When we moved into our house one of the bathrooms was this crazy pink bathroom from 1945…believe me,  that is a lot of pink!   So this year we decided it had to go.

 All those TV DIY shows make the demo part look fun but it’s actually the worst…big messes and lots of dust! That said, my humans were not very sad to  take a sledgehammer to the ugly vanity. It was the first thing to go. It put up a good fight but they eventually got it out.  This was one well built bathroom. The walls are a layer of chicken wire covered with cement and then plaster and then the pink tiles. The floor was sitting on 2 inches of concrete…there was need for a mini jackhammer.

The humans got it gutted down to the studs and then work got really busy and we fostered a bunch of puppies so it sat for a long time all naked like that. No one opened the door for 2 months and then finally the re-construction began. The best part is building it back up into a new room. First we had a plumber come in and rough in new plumbing to move the vanity to the side so we could fit in a double sink vanity. He also upgraded all the tub plumbing that was in the wall. He did a very nice job so it was time to move on.

We had to install the tub for the plumbing inspection so we had to prep the floor for it. We kept the original subfloor, which was in great condition but we had to plan to build it up the 2″ that was concrete and fill the hole from the original vanity. Here’s my HD plotting where to put the next piece.

We also installed new low-E double pane windows. It was really easy because they made them to fit our old openings. The humans had them in in less than an hour and it made a big difference. A lot less heat was coming in through them than the old windows. We also ran all the electrical for the fixtures.

We got the new tub installed and then had our rough-in inspection. Everything was great except HD had to cut a hole in his new floor so the inspector could see the drains. If you live in Los Angeles, remember inspectors won’t go into crawl spaces…lesson learned here the hard way, BOL!

Now it was time to really start building! Then the insulation went in.

And then the backer board for the tiles and the drywall went up. It was starting to look like a room again.

The ceiling was a lot of work because we took the original plaster off  due to it  cracking. It was covering a layer of cement that separates the room from the attic so that had to stay. My HM spent 3 days re-plastering the ceiling but it turned out nice.

Things were really moving now. We passed our drywall inspection and headed towards completion. All the drywall got primed and the backer board behind the toilet got plastered.

Next we installed the Bisazza glass tiles around the tub. The humans were worried about doing this part because everyone was telling them it’s very hard to do right because the mosaic is small tiles. The spacers were so flimsy, in the end they just eyeballed it and it worked out great. You have to make sure you use white mortar with glass tiles so they keep their original color.

While the wall tiles were drying, my HD installed the travertine tiles on the floor. We rented a tile saw and it cut through them like butter!

Next the floor got grouted. The humans did the floor first to practice for the wall tiles, which are harder.

After the excess grout was wiped off, we had to wait for the floor to dry before we could do anything else. I kept an eye on it to see when it was done.

We did a test fit of the new vanity…everything fits! Whew!

We decided to add a glass tile backsplash for the vanity so there was more tiling yet. We taped them to hold them in place while they dried.

Next up was the grout for the glass tiles. You have to work fast because it needs epoxy grout, which dries very quickly. We had to by a special cleaner to remove the excess grout. It’s a very sticky grout but when it dries, it’s very hard and very water resistant. We got a good tip to pick a grout color close to the tile color because with the small gout lines it makes it look tidier. That tip was very true and it looked very nice! Once the grout was done the paint went on the walls.

I mostly supervised from the hallway up until now because there was a lot of messy stuff that could get in my fur. Now that everything was clean and dry, I came in to help install the fixtures. Do they have a paw adaptor for this drill?

The lights went up and worked!

And the toilet fit just perfect.

Now it was time to install the vanity and sinks.

It was tricky because the sinks came with the equivalent of Ikea instructions for the plumbing (a bunch of pictures…this actually had only 1 picture.) But my HD has endless patience and finally   got them in and working.

The shower and tub fixtures were a lot easier to install. My HD made a nice mahogany cap for the tub pony wall that matches the vanity as a final touch.

 

Then the towel bars went up.

 

And the mirror got installed,

We’re just waiting for a custom bath panel for the side of the tub to keep the shower water in and it’s done!

As a finishing touch we hung up a picture of the original pink bathroom so we can remember all our hard work, BOL!

Now I like to lay on the tile (it is very nice and cool in the summer) and admire all my…I mean our, hard work.