Bathroom Design - update 12/7/20 Post #84 & 87

[mjkacmom]

That’s the size of our only full bathroom. I grew up in a 150 year old house with bathrooms with a lot of tile, so when we did our bathroom in our 100 year old house with a lot of tile, I used wood moldings with less tile - big mistake. We went with white subway tile which I like, and small tile on the floor (going for a vintage look), went with grohe fixtures which have been a pain and I didn’t know to save receipts... My toilet is very pretty but too many crevices, went for a shower curtain just because I had little kids who I needed to bathe which was difficult with glass, I need to switch that out. My light/fan is ugly but they now make prettier ones. Definitely don’t go with the cheapest anything.

 

[disneychrista]

I'm really surprised that you will be without a 7x5 bathroom for 2 weeks.

I told him to give me worst case scenario for both cost and time. I’m guessing he is also fitting this in between other jobs since it is kind of an emergency. I think the biggest time “waster” is having to allow drying time between stages.

Heading to the store later to get more of an idea of what’s really available.

 

[_19disnA]

Stores like Lowe's or Home Depot usually have extensive displays of various bathroom fixtures and you can take a look at what looks right for you and your budget. If you have a store like Ferguson's near you, they also do a great job in recommending fixtures that are compatible. Perhaps there are also other stores who do that as well.

Forget the HGTV home design shows that often are overly focused on what is 'trendy' instead of what is practical. Everyone doesn't live in a million dollar mansion, so any remodel should start with what your budget is. What is trendy today, will be out of style 5 years from now, so also look at how long you want something to last and how easy it will be to clean and maintain.

 

[disneychrista]

Forget the HGTV home design shows that often are overly focused on what is 'trendy' instead of what is practical. Everyone doesn't live in a million dollar mansion, so any remodel should start with what your budget is. What is trendy today, will be out of style 5 years from now, so also look at how long you want something to last and how easy it will be to clean and maintain.

Also doing a high end trendy update to the bathroom in a house where everything else is not updated would be very weird. I’m all for keeping it classic so it doesn’t get outdated. And definitely easy to clean is a necessity.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Here's our new bathroom. The toilet and vanity are to the left, out of sight.

https://dl-mail.ymail.com/ws/downlo...zN4Qe2g2sdr6aAmtJTDfqTcildJA8i3vzfiNePJFcLA02

I have no idea if this will actually work.

 

[aggiedog]

We remodeled 3 in our house. Things to think about:

ADA access. We were young and fit. Twelve years later I had a knee replacement and I couldn't get my walker over the lip into our shower, or the walker thru the door to the toilet. If we stay in this house, we'll redo our master bath to have a no-lip walk in shower and wider doors.

Do you really need the tub? I don't take baths, ever. We took out 2 bathtubs and put walk in showers there, but left one tub in the girls' bathroom.

What kind of water do you have? Ours is very hard so fancy fixtures just get gunked up with deposits in a few years.

Shower head - I picked one for my son's bathroom that only has water coming out in a cone, nothing in the center. Total PITA! Washing your hair in it requires circling your head to hit the water. Now I know to look at how the water is distributed thru the head.

Ease of cleaning - those waterfall type faucets are pretty, but the flat area gets dirty and for us builds up more hard water deposits. Glass sinks also get yucky looking really fast and you can't scrub them as hard as porcelain. Tile grout gets dirty. Get a neutral color that won't show dirt or mold easily. Bigger tile, less grout lines. I love my granite counter tops, but the girls' bathroom has a single piece molded counter with two sinks. Also easy to clean and looks good with the cabinets we chose.

Counter space - how much do you want? We got a great sink from Overstock.com for ds's bathroom. He has a tiny counter so we found a "bowl" type vessel sink that has a very narrow bottom, almost like a cone. That left way more space for his tooth brush, soap, etc.

You can "upgrade" your look with just adding accents of fancy tile. We have a vertical strip of a really pretty narrow tile with glass tile inserts in the shower and another on the wall in front of the shower. The vast majority of the tile is standard large squares.

You can also "upgrade" the look of the cabinet hardware by have a few accent, more expensive, pulls but not do the whole cabinetry with them.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

2 weeks no bathroom, yikes! But if he's fitting you in, I would still think you would still have use to the bathroom during some points. If you aren't moving the toilet I'm assuming he could redo the subfloor and get the toilet back in right away, so no need to be without a toilet. Same with shower. I guess if you are doing tiled walls in the shower vs the big surround thing then you might have issues with waiting for it to dry. Our last house we gutted our entire bathroom and were never without being able to take a shower or go to the bathroom (we also only had one bathroom). Even when we did the tile floor we got at it first thing in the morning and we could walk on it later in the day.

