Happy Spring, everyone! We have been getting lots of snow in Colorado, which improved the drought conditions in the recent years. Below is a glance of last weekend’s storm:
It was pretty intense. With all the stormy weather it was hard to transport building materials home. But we managed to make significant progress in the main floor bathroom! For one, the plumbing is now complete. We even had the shower base installed:
Allow me to update you on what happened in this room recently. In late January, after the electrical upgrade, the room looked like this:
We’ve since added insulation into the walls, and ripped up the rotten subfloor to inspect the plumbing underneath:
It was apparent that we should upgrade the old metal drains and vent pipes, and upgrading all the copper water lines to PEX. At the mean time, we would need to convert the old tub drain into a new shower drain, and move the toilet drain a few inches. And of course, all the water lines also need to be brought to the new fixtures.
Given the scope of work and tools needed, we eventually decided to bring in professional help. Before the plumber could come out, we had to purchase all the fixtures and a shower base, and prepare the new subflooring for the shower base installation. The weekend before the plumbing work, Slav worked in the room for a few hours, removing the old and rotten subflooring, and framing in additional support for the new shower base.
To better support the new subfloor and the new shower base, Slav added 2″ x 4″s along the entire perimeters of the shower base area:
Including the space in front of the shower base, in the middle of the room:
All these new 2″ x 4″ framing gave the new subfloor a solid perimeter to be attached onto, and this new shower base went on top:
We picked this black base to match the tiles for rest of the bathroom floor. It also has an anti-slip texture.
On the day our plumber came, he was about to set the drain, put down the new subfloor Slav prepared, and installed the shower base with mortar and screws in just half a day:
He also installed the new waterlines and valve for the shower:
Our plumber strongly recommended everything bathroom to be Delta, so we chose this shower faucet for our new shower:
Besides the shower pan and valves, the plumber also placed all the sewage pipe and installed a new toilet drain:
The new toilet drain was pushed a few inches to the right, to make room for a 24″ vanity. The blue (cold) water line to the left and the outlet were prepared for a bidet seat. We like our bidet seat in the master bath so much, that we are installing one here over this new toilet:
Between the shower base and the toilet, there will be a new vanity.
We picked this vanity to pair with this sink faucet:
There used to be a medicine cabinet above the vanity. Slav strongly prefers mirror to medicine cabinet. So our plan is to tile the entire wall using the same tile as those in the shower.
Then this mirror and this vanity lighting will be installed above the vanity:
Now I can totally image how everything will come together – can you? From the picture below you can see the tiles we picked. The black tile will go on the rest of the floor. The big white marble-looking tiles will go around the window, cover the entire vanity/toilet wall on the right, as well as the entire bathroom/office wall on the left. We will be installing a glass shower door to separate the shower area from rest of the room. Unlike the downstairs master bath, which was kept modern and minimal, all the fixtures will lean towards a bit traditional. The goal is to make this bathroom look classic yet still clean.
Finally, another update on our lengthy main floor bath to-do list!
1. Demolition – removing all the fixtures and wall/floor materials;
2. Assessing the water damage and mold control;
3. Installing new bath window and insulating the exterior wall;
4. Removing the ceiling drywall from the attic, wiring for new recessed lights;
5. Installing a new exhaust fan;
6. Upgrading wall electrical, including adding outlets and wiring new switches;
7. Installing recessed lights and ceiling drywall;
8. Upgrading the sewage pipe for toilet and shower;
9. Purchasing a new toilet, a sink/vanity, and shower fixtures; Upgrading/installing water lines to all the fixture;
10. Pocket door framing/installation;
11. Replacing all the subflooring;
12. Walls and waterproofing;
13. Tiling!
14. Installing new window stool;
15. Priming/painting drywall and ceiling;
16. Caulking and sealing the grout;
17. Installing new glass shower door;
18. Installing toilet/bidet, vanity/sink, shower trim, and vanity mirror/lighting;
19. Installing pocket door trims, and updating the closet and front door trims at the same time;
20. Accessorizing the bathroom.
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