Unintentional, Slightly Intentional Bathroom Remodel

Look at these before photos. That bamboo wallpaper had to go. (No offense to bamboo wallpaper enthusiasts). I was just tired of looking at it's dated appearance.

The original short term plan was to strip it and give the room a fresh coat of paint and a new mirror. I had other ideas in mind for later down the road such as new flooring, vanity and tiled back splash. For now, my budget would only allow paint and a mirror.

It didn't go down like that. 

In order to get to the wallpaper from behind the existing vanity, I had to pull the vanity out. Underneath, I discovered water damage not only on the sub-floor, but also on the vanity. I gave no second thought to dragging the vanity out to the road for trash pickup. The sink had a cigarette burn from the previous homeowner, so I went ahead and hauled it off as well.

Now, my innocent little paint job has turned into a full blown re-do as now, I have to replace the floor, the sink, and the vanity. I present to you, my newest unintentional sort of intentional project: the second bathroom remodel from start to eventual finish.

I say it was unintentional, but me thinks that deep down, I really wanted to go ahead and re-do this entire thing.

I'd already invested money in a previous bathroom remodel in which I actually had to contract out some help with some areas I had no experience and was too afraid to try. This one had to be done with a low budget.

First step was removing the wallpaper. I didn't own a steamer, and I couldn't justify renting one or buying one. I decided to "go McGyver" and work with something I already owned. A humidifier. You know, the little ones that produce steam so that you can breath easier at night if you have a cold? That's the one. I put it in the bathroom and closed it off for a few hours. Later, I went in and the wallpaper pulled off of the wall easily.

As you can see, the wallpaper didn't actually go behind where the vanity was, but in retrospect, I'm glad I pulled it out anyway. Yuck. I removed the toilet and found a cracked flange, and more dirty disgusting sub-floor

The white powder that you see is Borax. I'd read that it killed most mold and lots of bacteria. I sprinkled it everywhere, scrubbed it into the wood, closed the room off and the next day the floor practically looked bleached clean. It was dry and the odor and black mold was gone.

After I got that cleaned up, I removed all of the old linoleum and installed 1/2" cement backer board to prepare for the new tile that I was going to install. Did I mention that I didn't have to replace any of the sub-floor? Once I hit it with the Borax, I saw that it wasn't damaged, just damp and dirty. The source of the moisture was from a leak under the toilet with the cracked flange and broken wax seal. All of that has since been replaced.

It already looks a little cleaner. :) Backer board is easy to install. You just want to make sure the floor underneath is level, so that when you install your boards, they too will be level on the edges. It cuts easily. Just score a line with a razor blade, and bend it along the line. You want to put this under tile to avoid it cracking later. Wood floors will expand and contract with humidity and cause tile to crack. Cement board is humidity proof and will protect your tile from cracking. It is also water resistant which is great for bathrooms. This did cause the height of the floor to be raised by about a half inch including the tile, so I had to shave a little off the door for it to fit again. I've got a cool idea for the threshold, but I'll get to that...

The new "tile" floor. Yes, this is tile. I purchased it from Lowe's. It is Style Selections Colonial Wood Pecan Ceramic Floor Tile. Wood look with the advantage of water resistance!

Next, I have to paint. I picked out a green/gray shade by Behr called "Safari Vest". After painting, it was time to make the repairs to the flange, install new wax ring, clean out under the old toilet and replace it. (That was the least fun). Then, I had to decide on a vanity. Keep in mind, I had to be budget minded, so I couldn't afford even the cheapest one that I could find in the home improvement stores. I even shopped antique stores to find something to convert, but that was not cheap either.

Turns out, there was a diamond in the rough sitting in my garage all along. The old vanity from the master bath, that was the identical size and style of the one I pulled out of this bathroom.

A little sanding, a coat of primer and paint, some new pulls, and this looks entirely different.

Here's another shot that shows the wall color, as well as my supervisor sitting on the back of her water bowl.

Since the bathroom needed to be back in working order soon, I went ahead and installed a new shower curtain. This is one of my favorite things in this room. I made the shower curtain from a drop cloth. It was the perfect width, all I had to do was install some grommets in the top and put a hem in the bottom. I love how it looks!

Time to install the sink, faucet, and back-splash. I purchased river rock online at Strata Stones
They are great to work with, in fact I saved a little money with them because I first ordered a sample to see how it would look in the room and they sent an extra one so that I could see how they interlock. Basically, for the counter-top, I ended up with one free piece as well as one free piece for the back splash. I used the wine colored polished pebbles for the back splash and the sliced ones for the counter top. The counter top had to have more of a flat surface which made the matching sliced stones the best choice.

To create the counter top, I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood to the size I needed and cut a hole in the middle using the template for the sink. Then I used 1/4 cement board and attached it to the top of the plywood as well as the back splash area. Since the stone does carry a little weight, it wasn't a good idea to adhere it directly to drywall without some additional support.

After adhering the stones to the back splash (no easy task unless you've got two sets of hands; I only have one), I grouted and sealed it. Next I did the same thing to the counter top. I cut a piece of decorative molding to create a clean edge around the sink and attached that as well.

Dropped in the sink, attached and hooked up the faucet and on to the finish line!

The mirror was made by purchasing a frame at Hobby Lobby. This one is the Palermo style and I waited for it to go on sale at half price. I cut the mirror out of the old big mirror that was on the wall before and put it into this frame. I also installed the new light fixture.

The towel hook also came from Hobby Lobby. It was a rogue find. I was looking for something else and happened to find it misplaced on a shelf. I thought it perfectly fit the design of the room.

And to finish it all off, I created a collage of photos of outhouses. Also, with frames (Barn-wood) from Hobby Lobby. (I love that store!)

Frames: around $50 (The ones this size are always 50% off!

Finally-the threshold. Adding the cement board and the tile added additional height to the room and although they make a threshold that you can install before laying the tile, I forgot to do that. I had to get creative and install something that would make a smooth transition and keep people from tripping over. Left over pebbles from the back splash worked perfect.

All done and supervisor approved!

Note: After completing the collage, I'm not in love with it in such a small space. I've since removed it and am going to replace with about 3 of the best ones.





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