We have the tiniest bathroom on record in our home. To be clear, the house was built before indoor plumbing. Both bathrooms are add ons. The downstairs one was a converted walkway that used to lead to a long gone barn where the "3 holer" was located prior to this indoor luxury. The upstairs one was what used to be the "servants quarters" back in the day. It has slanted ceilings and so can not have a shower but does have a tub.
In the teeny downstairs bathroom--the primary bathroom for our family of 6+ you can sit on the commode, wash your hands at the sink AND load or unload the washer without ever leaving your seat. It is truly that small. When we were preparing to enlarge our family K and I took out a closet opposite the toilet so that a stack washer/dryer could be installed. Prior to that we had to go outside to access our cellar and the washer and dryer were down there. Convenient as it might be to multi task, (LOL) this configuration also means you have to pull the toilet if you have to remove washer or dryer for repairs. This makes an all ready expensive situation even pricier.
The tub is an original cast iron tub that my grandparents put in. It has seen better days. We refinished it about 15 years ago and that is now in less than glorious shape. We looked into having a company come in and put in a new shower and remove the tub. The prices were stratospheric. We talked it over and decided (drum roll please) that this was a job we would work on ourselves. Yes we are that foolish brave! We also have a really construction savvy friend who is willing to guide me and teach me some valuable skills along the way.
He came over and looked at what we wanted to do and helped us dream it even bigger. It's kind of like Vegas , right? We are all in for New Bathroom 2021! The new and improved bathroom will have the tub removed. We will take the stack washer and dryer and they will be placed side by side on cabinets I will build so that my wife does not have to bend so low to get things in and out. We will swap where the toilet and the sink are to allow for better privacy and better walk patterns in the room. The remaining closet I will build a rolling barn door (it previously had a bifold which always came off the track) This will be a solid door so it will allow for extra towel bars--something always in short supply here.
Obviously this large project became HUGE. There is wiring and plumbing that will be relocated. We will pull permits. I'll do the work with my friend and then it can get inspected. But it will be so much more functional. Oh and a new floor too! I want to lay a waterproof vinyl planking because I would like to do this in our living room and figure learning on a smaller room is a good idea! Our living room square footage is pretty high and the layout is not square.
So last week I started demo. I actually love to demo. There is something fun about it. It is sort of like a puzzle because I have to figure out what to take out in which order to best accomplish the job. In the bathroom demo is further complicated by the fact that I am keeping the room functional as long as possible. So it means working carefully in very tight quarters. Between last weekend and today I have accomplished a lot of the demo. We are bumping out the wall to the bathroom about 8 inches into a kind of useless area in our kitchen. I have that wall down, and all the old tile off the walls and lots of weird drywall removed. People just kind of covered things up over the years. Probably because it is so darn hard to do a renovation like this when you are using the space! I get it. I love uncovering bits of the house's history. Wall paper that my grandparents used. The original outside door of the house. And a bunch of other little oddities. When I get everything down to the studs we are going to insulate.
There is presently virtually NO insulation in the bathroom and we live in New England. It is cold. The bathroom is drafty enough that although it has no window and we never turn on the vent fan we also do not have any mildew or moisture issue. It is seriously that drafty. We'll be using that fan after I finish insulating and putting up new cement and green board though. Right now the entry way that K and I did this summer is draft free and warmer than our bathroom. That is just weird.
Today I had to spend about an hour on top of our washer dryer pulling out a faux wall that was behind there. I would pass the stuff I pulled off down to my wife who ferried it outside to the ever growing pile of construction detritus. I want to get it hauled away but I want to wait as some of the lumber is good and can be re-used when we frame in the new wall.
This is a good project for me. It gives me a chance to learn new skills which I love. It gives me a chance to research things--youtube is my greatest construction advice forum! And it keeps me busy. Covid is still requiring that we not be in the world more than we have to and this feathering of our nest is just the ticket!
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