I don't like picking stuff out either, good luck. I as well am afraid I will no longer like it.

 

[mjkacmom]

We remodeled 3 in our house. Things to think about:

ADA access. We were young and fit. Twelve years later I had a knee replacement and I couldn't get my walker over the lip into our shower, or the walker thru the door to the toilet. If we stay in this house, we'll redo our master bath to have a no-lip walk in shower and wider doors.

Do you really need the tub? I don't take baths, ever. We took out 2 bathtubs and put walk in showers there, but left one tub in the girls' bathroom.

What kind of water do you have? Ours is very hard so fancy fixtures just get gunked up with deposits in a few years.

Shower head - I picked one for my son's bathroom that only has water coming out in a cone, nothing in the center. Total PITA! Washing your hair in it requires circling your head to hit the water. Now I know to look at how the water is distributed thru the head.

Ease of cleaning - those waterfall type faucets are pretty, but the flat area gets dirty and for us builds up more hard water deposits. Glass sinks also get yucky looking really fast and you can't scrub them as hard as porcelain. Tile grout gets dirty. Get a neutral color that won't show dirt or mold easily. Bigger tile, less grout lines. I love my granite counter tops, but the girls' bathroom has a single piece molded counter with two sinks. Also easy to clean and looks good with the cabinets we chose.

Counter space - how much do you want? We got a great sink from Overstock.com for ds's bathroom. He has a tiny counter so we found a "bowl" type vessel sink that has a very narrow bottom, almost like a cone. That left way more space for his tooth brush, soap, etc.

You can "upgrade" your look with just adding accents of fancy tile. We have a vertical strip of a really pretty narrow tile with glass tile inserts in the shower and another on the wall in front of the shower. The vast majority of the tile is standard large squares.

You can also "upgrade" the look of the cabinet hardware by have a few accent, more expensive, pulls but not do the whole cabinetry with them.

If there is only one bathroom, removing the tub significantly reduces the value of the house.

 

[disneychrista]

Do you really need the tub? I don't take baths, ever. We took out 2 bathtubs and put walk in showers there, but left one tub in the girls' bathroom.

I would love to just convert the tub to a walk in shower. Two things have me just doing a tub. Time & Money. The walk in shower will take more time and cost more money. And not that I care too much about resale but to have the only bathroom in the house not have a tub might not be the wisest choice.

 

[cvjw]

Is the repair not covered by your home owners insurance? Usually water damage is covered, and a toilet leak is water damage. One of my neighbors went out of town for a week, and didn’t realize that the upstairs toilet was overflowing. 3 floors of the house ruined by water when they got home. Insurance paid to fix it all.

 

[aggiedog]

We left the girls' tub for that reason. That said, unless you know you're leaving the house, I also think it's makes sense to renovate for you, not a stranger who may live there 20 years from now, and who very well may renovate after you leave.

With only one bathroom, the accessibility is more of an issue. Really, I never gave it a second thought - until I couldn't get in my own shower. LOL

Just points to think about. Everyone has different priorities.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Yeah, I wouldn't remove the only tub.

When we renovate the kids' bathrooms (back to back--one is an ensuite), we'll replace the tub in DS23's room with a walk-in shower, and leave the other tub. We're thinking along the lines of Aggiedog--ADA compliance/accessibility. For now, we're fine with our upstairs master suite, but the day will likely come when we move downstairs to DS23's room, which was the original master suite, and will appreciate a large shower with a seat in it. The other bathroom opens to the hallway and is shared by DD17 and DS14. We'll keep the tub there, even though we rarely use it as a tub.

If you're concerned about access to the tub, they do make tubs with a door that you can step in, then close, but I can't imagine those are cheap.

 

[piccolopat]

Is the repair not covered by your home owners insurance? Usually water damage is covered, and a toilet leak is water damage. One of my neighbors went out of town for a week, and didn’t realize that the upstairs toilet was overflowing. 3 floors of the house ruined by water when they got home. Insurance paid to fix it all.

Policies can vary and so OP should check with their homeowners carrier. Generally, water damage that is covered must be "sudden and accidental" like a burst pipe or your neighbor's suddenly overflowing toilet. Small leaks that cause damage over time are usually not covered.

 

[disneychrista]

Is the repair not covered by your home owners insurance? Usually water damage is covered, and a toilet leak is water damage. One of my neighbors went out of town for a week, and didn’t realize that the upstairs toilet was overflowing. 3 floors of the house ruined by water when they got home. Insurance paid to fix it all.

