Our bathroom remodel is being handled by Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. of Bethesda, MD. The design is mostly Bill's, but once again Nicole at Case is doing a great job of keeping us on the right track, just as she did with our kitchen remodel....
And since you're wondering: yes, it's the only full bath in our house. Good thing there's a gym one block away.
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Feb. 16 - Finished. |
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Today the glass shower screen was installed, along with the missing cabinet glass inserts. So, with the exception of a doorknob, a new swivel for the shower head, and a grab bar for us old folks, and one last little decorative flourish that Bill is working on, the bathroom renovation is finished. So here are the final pictures, with the "before"s (I hope you can figure out which is which). If you want to know the brand or source of a certain fixture, scroll down the page to when it was installed, and you'll see a link.
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Artwork by Bill.
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Bill's Excel spreadsheet design of the bathroom, now framed.
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Jan. 29-30 - Mirror, Final Light Fixtures, Window Film, Painting: |
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The vanity and it's mirror before....
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And now. You can also now see the new paint color for the walls, too ("White Satin" by Benjamin Moore).
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Looking into the mirror above the vanity, toward the toilet and its cabinet, before....
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And now. There will be frosted glass in the cabinet doors, someday.
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Overall, before.
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And now. Latest addition: the film on the windows ("Morning Freeze" from Decorative Films), giving them a frosted look but without having to put in new glass. Don't look too closely or you'll see the wall on the right needs to be repainted, after attempt #1 had some problems.
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Jan. 24-26 - Lighting, More Tile: |
Recessed lights now installed, along with the cobalt blue chair rail at the top of the subway tile.
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The shower, with all fixtures now up and running, and tile completed (including in the niche at right). The blue mosaic glass tile is by Bisazza.
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The new pendant light over the vanity. Once the mirror is installed, there will also be two sconces.
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The vanity, with the tile now run around it, awaiting grouting.
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Jan. 23, Plumbing: |
Haven't done this for a few days, so here's a before....
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And now, looking just a touch different. But still not done alas. However, note those window mouldings, now fabulously painted by Bill.
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The new sink and the new faucet, with the new countertops.
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A closeup of the sink fixtures. They are by Porcher.
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To the left you can now see our shower fixtures. Above: our tub spout, a Grohe Tenso. Below left: the dual-control thermostatic shower valve, by Hudson Reed. The volume is set by the level, and the temperature by the knob. Below right: The divertor, also by Hudson Reed. |
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Jan. 20, Countertops: |
The countertops are Silestone "Stellar Marine." They aren't as dark as it seems in this picture (we need to get all the new lights installed to make these photos come out right!)
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We also used the Silestone to cap the glass block, and as a shelf above the toilet. The blue at the very front of the Silestone in this shot is closet to what it looks like in reality.
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The new countertop, and the new sink, too. And at right is a sneak preview of our Vanity Garages, which will be on each side of the countertop and which will be topped with the Silestone. (but they'll be shallower than the one you see here, they're going to get a few inches lopped of their backs.)
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Jan. 18-19, Accessories: |
Wire baskets for shower products.
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Nothing different here, except Bill's initial tests for the color to paint the walls. (The top one is probably closest to the direction we want to head.) None of these get JD's approval, so we'll be spending this weekend haunting every paint store in the Metro area.
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The new throne, peeking out from behind its glass block.
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The old vanity.
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The new one.
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A slight detour: two years ago, we had a serious leak that left the guestroom's ceiling sagging (and necessitated a complete replacement of the roof). The bathroom contractors agreed to patch the ceiling drywall for us while working one room over in the bathroom. Today was the day. And yup, now another room to paint.
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9:00 a.m.
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Noon.
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5:00 p.m.
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Jan. 17, Glass Block, Odds and Ends: |
Before....
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And now, with the glass block divider added, the toilet installed, and the cabinets in progress.
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The vanity area before....
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And now, with one of the two medicine cabinets installed.
