The Bathroom Story - Chapter 6

At last my bathroom is finished.

I really love it but had a lot of work when I noticed that at night you could see lots of dribbles of paint that had escaped behind the masking tape on the faceted glass. This was not visible when Matt removed the tape during the day.

Last night I spent 2 hours with a razor blade, small brush and steel wool removing the paint. Then a Windex wipe to clean. Lesson learned - do not use masking tape on faceted glass, it is a waste of time.

I have not had a shower yet but am looking forward to tomorrow morning. I decided that as I had to varnish the door this morning then clean the rest of the front of the house to get rid of dust and in-ground dirt a shower would be a waste of time.

Come and visit to see my new bathroom some time. I just love it.

The Bathroom Story - Chapter 5

It is now just on 3 weeks and things have slowed down while glue and grouting dry and other tradies are available.

I now have a space that looks like a bathroom except for the fittings, power and lights.

I am still waiting for a refund on the toilet that was the wrong colour. I get a different story everytime I chase it up.

I have left over boxes of floor and wall tiles that I cannot return so if you need any of them please just let me know.

On Tuesday I expect the plumber, electrician and builder to come and finish off and hopefully clean up their mess as well.

However, I have my loungeroom back to normal and all dusted and vacuumed and my bedroom is dusted and vacuumed although I still can't sleep in there because of the lack of bathroom nearby and the boxes and bits in the hall blocking my way in the middle of the night.

Patience is a virtue they say!

The Bathroom Story - Chapter 4

It is now the end of Week 2 and I have a few bits complete:

1. The hole in the loungeroom wall has been filled and painted and it is very difficult to see where it was. The Bunnings paint matching machine worked really well.

2. This morning the tiler came and grouted the new floor and it looks amazing.

3. A replacement shelf has been put in the laundry where some bleach had degraded the melamine and pineboard of the old shelf.

4. The framework is up for an awning over the loungeroom window to shade from the low western sun in summer. I tried to grow vines and trees etc but there are power cables coming to the house just above the window which makes trees and vines not an option. Next week the roofing will come for the awning.

5. The downstairs toilet seat has been moved to the upstairs toilet which had a cracked seat. It looks great.

The Bathroom Story - Chapter 3

It has now been 2 weeks since the huge job began. The walls and floor have been rendered and the plumbing re-positioned.

The joinery around the window has been altered slightly to allow for pots and blue bottles.

The door on the cupboard between the windows has been removed and will not be replaced allowing for some shelving.

It has all now been waterproofed as well.

The Bathroom Story - Chapter 2

So now the house is covered in dust from the absolute gutting of the bathroom. The builder is fabulous (Meld Constructions) and has done lots of work at my place in the past.

I was locked out of the front of the house for the dusty part to at least limit the dust in the back half. This sort of worked but I know the cleaners are going to get a shock when they come next.

All the plumbing had to be re-fitted in new positions.

Even the ceiling had to be removed (though it was not good anyway) to rewire a downlight, a fan  and a change of light switch position.

In the process of removing the sconce cupboard a hole appeared in the loungeroom wall which was temporarily covered with some cardboard.

The Bathroom Story

When I returned home from my recently holiday I started bathroom renovations which I had booked in before I left. It all happened because there were a dozen issues that needed fixing and I am not getting younger so I decided that the most cost effective (and aesthetic) solution would be to start again. As the bathroom was built in 1946 with only the addition of an inside toilet I felt I was justified.

Issues included:
1. Tiles falling off the bath, and bath no longer needed. When I am well I don't want a bath and when I am not well I can't get in and out. It was also a deep, cast iron bath that took ages to even get a 4" deep bath and it cooled off so quickly I'd freeze and have to get out. No soaking in a warm bath. The bath is going down to Underhill as a winter bath with a fire under it.

2. The window sills were so narrow it was difficult to sit my pot plants on them and it is difficult to find narrow pots.

3. The cupboard between the windows gets very hot in summer (no good for medications) and the door would not close.

4. The shower had a hob which I found awkward when I returned from my hip replacement and the wall of the shower meant it was always very dark, even when the light was on.

5. The tiles in the shower were damp behind and needed replacing and some were even very loose. I had had some glued back on some years ago.

6. The tiny cupboard set into the wall behind the toilet was awkward to get to and was built into a sconce in the single brick wall. But the toilet was fine.

7. The floor tiles, although individually laid, did not extend under the bath or shower hob and wall so would need to be replaced if I did anything.

8. All the wall tiles were minutely crazed and also did not extend behind the bath or the shower hob.

9. My friend Margaret (now 93) always regretted not putting a new carpet in her home when it was needed. When she finally left her home 20 years later she said she should have done it and her wise words were basically "if it needs doing, do it now, otherwise it will be too late". So I did.