Master Bath Remod! Here. We. Go....

[MillerMav]

I apologize if this isn't supposed to be on GJ but I hang here a lot and don't really have anything to show for it so I thought I would share our master bath remodel.

If you were to come to my house you would probably think there is nothing to complain about. It's a beautiful house and we are very lucky to have it. Short story is that we bought during the housing crisis on a short sale so it was very cheap considering what its market value was when it was built in 2004 (we purchase in 2009). The only real issues are the Master bath was done with a lot of builder grade materials and the basement is only partially finished.

What started out as a painting project turned into us looking into refinancing for a remodel. Come to find out our house is now worth over $100k more than we paid for it (thanks economy!!). So we were able to refinance our mortgage with quite a bit of money on top and still only pay $6.00 more a month than what we were currently paying with our old mortgage (with a yearly rebate!).

So we went ahead with it and the first order of business is the master bath. As I said it was a lot of builder grade stuff that looked a lot cheaper than the rest of the house. Also the stand up shower was too small even for my wife and I (who are not big people) and we had only used the spa tub about 4 times in the last 4 years. So instead of painting and putting in new counter tops we are going whole hog with a remodel that includes:

New tile all around
New vanity with new top, bowls and fixtures
A shower will now go where the tub is and be fully tiled with a European glass wall type of vibe. Dual heads and controls w/a bench
The current shower will become a custom built linen closet (there isn't one in the house currently)
The toilet stays in its current location but a 20" LED TV will go above it for morning news and what not while getting ready
New mirrors and sconces over the vanity area and bench in a soon to be vacant spot for sitting and what not (for wife)

I am paying to have the work done because I have zero experience with construction/plumbing/tile work and really don't have the time to learn as I go (that will be for the basement remodel!). So I may lose some street cred points but work and family consume a lot of time!

Before Pics:

As of yesterday.

I will try to update everyday or at least when there is something to report out. The window is getting filled in so that will probably be next after the rest of the demo is done and things are moved out!

 

[Big Bob]

Good luck with the project. It looks like you have the one main requirement for a good outcome, and that is ample floor space. What are the plans for the window over the tub area? Never could understand the builder's placing regular double hung windows over a tub, but I've seen it plenty of times. Please keep us posted on the progress.

 

[MillerMav]

Good luck with the project. It looks like you have the one main requirement for a good outcome, and that is ample floor space. What are the plans for the window over the tub area? Never could understand the builder's placing regular double hung windows over a tub, but I've seen it plenty of times. Please keep us posted on the progress.

Yeah its a decent sized bathroom for sure and it allowed us some room for improvement which we are thankful for.

The window is simply getting walled in. We really wanted to go with a small slat type window above the tile but with the the slope of the roof on the outside it wasn't possible to have enough room without running into the soffit. Someday I may look into canned sky lights but for now the rest of the house gets a lot of natural light so loss of it in one room isn't going to kill us.

 

[my68spit]

good luck and keep us posted on the updates! I love seeing bathroom remodels.

 

[Joe B.]

Don't forget to change out the vent fan while you have things torn apart. I got a Panasonic one that is amazingly quite compared to the builder grade originals.

Looks cool!

 

[loranger]

Thanks for posting this! I will definitely be keeping an eye on this thread since my wife has been bugging me forever to do this exact remodel! We have the same style jetted tub, window (single), and tiny shower. I already redid the sinks last year, but the shower is very high on the honey do list.

 

[MillerMav]

More demo work. We are away for the weekend but the contractor is working while we're gone so I am excited to see the progress when we get back!

Here are a few more demo pics!

Everything but the vanity is in the garage so progress should be swift now that demo is almost done.


Rarely am I not posting from my phone....

 

[MillerMav]

It's been a bit since I updated and for that I apologize but there isn't a lot to shoot during demo.
That being said everything is plumbed and the electrical for the TV and lighting is finished. We went to sconces for the vanity lights and two pots in the shower opposed to 1. We have a 22" LED that will go up above the left vanity perpendicular to the counter top (you can see the boxes in the pictures.
Tiling on the floor and shower should start tomorrow!

New linen closet

Those aren't the sconces BTW they are on order and he is using the old OH lights as a temp.


Rarely am I not posting from my phone....

 

[Ed Litsch]

Looks great!! Keep up the good work!!

 

[jrsulo]

Guess your not doing a heated floor ????......Its so nice (heat) when the tile is warm !!!!!

