Thanks!

Thanks for all your support and advice along the way with our latest project... we're ALMOST done but sort of stalled. We just need to add the door threshold and some pretty natural wood shelves above the toilet, but DH has moved on to other woodworking projects, so those little projects have been shoved down the list of priorities. Since it may be months before I get those shelves (and art/decor) up, I thought I'd at least post some pics of the room as it is now. Forgive the crappy lighting: it's snowing hard so there's no natural light :(

Project scope:
1956 bathroom with 1980's/90's tile, vanity, toilet. Tub was original but sadly unsalvageable: the enale was totally wrecked and stained and impossible to clean.
Suspected some subfloor issues due to leaks.
Budget: $2,500. (final total was a bit under $3,000... so we didn't do too badly :))

The layout was awkward, the door swing used so much of the floor space and only allowed a very small vanity. Since this is the hall/guest bath as well as the primary bath for my teenage daughter, we really needed to maximize storage and vanity space. I drew a new plan which involved moving the doorway to the perpendicular wall. As much as my DH balked at adding additional work, he admitted it was TOTALLY the right thing to do once we finished. The room feels SO much bigger now.

OLD BATHROOM and layout:

Some photos from during the renovation... which was planned to take 4 weekends and ended up taking about 6 or 7.....
DD sledge-hammering the old tile down

lots of rot in the subfloor

Self-leveling-compound poured over the radiant floor heat cables in the floor

The shower area waterproofed with Hydroban (LOVE LOVE LOVE that stuff!)

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NEW BATHROOM and layout plan:

DETAILS:
Since our budget was soooo tight, and we wanted to use quality materials and get a unique, custom bathroom, we had to get creative!!!

Tile:
I had a small amount (it was mostly random pieces and offcuts) of very $$$ calacatta marble mosaic tiles left over from a previous project that I knew I wanted to use. The other materials were chosen around that starting point. I designed niches to use that tile in, as accent, based on the quantity I had. I used inexpensive white marble baseboard pieces from Home Depot for the shelves.

For the rest of the tile, I needed to use super-cheap stuff (the entire room is tiled to chair-rail height), but I didn't want it to look cheap or ubiquitous. I would have used subways, but DD emphatically vetoed them. It's her bathroom, and we let her have a LOT of design input. Since we have other areas in the house that use square tile in a running-bond pattern, I decided to use 4x4s, which are the cheapest anyway, but in a running bond rather than stacked pattern. After bringing home samples of the big-box cheapies, I decided to "splurge" (20 cents more per tile, I think, it was about $2.35 per sf after sales and discounts)) on Lowes next-step-up American Olean Ice White, which has a slight rippled surface that catches the light and adds a layer of interest that the flat, cheaper Gloss White doesn't have.

For the floor, we used American Olean 12 x 18 Pietra Bianco, a limestone-look ceramic tile that I'm surprisingly happy with :) Underneath the tile is radiant-heat cable, so the floor is wonderfully cozy and warm.

Floor grout is Latapoxy epoxy.
Wall/shower grout is Tec Accucolor XT, a super-modified grout that supposed to be a lot more stain-resistant (PITA to work with, though!)

Hardware:
DD wanted girly, vintage-looking stuff, a big departure from DH and my modern aesthetic. We narrowed down the style range, then I started watching eBay for deals. We scored about $750 worth of valves and faucets and stuff for about $275.
Vanity faucet: Moen Monticello
Shower faucet valve, trim, tub spout: Moen Monticello with Thermostatic valve
Shower head: Grohe Relexa Ultra on slide bar (LOVE!)
(after working with a bunch of faucets recently, I can say that the Moen monticello stuff is pretty cruddy compared to the Grohe RElexa, Kohler Purist, and HansGrohe stuff I've used recently.)
Towel bars and tissue holder are Ginger Hotelier.
Curved shower rod is the Crescent Rod. I tried some expandable ones they had locally, but this one (ordered on line for the same price) is SO much sturdier and nicer-looking. It also makes the shower space much larger.

Toilet:
Toto Carolina that we got at a yard sale for $150 including the Washlet seat (which we removed). We were driving down the street and DD -who professes to HATE anything renovation-related- said, "Hey, look, Mom... isn;t that one of those skirted toilets you like?" SCORE.

