This is a small bathroom but it needed a complete overhaul to save it from ‘just plain ugly’ – a designer’s nightmare. From the floors to the walls to the lighting, everything had to be done. I wanted to do it myself to save money on labor. This did not help me save time by any means. Kitchen renovations Seven Hills never failed to impress me with their work. Design your dog doors Sydney according to the size of your dog.
I have tiled a few floors in the past and done some plumbing and electrical but had never tiled a shower stall or gutted a room entirely. This was a challenging first but I learned a lot to share along the way.
Warning – Try not to drop over in disgust at the before pictures in the next step.
This is my first instructable so my pictures were vertical and horizontal. I didn’t realize they needed to be all the same so some of them don’t show well with the formatting.
This bathroom was the ugliest one I had ever entered. Every time I walked in there I cringed so I knew no matter how much stress and time it would take it would be worth it in the end.
The poor taste in decoration was from the previous owners. Most of the pictures were taken when we did the walk through to finalize the purchase of our house. After we moved in the ugly bones remained and we lived with it for almost two years.
Get a dumpster and wear gloves. The smallest dumpster our waste company offered was all we needed.
Demo is the best part. Be careful not to destroy wiring and plumbing while taking out your stress.
After I ripped out the shower we found the original 1966 mint green tile. I liked it much better than the mildew infested shower surround.
This was done so long ago the tile and plaster walls were held on with heavy metal mesh. I had to purchase a reciprocating saw to get through it. If you have dealt with plaster walls you might know what I’m referring to. Be sure to make only the necessary cuts to avoid having to redo too much drywall.
When removing the toilet I would recommend using some sort of pump to remove all the water first. I didn’t have a pump and was in a hurry so toilet water splashed all over the floor. Yeah, it was gross.
Remove all baseboards with a flat crowbar making sure not to mar them. If you have a large enough space I recommend numbering the pieces or making some sort of map so you can easily reinstall them if you aren’t replacing them. I did not replace mine, just painted them white.
Since the sink/counter top was built into the walls (because it was too wide) I had to cut the walls which didn’t end up mattering because the new sink I purchased was also too wide for the opening and unfortunately I had to do the same thing the previous people did and build it into the walls. I guess it is that much more secured in place. The vanity cabinet slid out without problem.
I tore up the linoleum floor in one piece just by ripping it off. You may have to use a scraper if your floor is really stuck down. Inquire here for more design of kitchen.
Remove any other items from the walls. Accessories, mirrors, lighting, etc.