 

[e-tek]

Looks good. Although it's not technically not "garage-related", it's work done with tools, so we'll let it slide!
Definitely consider (and do!) the heated floors. It goes in just ahead of the tiles, so its not too late! And if you do, make sure you AT LEAST do in front of toilet, tub, shower and basin - plus right up to the toe kick of basin cabinet. When I did ours I didn't get close enough there and my toes can feel the cold spots whenever I'm washing my face!!

 

[MillerMav]

I know the heated floors would be great but our budget is honestly maxed out on this project after purchasing the sconces and other small things that need to go in afterward (floor mats, towels, decor, etc.)

 

[Fishplate]

I know the heated floors would be great but our budget is honestly maxed out on this project after purchasing the sconces and other small things that need to go in afterward (floor mats, towels, decor, etc.)

We just did a remodel. Put heated floor mat under the tile in the Master bath, as kind of an afterthought. It is, in a word, glorious. And, in the scheme of things, not all that expensive.

I wish I'd done it in both bathrooms now.

 

[nolimits76]

I know the heated floors would be great but our budget is honestly maxed out on this project after purchasing the sconces and other small things that need to go in afterward (floor mats, towels, decor, etc.)

I think heated bathroom floors are common, depending on location. In OK, it is rare to see heated floors. I suspect up north where temps are much colder, it's more common.

If you live up north, I would re-think things a bit. This is one of those items that just make sense to do now. Adding later is a royal pain and expense. It'd be easier to return some of the pretties and invest in your "bones" of your project. The pretties can be added when you get extra money.

By the way, the build looks good. Thanks for sharing, even if it's not garage related.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Don't forget to change out the vent fan while you have things torn apart. I got a Panasonic one that is amazingly quite compared to the builder grade originals.

Looks cool!

I like my noisy fan. It hides my noisy farts!

Jim

 

[theoldwizard1]

Guess your not doing a heated floor ????......Its so nice (heat) when the tile is warm !!!!!

Do you have electric or hot water heated floor ?

If electric, do you have it on a switch/timer and how long does it take to warm up ?

 

[theoldwizard1]

What was your sub-floor ?

Most of the houses in my area were built post WWII, but they still laid tile floors that same as they had for many years before that.

• 1x6 diagonally laid sub-floor
• tar paper
• 1" mortar bed
• tile embedded into moprtar

What this means is, if you want to replace the tile, get out a sledge hammer or rent an electric demolition hammer. The demolition of one small bathroom, without a shower, can take a whole day.

Worse, they use some kind of heavy wire mesh on the walls to hold the mortar before setting the tiles..

Those tile setter must have thought everyone would like pink (excuse me, rose) tiles with black trim for then next 100+ years !

 

[MillerMav]

What was your sub-floor ?

Subfloor is just plywood. House was built in 2004 so no crazy 1x6 with mortar and what not. The tiles that were there came up easily with a hammer and pry-bar/chisel.

 

[MillerMav]

Tile work has begun!

Up close shot of the tile pattern

Sealant done in shower as well.

The vanity goes in tomorrow so we can have the template made for the counter top!


Rarely am I not posting from my phone....

 

[polexican23]

I like my noisy fan. It hides my noisy farts!

Yep, this plus a few snot rockets in the shower.

 

[jrsulo]

Do you have electric or hot water heated floor ?

If electric, do you have it on a switch/timer and how long does it take to warm up ?

Warm tiles electric....cable system....on a programmable t-stat,and I use this system in all the remodels I do,,,,lay out the cable the pour self level over it !

 

[jrsulo]

What was your sub-floor ?

Most of the houses in my area were built post WWII, but they still laid tile floors that same as they had for many years before that.

• 1x6 diagonally laid sub-floor
• tar paper
• 1" mortar bed
• tile embedded into moprtar

What this means is, if you want to replace the tile, get out a sledge hammer or rent an electric demolition hammer. The demolition of one small bathroom, without a shower, can take a whole day.

Worse, they use some kind of heavy wire mesh on the walls to hold the mortar before setting the tiles..

Those tile setter must have thought everyone would like pink (excuse me, rose) tiles with black trim for then next 100+ years !

I just rip it all out to the beams !!!!!!

 

[Victorymike18]

What was your sub-floor ?

Most of the houses in my area were built post WWII, but they still laid tile floors that same as they had for many years before that.

• 1x6 diagonally laid sub-floor
• tar paper
• 1" mortar bed
• tile embedded into moprtar

What this means is, if you want to replace the tile, get out a sledge hammer or rent an electric demolition hammer. The demolition of one small bathroom, without a shower, can take a whole day.

Worse, they use some kind of heavy wire mesh on the walls to hold the mortar before setting the tiles..

