a process. It was stressful and at times frustrating. I'm over sharing a bed with Ellie and Nick survived some of the hottest days of the summer without air conditioning in the house. Nick also dealt with napping and sleeping during the day while the contractor was here working. But the final results make us so happy. The bathrooms are functional (no more galvanized to copper connections), energy and water efficient (we got super efficient fancy toilets which are awesome), and make us happy. For all the frustration and inconvenience, it was worth the awesome completed bathrooms.