Tub:
American Standard Princeton ~$300 at Lowes. yeah, we chipped it right away by dropping a tool on it while installing the faucets; luckily there's a repair kit that actually does a pretty amazing job :) We used the American Standard "Deep Soak" drain, which adds a couple inches water depth for baths. I wanted DD to use her OWN bathtub rather than my new one in the master bath :)

Vanity:
an old dresser. We bought it on Craigslist for $40, and DH reworked the drawers to fit the plumbing. He also added modern drawer slides so that they work easily. We bought fabulous vintage glass knobs on eBay (if you're looking for vintage knobs, check out this seller: billybobbosen.)

I painted it BM Dove Wing.
We totally went over budget on the vanity top. I'd intended to bet a remnant of granite... but of course couldn't find one DD and I liked. Then we found this little slab of Vermont White quartzite in the "exotics" bone pile at a local yard. It was over budget but we loved it. Then, of course, we decided that rather than a plain square front, it had to be cut to fit the curvy front of the dresser... which added about $100. So the vanity top was our biggest expense at $480.

Medicine cabinet:
A salvaged cabinet we got at the local Habitat for Humanity REStore about 2 years ago. We framed it into the wall (where the old door used to be), painted it, and I tiled the little shelf area with my calacatta mosaic accent tiles and marble baseboard pieces from Home Depot.

Lighting:
Pottery Barn wall fixture from eBay
Ikea ceiling fixture (like $8 each and rated for bathrooms!)
Fan/showerlight combo is a recessed, can-style fixture by Broan/NuTone. It's AWESOME. Quiet, unobtrusive.

That's all I can think of right now. I think once we have the natural wood shelves up over the toilet, with DD's shell collection and a plant on them, it will give a little but of softness/naturalness which the room needs. It's a little TOO "elegant" right now :)

Has anyone built a similar cabinet? Any recommendations and pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Marcolo (and I don't mean to be picking on you, Marcolo, it's just that this example, makes my point so well) encouraged Dusterella NOT to try to buy what looks like a great old Portland house that she and DH loved, because her budget didn't stretch to doing the kitchen right. But how many of us have had the luxury of having great kitchens from the get go? I would venture to say that MOST of the U.S. population, if not most of GWers on this forum, have put up with less than ideal kitchens for a good portion of our lives. Some may be fortunate enough to get them in their first or second homes, but most don't and some never do.

Similarly, there have been multiple discussions (including one when I first posted my remodeling plans) about the proximity of potties to kitchens. Often posters are urged to scrap their plans for a much desired 1/2 bath on a main floor, if it can't be optimally placed...and as in the recent thread about a toilet in a laundry room...posters are told it will damage resale value. Well, I can tell you that when I had a young child (and probably even now) I'd have found a toilet convenient to the backyard a major PLUS in a house I contemplated buying if it were practically anywhere but in the middle of the kitchen or living room.

It's all about trade-offs. And it sometimes seems to me that with our obsessions with gorgeous, perfectly functioning kitchens...and frankly, with some really spectacular examples of such paragons on this site...as a group, we may not always be sensitive to those tradeoffs and to what most folks IRL need, want and can afford.

I do hope this doesn't start off some heated debate, and it certainly isn't meant to accuse anyone of anything. It's just something I've been pondering and wondering if anyone else sometimes feels the same way.

Currently the bathroom floor is a piece of sheet vinyl with a tile print on it. Underneath the sheet vinyl is planks of wood about three inches thick. They are very uneven. There are places where the vinyl is punctured and it is peeling around the toilet.

My questions are:

Will it stick?

What size tile should I get?

The room is about 45 sq ft. I would like to also minimize the fact that the walls are not exactly squared. I would assume this would best be solved with a smaller 6x6 tile. What do y'all think?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

Currently the bathroom floor is a piece of sheet vinyl with a tile print on it. Underneath the sheet vinyl is planks of wood about three inches thick. They are very uneven. There are places where the vinyl is punctured and it is peeling around the toilet.

My questions are:

Will it stick?

What size tile should I get?