Those tile setter must have thought everyone would like pink (excuse me, rose) tiles with black trim for then next 100+ years !

My house was built in 1950 and used this exact type of construction. Took us days to tear apart using an air chisel and lots of crowbar prying. For a 5'x5' bathroom with stand-up shower, it was over 5000 Lbs. of debris...

OP: Looks like a nice upgrade. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

Oh, and thanks for introducing the idea of heated floor... I wish I knew such an idea existed before we remodeled ours...

 

[jrsulo]

My house was built in 1950 and used this exact type of construction. Took us days to tear apart using an air chisel and lots of crowbar prying. For a 5'x5' bathroom with stand-up shower, it was over 5000 Lbs. of debris...

OP: Looks like a nice upgrade. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

Oh, and thanks for introducing the idea of heated floor... I wish I knew such an idea existed before we remodeled ours...

We both in jersey.....heated floors a must for me !!!!!

 

[MillerMav]

Shower complete sans the glass top pieces and door. Those will be in next week and will be the final piece of the puzzle.

Other than that the pantry is in and is very nice. Tons of storage space to make up for a lack of linen closet. Grout is in all around and the stone is sealed for a wet look all the time. Only a few more days until everything is done but the glass. It will be so nice to have our own toilet and sinks back in the bedroom!!

Inside of cabinet. The pullout a are great!

I'll post up some finished product at the end of the week.


Rarely am I not posting from my phone....

 

[MillerMav]

All done!

We still need to get the glass installed (Tuesday), decorate and decide on floor mats but other than that it's finished and functional.

It's funny, while there is technically more space being occupied by "things" now it seems so much bigger. I think lowering that privacy wall really helped.

I'll post up some more pics when it's decorated and the TV is installed.

Sorry the vanity shot isn't awesome those sconces put out a lot of light!



Rarely am I not posting from my phone....

 

[Honkey84]

Looks awesome! Our master bath is on the hit list for next year, some great ideas for my upcoming remodel.

 

[MillerMav]

Looks awesome! Our master bath is on the hit list for next year, some great ideas for my upcoming remodel.

Thanks! If you have any questions feel free to let me know. It was a long 8 weeks but it was worth it. I am just collecting decorating ideas now so hopefully it all comes together in the next week or so.

 

[MillerMav]

The designer sent over a photographer to take some official photos for her portfolio and she sent me the 7 they chose to keep. Makes the bathroom look much better than my iPhone does that's for sure! It's crazy looking at how it used to be and how it is now.

 

[jchetty]

Wow great job. I would rather pay someone to do a great job than fumble around and do a poor self install if i didn't have the resources or knowledge.

If I was to nitpick, I would find a way to swap the ceiling vent to white or at least pull it and spray paint it white. I would also put in new mirrors or dress mirrors up with a surround or maybe even moulding.

But as a whole, it looks incredible- like a chic modern hotel. Love the lighting fixtures- great call on those.

 

[67carl]

Really looks fantastic. I hope to start my master bath and master bedroom remodel in the spring. I love the feel and look of that river rock floor in your shower and have planned on doing the same thing in mine.

Every installation I've seen of that river rock "tile" shows the straight edges of each 12 inch square (if that makes sense). In other words the straight, white grout lines stand out against the random, curvy grout around each stone. I thought when I got to the point of installation it may be possible to remove some stones from the edges and "weave" them together to eliminate the straight line. From your experience with them what do you think?

Again, great looking bathroom!

 

[Highlux]

What did you do for the showerbase?

Did you do a mudset? Is there a pitch to the drain? a preslope under the liner?
Did you use a waterproof membrane over that hardly backer?

 

[MillerMav]

To answer the questions about the rock:

- It does come in "pre-molded" 12" squares but the rock isn't cut on the lines to create a perfect square. This allows for them to be blended together pretty well without a definite line. I do know that a few stones were removed and re-placed to create a more natural look. If you're standing in the shower and look at for a while you can see where the squares are but to the normal onlooker its very hard to tell.

- For the slope; the liner used had a very slightly inward slope to the drain location which allows for good drainage. The only drawback from using the natural stone is that you do get "puddling" but its not bad and a majority of the water drains very well. Whatever is left dries up within 1-3 hours. We used a brush on sealant throughout the shower instead of a "membrane".

- The mirrors: We are already in the decorating phase of the project and have put mats and towels in place then we are moving on to decorating the tops of the mirrors with a sort of fake flower/branches type of thing to drape over and create more of a soft feel. But actually we really like the clean lines of the simple mirrors. The photographer wanted to come in before we did any decorating but even with the few things we have done it looks a lot better already.