Good thought. I hadn’t even thought of calling the insurance company. I might just have to do that.

 

[tvguy]

I'm really surprised that you will be without a 7x5 bathroom for 2 weeks. I just had 4 bathrooms totally redone this past March and the whole job for 4 of them took 4 weeks. Granted, since I did all 4 of them, he brought two crews in but if I had just done one regular bathroom (not the master) it would have been 5 days! On the other hand, my coworker contracted out with a one man operation to do her master bathroom and that took almost 3 months!

Anyway, I went to a tile contractor who had a small showroom so I was able to go there and pick out my cabinetry, fixtures and tile. We did get the toilet from Home Depot. All I can say is, get a nice toilet, it's worth it. No need to spend thousands but get something that's in the $300 range. Flushes so nice, sits nice, cleans up easier by the way it's shaped, etc.

I ended up going with frameless shower doors (again easier to clean not having a frame). Also went with quartz countertop on the vanities. Square sinks are now the rage but I didn't care for them, so I went with the oval and don't regret it. These are things you'll need to think of. I kept very large, beveled edge plain mirrors in the larger baths versus trying to go out on the market and find framed mirrors. A glass company can handle all that easily for you as well as the shower doors. It is definitely harder if you go to one person and then you have to go out and handle all the items yourself.

That is crazy fast. We redid two 5 x 9 bathrooms, about 5 weeks each. The process was pretty basic. Gut, then repair any damage found. Electrical and plumbing work, then a day wait for the rough in inspection. Sheetrock ,texture and paint. Flooring in. Get the vanity and shower/bathtub vendors in to measure. Another day lost for another inspection. About a two week wait for the vanities and shower/tub surrounds to be made and delivered. Get them installed, then get the countertop and shower door vendors in to measure for the counter tops and doors, only about a week for those to be fabricated, get them installed. Final inspection.

 

[rlk]

The worst part it is the ONLY bathroom and we will be without it for 2 weeks.

I understand your situation because we too only have one bathroom. Can you ask your contractor if they can make sure you are only without a toilet for a few hours? I can make do with washing hair and body in the kitchen sink, but there is no way I am emptying and clean a plastic "chamber pot".

If your insurance covers you, will they pay to relocate you temporarily?

We are currently waiting to start renovations due to two simultaneous floods occurring in my apartment this past June. I am hoping the inconvenience is worth the newly renovated space.

 

[_19disnA]

Everyone has their personal style of what they like/don't. However, I would avoid a pedestal sink which has ZERO place for storage and if your only bathroom, cleaning supplies/toilet paper/soap/kleenex, etc. will have to be stored elsewhere which is a nuisance. Also avoid white grout around tile in a bathroom, since it is VERY hard to clean and tends to easily show any mold/mildew that tends to form in places like the shower. When building our new home recently, the builder was featuring a type of tile that is what I would call 'pitted' and asked how your would ever clean the recessed areas. They said no one had ever asked that..............LOL. We chose a different type of tile and are glad we did.

 

[mamamary]

Everyone has their personal style of what they like/don't. However, I would avoid a pedestal sink which has ZERO place for storage and if your only bathroom, cleaning supplies/toilet paper/soap/kleenex, etc. will have to be stored elsewhere which is a nuisance. Also avoid white grout around tile in a bathroom, since it is VERY hard to clean and tends to easily show any mold/mildew that tends to form in places like the shower. When building our new home recently, the builder was featuring a type of tile that is what I would call 'pitted' and asked how your would ever clean the recessed areas. They said no one had ever asked that..............LOL. We chose a different type of tile and are glad we did.

Our last bathroom renovation we also put in a pedestal sink. Never again. Same reasons that you stated.

 

[tcufrog]

I recommend a handheld shower sprayer instead of a traditional showerhead. They make it easier to clean the shower and they're great if you get injured. I would see if it's possible to install some shower niches between studs. They are awesome for having a place to put your bath products.

 

[tvguy]

Also avoid white grout around tile in a bathroom, since it is VERY hard to clean and tends to easily show any mold/mildew that tends to form in places like the shower. When building our new home recently, the builder was featuring a type of tile that is what I would call 'pitted' and asked how your would ever clean the recessed areas. They said no one had ever asked that..............LOL. We chose a different type of tile and are glad we did.

My wife says she will never have tile ever again. Anywhere. All solid surface. Our cultured marble bathtub surround has caulked seems in the corners that will eventually need to be redone. Our bathtub sized shower with floor to ceiling surround is corian. They glue in triangles of corian in the seems, route them down so it is basically one seamless unit that will never leak or never need any upkeep other than a wipe down.