If you want to read from the beginning, check out the intro post, and the reveal.
If you have read the intro post, then you know that we changed the layout of this bathroom and added a few square feet in the process. We started with a corner shower, which felt cramped. Of course, it didn’t help that it wasn’t built right, either.
With the added square footage of our new layout, we were able to accommodate a full sized tub, which felt much better to me. I'm not a huge fan of elevators, something about being trapped in a metal box, and I don't know, the little shower just had that elevator vibe.
I went back and forth between just a shower and the tub/shower combo. A shower with a nice glass door would have also looked nice, but the tub felt a little simpler to install. We also tossed around the idea of just doing a half bath, which I think would suit our needs just fine. We ended up going with a full bath after speaking with a realtor friend who said two full bathrooms would add value to the house, and once we rearranged the access to the bathroom from the laundry room to the "guitar room", formerly our bedroom, we had the space to make it a full bath anyway.
One complicated part of this was that the shower drain was never properly installed, which meant that in order to install a new drain, our foundation slab had to be jack hammered. So, here I am, taking on my first major renovation in this house, and we're talking about pulverizing the foundation of my house! Yikes! As you can imagine, this sealed the deal of us hiring a plumber for the job! Along the way, we also hired an electrician and a family member who is experienced in construction helped us out, both with some advice and actually helping us put some of this together. This helped us to make sure the job was done right, and made sure that we passed inspection by the county without an issue.
So, we talked our plans over with a plumber before we got started. Then, once we had the new walls framed, he came and did the rough-in plumbing, which basically means getting the plumbing in the walls complete, so that the fixtures can be installed later. He also set the tub in place during this visit, which left our room looking like this:
Then, it was many construction weekends for us, with Lucy Dog supervising, until things got noisy and she needed to hide.
The next step was putting up concrete backer board that we would later tile over. I chose to use standard subway tile for this bathroom, primarily because it is really inexpensive compared to other tile, and it has a nice clean look to it. If I had an unlimited budget, I would have used the handmade subway tile which has some variation in it that looks really neat, but it costs at least 5 times as much as the ordinary stuff!
The picture above is the first round of tile, before the nook was put in. After this, we cut out the nook, framed out the nook inside the wall, and then lined it with plastic, the concrete backer board, and then Red Guard to seal it. This picture was before the Red Guard was applied, but you get the idea:
After this, we finished out the subway, and tiled the back of the niche in a herringbone pattern with small subway tiles. I just had to stick herringbone in the room somewhere, it has basically become the official pattern of the Huber house at this point.
Now, I do have to confess one stupid mistake. I am maybe known for not reading directions, and I constantly have to remind myself to take the time to do something right. I love seeing something get finished, but slowing down to make sure every detail is right is just hard. So anyway, I was home alone when I grouted the tile in the shower. I swear I read the directions, even though I had just grouted the sink back splash a week before. I put the specified amount of water in, mixed it up, and applied it, knowing that it had to be wiped down after 30 minutes. I started on one of the short walls and worked my way around, finishing the tub in less than 30 minutes, but when I turned around to start wiping off the extra grout, it was dry. And the rest was drying fast! I started wiping down as much as I could, and started really scrubbing the rest. I ended up having to carefully scrape grout off of the tiles for the next few days. Yes, days. Many, many podcasts to get me through it. Lesson learned: work in small batches, and don't listen to the directions. For real though, smaller sections are better, and make sure that your grout isn't too dry as you apply it.
I am really excited about this next part - we framed the shower nook in teak wood! My design plan was basically black, white and wood, and this was my way of getting wood in the shower area. Teak is commonly used for boats, and so with the right finish, it's safe for use in a wet area. We went to our favorite lumber yard that carries exotic wood, and picked up one board of real teak. According to the guys there, some furniture out there that is sold as teak really isn't such, and so people will come in looking for a board to fix up their furniture and find that the board is more expensive than the piece of furniture was. Yikes! Anyway, we carefully, after measuring about 16 times, cut our teak down and sealed all sides with Waterlox.
In the picture above, the last board hasn't been sealed yet, so you can see that it doesn't change dramatically with the Waterlox, other than the sheen.
I specifically picked this arrangement (shelf as long as the top and bottom) so that I wouldn't need to screw anything in (screws = rust)- the pieces just wedge into the space with some adhesive. Also, the bottom shelf is slightly sloped down in the front so that water will run off. The top opening is about 10.75” tall, and the bottom is 5” tall. It would hold all of the bottles that we use, but if you shop at Costco, you might need an extra large nook. :)
At this point, the shower was basically finished. I caulked the corners of the shower with caulk matching our grout color (Delorean Gray), and also the point where the shower walls meet the tub.
This photo shows the fixtures that we chose for the shower:
I chose the hand-held shower sprayer thinking that it would be handy for giving the dog a bath, and this one in particular has a nice wide spray pattern. The stainless finish is really close to the brushed nickel of the sink and light fixture above the sink. You’ll see two finishes in this bathroom - brushed nickel and matte black. I used the brushed nickel for the fixtures that are unlikely to change, and matte black as an accent elsewhere. Mixing metals is one of those things that is popular now, but there was a long time where people wouldn’t really do it. So, by keeping the more permanent objects in the room all in one finish, it’s an easy change for someone down the road if they don’t like the look.
Speaking of matte black, I used that finish for the shower curtain rod and hooks. It was surprisingly difficult to find a shower curtain rod in black! I went with a tension style rod because I didn’t want to drill through the tile. I grabbed the shower curtain because I think goes well with the floor. The bath mat is teak, and I happened to find it on sale (always nice when that happens). I love the look of it, and I’m hoping I don’t mind the feel under my feet when stepping out of the shower.
So, that pretty much covers the shower area of the new bathroom. If you are curious about any of the materials or products that I used, I compiled a source list here with everything I could think of!
Stay tuned for the details in the other areas of the room.
Have a great week!
~Amy
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