BathroomRemodel
After almost 35 years in my home I woke up on Easter morning 2021 to find water on the ceiling in my family room below my master bath shower.
Guess it's time to redo my master bathroom.
So I asked friends and neighbors for contractor suggestions.
After talking to three contractors and getting three estimates I picked a contractor.
Between him being busy with jobs and me being busy with various appointments we get the job started on 6/22/2021.
This is a record of the work being done with pictures to show the progess. You can click on a picture to see it larger and on the left and right are arrows that you can use to move backward or forward to the next picture. There's also an X at the bottom of the picture to close the bigger view.
Arizona Tile has a virtual bathroom setup to see what the remodel would look like so here's mine using their bathroom layout:
The contractor had me buy the vanity, vanity top, and shower valve and have it in hand before he started my project. I asked the contractor after I picked out the tile how much tile I would need so I could make sure they had it in stock and buy it before they started. The contractor said "Don't Worry", Arizona Tile keeps everything in stock so I'll buy it when we need it.
06/21 - Here's what the bathroom looked like before work started.
I tried a panorama viewer and here's the best I got
06/22 - The first day was demo (except for the toilet area) and putting in a new shower floor base.
The second day was demoing the toilet floor, putting in the new shower drain, and installing the new vanity and top. We added a pony wall and widened the shower by about a foot. BTW The sinks are fully operational at this point.
06/23 - The third day was just an hours work hot mopping the shower area so leaks won't be a problem again.
After the hot mopping the tar smell was so strong that I had to sleep in a different bedroom for two nights. The third night the tar smell was still there but just tolerable.
Tiling is expected to start on Monday 6/28 and take the entire week, plus maybe a bit more to complete grouting.
Monday I get a call from the contractor and he says "Arizona Tile is out of the floor tile you want. It will take two weeks before they get it back in stock." He then give me two suggestions from Arizona Tile about possible alternatives for the floor tile. I look at them and using the virtual preview. Well they just aren't what I want and tell the contractor I'm will to wait the two weeks, but if they have the 2 x 2 size why don't we complete the shower floor.
The contractor checks back with Arizona Tile and get's them to put off a homebuilder, who picked the same tile as me, so that my project can continue without delay. So the tile is now available for me, boy am I happy to not get delayed.
06/28 - The sixth day was the start of mudding, kinda like stuccoing in that they're putting up a metal lathe and then embedding a mud (concrete) layer into and on top of the lathe onto which the tile will be installed
06/29 - Today the tile arrived and they started the second coat for the shower, also started the shower floor with it's pitch to the drain.
06/30 - Today was a shorter day, in the early AM they came and finished the second coat. Then the tiler came and put down the underlayment for the tile. Found out that the pony wall was too high to continue that height for the vanity backsplash to go all the way around vanity top, would cover up the light switch and power outlets. So two more changes 1 - to drop the height of the backsplash where the outlets are and 2 - to take the tile all the way to the door frame.
07/01 - OK today things actually start looking better. Today was the first day new tile was installed. The tile installation is likely to take 3 days total, with maybe a little more to complete the grouting. So here's pictures of the new tile that's installed in the shower.
07/02 - More shower tiling today, they're getting close on the shower. You can see the metal edging that is now used instead of bullnose tile. Just three sides of the shower niche, the top of the pony wall and step, and the vanity surrond to do. Jorge will be back tomorrow, Saturday. Hopefully he can complete the shower and get the bathroom floor tile laid. We'ge getting closer.
07/03 - It now looks like the tiling of my shower is complete. The niche, window and shower floor now have tile on them. This is the first time that some of the floor tile (just the 2x2) has been used. There's still the vanity backslash and floor to go. But Jorge will be back on Monday to continue. My bet is that there are at least two more days of work. Then I get get the shower door and mirror measured and get those on order.
07/05 - Today looks to be the last day of tiling. The backsplash is in and the floor is now tiled. I con't walk in to take better pictures since the floor tile is still setting. So the shower and floor need to be grouted and the toilet installed. that should include cleaning the tiles since there's thinset left on the surface from the install. That will complete the contractors portion of the job. I'll still need to get new shower door and a new mirror. The contractor has a guy he likes for shower doors so we'll see what he says about getting a new one.
07/06 - Today they came out and grouted the shower and floor. So it's starting to look good and close to completion. Tomorrow someone's coming out to give me an estimate on a new shower door and mirror over my vanity. But there's still some work for the contractor, the shower trim, shower head, and toilet need to be installed, plus where the new tile meets the current carpet needs to have a tackless strip installed and the carpet trimmed and stretched to meet the tile.
07/07 - An issue and a hickup. Noticed that there was a pretty big gap between some tile and the wall in at least one place. The gap was so big that a piece of molding that was left over from the demo could slip between the tile and the wall. Sent the contractor a picture. Second I asked the contrator to get the shower and toilet plumping installed. I was having lunch with a friend so they had to come out in the afternoon to do the install. The guys did not have a bolt cap, but I had some from a prior install so I gave them those. Later that night I went to look at the toilet and found that there was a leak from the toilet tank where the bolts hold it onto the seat. I had to tighten that bolt to stop the leak. Also found that the plumper had filled the cap with silicone caulk and put it over the bolt and that the water leak had cause the cault to spread out over the tile and grout.
07/08 - Today the tiler came out and added grout in two spots where the tile wasn't close enough to the wall. So now when we add the baseboard molding there will be grout instead of a gap.
07/09 - Today the shower rod and curtain I ordered from Amazon arrived and I installed those. This is just a temporary thing so I can use the shower while I'm waiting for the frameless glass shower door to arrive. It will take about a week for that to arrive and be installed but I wanted to be able to use my new shower while I'm waiting.
07/10 - I took my first shower in the new master bathroom. It was great, the shower head is nice and high.
07/15 - We're getting close. Today they came out and installed the shower doors and mirror. Was told not to use the shower for 24 hours to let the silicone set, earliest I can use the shower again is tomorrow at 5 PM. I picked a raindrop pattern for the shower door so it does provide some obscuration. As the shower door guys were finishing, they came out and installed the baseboard molding. So all that's left, I think, is putting tackless down where the tile meets the existing carpeting, and that is scheduled for Saturday at 9 AM.
07/17 - On Saturday the carpet guy came out and and got the carpet and tile to line up nice.
In talking to the contractor the extra grout on the wall and ceiling is kinda expected. He expeced that I would be repainting, which I hadn't planned to do. So I've asked the contractor to do the painting which we will do for an extra charge. (Easier than me doing it.)
07/30 - It's Done Today they came out and painted and it looks great. Here's the final pictures.