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Jan. 14, Tile Work Almost Finished: |
The shower stall before....
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And now. The blue mosaic glass tile is by Bisazza. Don't fret about that brown strip, we're still waiting on the cobalt blue chair rail pieces.
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The view of the tub from the hallway, before....
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And now. On Monday there will be three rows of glass block put on top of the low wall at the end of the tub. And mosaic tile inside the niche. And for the record, the tub (finally uncovered) is a Bain Ultra Primo Solo, which uses air to create a bubble-licious bath, kind of like soaking in club soda. |
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The view to the right from the hallway, before....
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And now. Pretty retro, huh. Just wait until the countertops, light fixtures, medicine cabinets, and other accessories get into place. The subway tile areas still need the cobalt blue chair rail put in at top.
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Jan. 10-11, More Tile Work: |
Before....
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And now.
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Before....
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And now.
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Don't worry, the red dots are the spacers for the tiles. With a sense of depth now apparent again in the photos, you can start to see the difference in the room by demolishing the wall between the shower and the toilet. (The kneewall will soon have three rows of glass block on top, so it won't end up being quite this open.)
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Jan. 9, Tile Work Begins: |
Before....
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And now.
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It's been a slow few weeks here, with not much progress. At the end of last week the tile guy quit, and so today they brought in a new subcontractor. And finally we see some real change. The color isn't represented real well in this photo, the dark tiles are a neat cobalt blue. Note that the floor uses both square and hexagonal tiles. All credit to The Man for designing this layout.
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The old bathroom and the old floor....
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And the same view, with the new floor. Again, note that the dark tile is cobalt blue, not black.
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Dec. 31, Cabinet Installations Begin: |
Here's the new vanity, in that new "tall" size. Right now it doesn't look that different from the old one, but wait for the
countertops.
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Tile work will begin next week. The boxes of floor tile are here, and the wall tile has been delivered to the contractor. Believe me when I say there will be a LOT of tile.
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A current view into the bathroom. The hole in the wall at right is for one of the two medicine cabinets. You can see that the moulding around the window and the baseboards are gone now, too. And if you look very closely with your x-ray vision, you can see the beginnings of the half-wall (eventually to be topped with glass block) that will separate the end of the tub from the toilet. And the hole for the light switches at left is new, too. After a week of drywall work, it's nice to have some visible progress.
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Dec. 21, New Tub Arrives: |
The new tub has arrived, although for now it's being covered and used as a workbench.
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The tub is a " Primo Duo" by BainUltra, which uses air rather than water to power the massage jets.
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Dec. 13-15, Plumbing, Subfloor, Electrical Work: |
It's true, I did hold out on you. The water-volume handle is now added to the tub fixtures.
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There's now a floor of sorts,
much to the chagrin of Guga.
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Lots of holes cut for recessed lights.
(Don't worry, the existing fixture and medallion
will not be held over.)
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After clearing out the tub and the
drywall, they found some very very old
baseboards.
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Holes cut for the vanity sconces,
and also the side medicine cabinets.
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Dec. 8-9, Plumbing Work, New Subfloor: |
Not much that's photographically exciting to
report from these two days. But the plumber
did do a lot of work getting the shower
fixtures moved to the opposite wall from
their old location.
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A close-up view of the new thermostatic valve....
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Dec. 7, Demolition Finished: |
Before....
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Same view--no more floor, tub, vanity, toilet, wall....
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Before....
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Vanity, mirror, and tile gone.
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Dec. 6, Demolition Begins: |
Before....
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Bathtub gone, toilet gone, separator wall gone.
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Before....
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Tub gone, wall tile gone.
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The Design: |
The new design of the bathroom is completely the work of husband Bill. To make it even more amazing, he did it all in Microsoft Excel, to scale, with one square equaling one inch. And as you see from the above pictures, reality has come amazingly close to what he envisioned. Except maybe the wall color. (click on the image to enlarge it further)
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