The room is about 45 sq ft. I would like to also minimize the fact that the walls are not exactly squared. I would assume this would best be solved with a smaller 6x6 tile. What do y'all think?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

Also if there is any tutorial online some knows of.

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW716-12-Inch-Double-Bevel-Compound/dp/B000ASDN60/ref=pd_cp_hi_1

http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DW718-12-Inch-Double-Compound/dp/B000ASG8A8

I have been looking at these saws for my christmas present from my boyfriend. He just got a new house and I would love to install moulding. As for myself, I do small wood furniture and building projects and I use molding or trim quite often.

I mostly need a saw that will
*give a PRECISE STRAIGHT cut
*cut at at several angles.
*alot of flexibility and features, as I would like to get more involved in woodwork
*be easy to use and reliable
*price, sort of :-p

So if anyone has an idea of a better choice they think I should look at, let me hear it. I am just trying to make a well informed purchase as I plan to do more projects.

The average age for the community of 24 houses is probably 50. If is mostly empty nesters. The houses are your usual red brick, white trim, traditional interiors, crown moulding, throughout, and a vaulted ceiling. It is very important to me, to update the house in a manor that that would appeal to me, future buyers, and fit with the character of the house.

The first thing I did was take down the wall between the kitchen and living room to create an island. This was expensive, but I saved big time in the kitchen.

There is new granite counters, a Kohler cast iron sink with Price Pfister faucet, and a new backsplash.

So to conclude my tips:

FIND USED PRODUCTS. I use Craigslist. I began to post wanted ads. I got a near perfect condition cast iron sink for 60. It came with a chrome faucet that I sold for 30. I found the new faucet on CL for $60. Also, in near perfect condition. Then I sold the old sink with faucet for 40 and the counter tops for 40. You can do the math on that one! I found a person on craigslist who was remodleing. I bought their old counters and has them cut and installed to fit. *If you can haggle, by all means, haggle and barter.

BUY LOCAL- look into what natural resources or services are in your area, this cuts out the price of a middle man. It was in the kitchen forum I came upon a posting about Alabama white marble. I love it because, the veins are much lighter and not in such high contrast. Want to know the real kicker... I live in Alabama and didn't even know there was this marvelous resource in my state. I live an hour away from the mine in Alabama and picked it up at the quarry for a little less than around $6 a sq ft!

CONSIDER KEEPING ELEMENTS: I hated my cabinets. Melamine, not my first choice, but they are in good condition and easy to clean. I replaced the white knobs, with a combination of oil rubbed bronze handles and knobs. I was being a solid wood snob. But after the changes in the rest of the kitchen and the hardware change, they fit right in.

STAINLESS IS NOT THE ONLY OPTION: I kept my white appliances. They blend better into the cabinets, I hope to find cabinet facing for them, but we will see about that.. My other thought about stainless (and glass mosaic tiles) is, in 25 years, will we be looking at stainless appliances like we do harvest gold. I could be wrong. White is going to be timeless, in my opinion. I see farmhouse type kitchens in magazines all the time with stainless. I don't get it.

DON'T THROW AWAY, the things you are getting rid of. Sell it to others who are looking for what you have. You can gift to Habitat or something similar for tax purposes too. They do not use your donations directly, they sell them too.

There is a lot of bad press out there about CL. Just don't use their adult services and your odds of having a bad experience drop in a huge way!

Meet in public, and always take cash when selling, always talk to the person on the phone, or you might get no shows. It's not as scary as you think. I am a young female and I have never felt threaten or uncomfortable. Just use common sense.

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/silverychairs/Kitchen/60189_641734247657_39602639_36588641_114976_n.jpg

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/silverychairs/Kitchen/59891_641734222707_39602639_36588640_5033018_n.jpg

http://i1036.photobucket.com/albums/a450/silverychairs/Kitchen/24834_616354638597_39602639_35784789_1207254_n.jpg

I have a few question:

1. Will this grout install cause me problems in the future? Is there a simple solution to fixing it?

2. Should I seal both the marble and the grout or just the marble, or just the grout. I am more concerned about staining on the marble. So if i have to choose, I would seal the marble.

3. Does anyone have experience with this marble and what would be the best sealer. My tile guy said 511-miracle petroleum based.

I hope to get some helpful answers, this is my first post.