Bathroom remodel reveal-a long time in coming~by Beth

You've heard the saying "slow and steady wins the race?"  Well, this remodel plodded along at turtle speed in between bursts of progress.  If you don't remember where we started, here is a short recap.  For years I wanted to remodel our boys/guest bathroom.  The shower floor was never right when we first installed it back in 2001 or so.  We had a friend helping us, but then he had to leave too early  while we were trying to piece together the mosaic shower floor.  So it never quite looked right with gray thin set oozed up between sections in the tiles.  Now I know I could have used a tile saw to get that out before grouting.  But, our vanity was in poor shape too, as well as the side of the tall cupboard where the kids felt the need to peel the veneer.

Last November our son and DIL from Texas came to visit for Thanksgiving.  They helped us build a new vanity using the existing doors, which were solid oak, and rebuilding the shell using oak wood we found at Habitat for Humanity Restore.  We also got a piece of plywood veneer that we glued to the side of the tall cupboard.  Everything was painted white.  Here is a look at the finished product minus a new vanity top and sink.  We reused the old counter and sink until we could build one ourselves, but we did replace all the hardware, which really perked it all up.  One other reason for replacing the vanity is that our opening between two walls is 39 inches.  The original vanity was 36 inches.  It was impossible to clean between the wall and the vanity with only about 1.5 inches on each side, which became pretty dirty.  There was even an old toothbrush down there.  A 39 inch vanity had to be custom made.

Vanity is rebuilt here.

Cupboard finished and painted with out the doors

Plenty of room. I used vinyl adhesive tile on the inside

With the new shower curtain and rugs

My completed foam box

I found a shower curtain that matched the paint on the walls (which was a mistint from Sherwin Williams and only set us back a couple bucks a gallon).  Gray was our other color, along with the white and the blue.  Our stone floor was in excellent condition so we didn't replace that, though it is a beige/brown color.


Next I constructed a box out of foam board and covered it in a white and gray stripe pattern.  I use it to store extra towels, and it sits on the lower shelf.  I was very pleased with how it turned out.

Winter passed, then Spring.  After returning from our vacation to visit the kiddos in Texas and my family in Ohio, we began to plan out the finishing up of the bathroom.  I found another mosaic for the tile floor of the shower at Lowes.  Jon had a piece of marble to replace the step, which had been cracked for years.  As we tossed around ideas for what material to use for the counter, he picked up some pieces from a demo job his company was doing.  It was installed but the owners changed their minds so we scored on it.  It came from a shelf unit that was originally installed in the bathroom, but we took to reorganize the family room books.  You can read up on that in my previous post a couple months ago.  The back to the unit worked perfectly for the new vanity counter top.  It is a thick plywood with a white laminate on one side.  First I made a cardboard template and fiddled around with it quite a bit so that it would fit perfectly.  I even scribed it to the the walls.  Next we cut the counter.  After numerous trips back outside to sand off parts that were too big, it finally fit.

Vanity with top removed

A perfect fit

The sand paper did a lot of work on the edges

Don't you love our saw horses?

Next I set the sink we picked up at Habitat Restore upside down on the counter and drew around it to mark it for the placement.  I used tape on the laminate side to prevent chipping before we cut.  Jon took a drill and made a hole to start his jig saw blade in.  I don't have a picture of cutting the hole because I had to hold the counter steady while he cut.  We found online that when cutting the circle, to cut it half way, then screw a 2x4 onto the center and cut the second half.  The 2x4 prevents the center from falling at the end and splintering the wood or the laminate.  It came out perfectly!  I was so pleased.

I found gray primer (Zinnsor brand Bull's Eye 1-2-3 in gray) that adheres to laminate and rolled it on with a small roller after scuffing up the surface a bit with a piece of sand paper.  Next I used a hammered silver spray paint (Rust-oleum 2X coverage) for the second and third coat.

My spray booth, recognize the old shower curtain?

It's hot in the garage, but still within the temp range for the paint

I am loving it.

I had seen a post online that they used the same spray paint and then used epoxy for the finish.  I loved it!  So that is what we did.  I set up a spray booth using the back of an old bookshelf and an old shower curtain.   After letting each coat dry I applied the epoxy, which I ordered online.  The first coat is a cover coat.  The final coat is a pour coat that self levels, so, having lots of protection for dripping epoxy was a must.  After the pour coat you have to use a heat source to get out the bubbles.  I only had a hair dryer so I have a few bubbles but they are tiny and I don't really care.  It still came out great.

I had made a strip for the front of the counter, but the epoxy did not cover properly on a curved surface so I made another and used spray enamel gloss for the top coats.  I applied two thin coats.

Screws in a board work well to mount my strip during painting

Weeks passed while we debated the direction of the tiling of the shower floor.  Should we do it or should we pay our neighbor Joe to do it (he's more handy than us).  As it turned out he needed some child car for several days and asked if we could barter some work.  Well, that was perfect.  One Saturday in early August Joe tiled the shower floor.  We got a drain extender and simply tiled over the existing tile, which also covered up some short cuts of tile on the lower wall.  But, because the floor tile was a mosaic, he had to cut about 40 edge pieces to fill in by the walls.  We definitely got the better end of that deal.  We had also gotten some rectangular mosaic tile for a back splash around the sink area when we picked up the sink. Jon and Joe installed that the same day, along with the Schluter strip that finishes the edges.

Sink and tile from Habitat Restore, and only $20 for both

Jon got the old step off, but it took a tile off from the front of the step.  That delayed us for about a week since we couldn't find the same tile, a white 4 x 4 that is not brilliant white.  Jon finally found a crackle finished one and installed it.  It's not a perfect match but no one can actually see that.  Before Jon did the grout, I took the tile saw and cut away all the failing or discolored grout on the shower walls.  Then he grouted everything.  A day later Charity gave that bathroom a thorough cleaning.  Finally we are using it again.  I also picked up a new shower head for $6.  That bathroom is now updated and up to date.

New shower head

Charity touched up the white paint on the doors where the stain had bled through.  I do have to get a little more paint to touch up some spots on the walls that got scraped during the reno.  I love how it all turned out.  Our next projects include fixing some areas that need some help.  Jon got half a yard of topsoil and is adding it to a low spot by the side of the house today.  After he fills the low spot and tamps it down, he will put some big square pavers on top.  The rain has worn away the dirt there, so the pavers will prevent the rain runoff of the roof from eroding the dirt.  It's an important job in an area that gets so much rain during rainy season.