Nothing is Ever Easy - The Ongoing Saga of Our Powder Room Reno

I think that a recurring theme in home renovations and updating projects is "one step forward, two steps back." 

Our powder room project is no exception.

After my success of installing the sink and the toilet by myself since Hubs was out of town (let's give a big hand for the internet as a resource on How To instructions), I was basking in the glow of having a functional bathroom again. 

Unfortunately that glow was short lived.  I went to use the toilet and realized that when it flushed, water leaked from the area between the toilet tank and the base.  Poo (no pun intended), that meant that the gasket failed. 

I rushed to the hardware store since it was less than 24 hours before we were hosting 27 for dinner Christmas Eve.  Yikes!  So not having a functional extra bath was not an option.  It took me a couple of tries to get everything secured and tightened just just right so there were no drips or leaks but now we, again, have a functioning toilet. 

Like I said, nothing is ever easy. 

Coming up next?  Mounting the mirror and other fixtures.

We Have a Toilet! And a Sink! And a Locking Doorknob!

More progress on the powder room.  We now have a sink, toilet, baseboards, trim and a new doorknob (with a lock!). 

The trim still needs to be caulked and painted, the mirror needs to go up, along with the TP holder, towel ring and some sort of cabinet for extra storage needs to be found.  Lastly, we need to sand just a bit off the bottom of the door since the new floor is a hair higher than the old floor. 

I also need to find some artwork.  I have some ideas but not sure if they will work in the space. 

Stay tuned for more updates as more things get finished in the powder room.

More (Powder Room) Progress! Paint!

The lastest step in the progress on the powder room was paint.

Glidden Dapper Tan, colormatched to Behr Flat Enamel. 
You may recognize this color.  It is the same one we used in our center bathroom.  I love the warmth to the color and how is makes a room seem cozy.  Additionally, it coordinates wonderfully with the grout color we selected.



Next up, installing baseboards and door trim.  Keep checking back on our progress.

We Have a Floor!

There is more progress in the powder room.  We have moved onto the next important step in our powder room redo. 

We have a floor and a quite nice one if I say so myself. 

We went with an octagon and dot tile, in an off-white color with a parchment (think light tan) colored grout.  Now, I have to say that the store called the tile color white, however, it is not a stark white.  So it will work perfectly with our bisque colored toilet and sink. 

Stay tuned for more progress.  Next up?  Paint.

What is Green, Orange, White and Rag Painted All Over?

Why our powder room, that is what.

We replaced the drywall that needed removing once I took down the tile with moisture/mold resistant greenboard.  It took a bit of doing to get the right cuts around the pipes but after about four or five little modifications we got it to fit just right.  Though it probably did not help that we did not start measuring and cuting until 9 pm.  Yeah, we got distracted and sidtracked during the day.  Whoops. 

With the greenboard up, we mudded and taped the seams.  Once they get sanded and remudded, I will move onto painting the room to remove the awful pinky tan on yellow rag painting currently on the walls.  I have already painted the ceiling a nice bright white. 

We laid the Ditra underlayment to prepare for laying the tile. We first saw this product on Holmes on Homes on HGTV.  Mike Holmes helps people who have been taken for a ride by their contractors. Hubs and I love the show, mainly because because Mike, and his teams, do gorgeous work.  Also, he highlights tips and products that help him do this wonderful work.

So far, the Ditra has been easy to cut and lay.  The next step is laying the tile.

Keep checking back to see the next steps.

What Do You Do With An Ugly Powder Room?

Demo it, of course.  When we moved in, our powder room looked like this.

Yes, that is wallpaper border running down the walls. That lovely detail was found in evey corner.  As an added bonus, it was put up before the trim was installed.  It was also running along the ceiling.  There was more wallpaper border in this teeny bath than in most bedrooms, a total of 86 feet.   It is at times like this that I have to wonder what the "designer" of this room was thinking.

The tiles also ran up the wall just around the sink and the wall next to it, again another interesting "design" detail.  Add to the mix wall tiles used as floor tiles, some of the tile having been installed over wall paper, and a particularly dingy shade of yellow painted on the walls and ceiling and you know why we scheduled a redo of this room.

After about 5 hours one evening, we ended up with this.

Some of the "fun finds" we discovered were the 1/2" plywood behind the drywall around the sink, the wall tiles had been attached to the wall with what I can only figure was grout (so I was chiseling like mad, which resulted in needing to remove the drywall due to all the damage), the tile was not installed correctly on the floor (there was no underlayment, the mortar wasn't grooved so the tiles were actually just sitting on top so came up with ease) and using fabric softener and water to remove the wallpaper makes your house smell amazing. 

Keep watching for updates as we make progess is putting this room back together.