Mainfloor Bathroom Renovation: hard at work!

Once all our shopping and demolition was done, we got to work rebuilding the bathroom. This took us, no joke, almost 5 months. We worked on it mainly on weekends and also during the Christmas holidays (on Christmas eve, day and new years eve and day we worked on the bathroom!).   


Regarding design and layout there were many changes. We removed a linen closet from the hallway and a bedroom closet to expand the bathroom. We installed a separate shower and bathtub, heated floors under the marble tiles, double pedestal sinks, and much more.


Here are some of the steps we took: 

Cement board was placed on the floor- better than plywood for a bathroom because it's mold resistant.
Click here for detailed installation instructions.

Then the gyprock (plasterboard- walls) was installed and the moldings followed by plaster work. In a bathroom use mold resistant gyp since there is a lot of moisture. Click here for gyp installation instructions and see this site for plastering tips.

Hard at work sanding the plaster. Notice the forced smile:)

We went with the Schluter Shower System, which was actually very easy for DIYers. Very important to properly prepare your shower since it is exposed to water.

Tiling the shower. If you are using natural stone you'll need to rent a wet saw. We rented it at Home Depot.

A thin coat of thinset should be placed over the heated floor wires.

Notice my pants-I'm just a tad bit messy when tiling the floor:)
The location of the inset is key. In our case, it needed to be lined up with the door and not the center of the room. It honestly took me almost two hours before I placed the first tile since the room isn't square and the inlay isn't centered in the room. Tony kept saying "Please, just lay the damn tile!" 
Tip: use thinset that is the same color as the grout that you intend to use. In case it seeps between the tile it won't show once grouted.

 

Here is a list of what we did:

Demolition, framing, soundproofing (Roxul and resilient channels) putting up gyp and concrete board, Schluder shower system, wall and crown moldings, installation of heated floor, tiling the floor and shower, painting, made the wallpaper art, sealed the tiles, and all the other little stuff! 

 What we didn't do was plumbing and electrical- these are best left to the professionals.

Next blog- the reveal!

Nancy