Our one bath restoration and the HD bucket we speak of no more.
The wife and I live in a simple place. I've had people tell me, "What a nice, starter home," and while I don't quite understand what they mean, I'm pretty sure we will fall out touch soon.
I'm really bad at taking before photos. Cell phone progress photos, yes (mostly so I can remember how things go back together or to text friends the image for help), but no befores. Luckily I did save the old realty photos so I enjoy side by siding those at the end of a project.
Our house is from the 40's but seems to rely heavily on 20's interior creation: coved ceilings, pretty archways, etc. The only thing that had been updated was the bathroom- in the 90's and I'll say "on a tiny budget," as an insult, but will then tote that word as a good thing later in this thread. But for now, I'll just copy and paste my Facebook post on this project to save a little writing time and you'll never be the wiser.
First off some thanks in order since most of this stuff was new. The wife who encourages me to do projects and kept me a little saner; The tools and knowledge borrowed from the older fellas ; People that helped move heavy things; My sponsors: craigslist, offerup, covid, and that one time I accidentally clicked on pinterest when the wife was out of town; Any man in my life that put a tool in my hand, let me watch over a shoulder, etc (don't make that weird); And the mother who pushed new experiences and also gave me my first tool set, which I'm still confused to this day why it was pink (wrenches still in my box).
Everything got rearranged in the room besides the window that's still in position and the toilet (except for that one week - thanks to another sponsor, Home Depot and your big orange buckets). We were even able to save and lift the original ceiling arch after much brainstorming with Steve (you don't know him).
Finally photos:
After
Before (with huge black tiles)
Before
After
What's that weird cabinet?
Save the arch, save the top of my head.
*note fire extinguisher
Everything was done on our tiny budget like the beadboard wallpaper (shhh), and lots of online marketplace pre-collecting, then reselling parts I didn't need. Almost everything was done in labor myself. The wife helped greatly with the floor, and I think I mentioned, Steve's help (I told you already, you don't know him. It doesn't matter what his last name is). Plenty of things went right, some things are probably still wrong (but very well hidden), and others, like a couple tile shifts that I will always see and harp on from my now non-orange throne are things nobody else even notices.
Comments (43)
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One bath down, one to go -- Vintage inspired guest bath remodel
Comments (105)Lovely sense of style! Bravo! We investigated porcelain marble look-alike tile but we decided on real marble which we will have to care for without any acidic products. Beware that there is a repeating pattern in marble look-alike porcelain tile like (on wall paper which will give away the secret.) We found great deals on Amazon and at Lowes for Bianco Carrara subways, pencils, chair rails and floor and shower floor hexes (1/3 the price of tile stores). We found a gorgeous remnant for our shower bench at a marble and stone shop at an amazing price. I can't wait until it's done to post photos! But back to your house... it's gorgeous!...See MoreOur Brand New Master Bath - PICS!
Comments (63)catkin: Wow! I can't believe it, but I DO know the answer to your question about the paneled wall! They actually used both: they used 1/2" high grade on the wall with the towel rack, that extends from the shower. It has the applied mouldings. They had to use the 1/4" behind the toilet. If they had used the thicker, I believe they said that it would make the toilet sit too far away from the wall, and the drain/bolts wouldn't match up, if that makes sense (I am probably saying it wrong...I understand it, but I hope you can figure out what I'm talking about). I don't know what "luan" is. The 1/4" was thin enough to not compromise the position of the toilet. We kept it simpler behind the toilet, with just a top moulding, since the area is so tight there. Patti...See MoreOne more time... Photos of your old houses please
Comments (65)Hey y'all thanks! blufish: We really think that someone was just after a "new look" for that "musty old Victorian". We think the stucco happened when some other updates occured in 1925, so the bricks might have been due a repointing and some mason talked them into the whole Spanish Revival thing. We're not sure what it would take to remove the stucco, although I'm tempted almost daily to just go outside and start whacking on the house with a hammer. My hope is after the Powerball fairies bless us that we can either remove all the stucco and restore the bricks or remove all the stucco and reface with a thin brick. mom2lilenj: Good luck on the windows! We've been fairly lucky with the windows. It's clear that most of ours are original 1/1 double hung. There are 3 that were removed in the back of the house, 2 were replaced with metal casement windows (painted shut of course) and the 3rd was replaced with the current back door. A PO also enclosed the side porch and converted it into a bedroom, adding a couple of other windows. All the new windows were either added at the time of the stucco or afterwards. Every last "new" window has suffered severe water damage at the sills and we're going to be hard at work trying to repair them this summer. Oh the joys of old houses! On the fun front, we've discovered one of the original porch posts under the stucco, (after a large chunk of stucco fell off!) did a bit more exploring and found some paint shadows where the circle trim used to be. That gave us some measurements, so we were able to acertain that most of our stucco columns are located where the original porch posts were, so we're hoping we'll find most of our original porch posts are just hidden under there. I've just emailed the old house photo to a wood working shop to get quotes on replacing all the fancy trim. Cross fingers and I'll have a proper porch again one day! Always ;-) Hunzi...See MoreI KNOW our Realtor thinks we're nuts!
Comments (31)You are always going to have folks who THINK new is better. It's the way they are wired. A good many of those folks are in the real estate profession. They are looking at things from the point of the bottomline. Not always the best place to measure success from. I'd start by finding a different contractor. When it comes to contractors you generally have two types the one ones who like new because it's fast and easy and it fattens their wallets with a quick turn around and the the ones who are masters and will work with you to save what they can. Generally speaking the latter is more costly but they also have the advantage of being better problem solvers and better at their craft. There seems to be a point of pride they carry which the gut and build guys just don't have. That house has character. It has a good location and if you can afford to fix it up so it maintains that charm then I'd go for it. You fell in love with it as it is. Fixed up and maintained somebody else in the future will love it just as much if not more. My biggest rule in home ownership is go with your gut. If your gut tells you it's better to save it than flatten it them do it....See More
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2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoThanks peoples. After a year, it's still my favorite room to poop in.
Oh yeah, the kitchen... I'm still waiting for pinterest to get back to me and come take photos so I can claim all my free stuff.
Sorry, off topic, but wouldja just look at this huge egg that Barb'e laid yesterday compared to Char's.
Also, I thought the speckles on Chops' egg were cool when held up to the light.
Again, sorry. Just a proud Chicken daddy I guess.Jeff Meeks
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoJilly
2 years agoWhich came first, the kitchen or the egg?
I’m here all week, folks!
Thanks, I’ll see myself out …
Jilly