Sunday, March 21, 2010

Back to the bathroom remodel

When we last left our intrepid house owner, she had unwisely decided to tackle an outdoor project and an indoor bathroom model in the same spring. The bathroom project got set aside for a while, but now it's BACK!! So after a few elbow grease sessions scraping off ugly wallpaper (pictured in a previous entry), here's where the project stood:

Hurray! No more ugly wallpaper! Next, paint. In this case, Coral Gable Biltmore Mediterranean Caramel. I guess for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, you have to have a fancy name. I just tell people, "It looks like cinnamon":
My original plan for the floor/ugly linoleum was to simply put new linoleum on top. Then I had a conversation with a friend, who asked, "How hard is it really going to be to get that linoleum up? What's underneath it?" I decided to find out. Here's what I found:
Score! More red oak, just like in the rest of the house. I started having dreams of beautifully refinished wood bathroom floors. Then I pulled up the rest of the linoleum by the toilet and found this:
Hmm. Not so pretty. A friend said I could sand the black sticky stuff off, but as I continued to pull up linoleum, I decided that no matter how much I tried to sand, it just wasn't going to look as good as the hallway wood just on the other side of the bathroom door frame. Here's how everything looked post-linoleum removal:

I'm going to tile. Anyone feel like helping? It's my spring break project-- along with removing a half-way torn-off gutter, rehanging a gate, and carpenter bee-proofing one last part of the balcony off my bedroom. Woo . . .







10 comments:

CSIowa said...

There are carpenter bees? Yikes!

Kelly said...

I am so impressed with your remodeling skills! Good luck with the tile. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Tracy P. said...

Tile! AN excellent choice. I think wood floor in a bathroom is a ridiculous choice, anyway! Glad to see you bloggin again. I was starting to wonder if you froze to death.

literaqueen said...

No, not frozen, just buried in seminary prep. to catch up for TWO WEEKS of cancellations. Now I get my Sunday evenings back since we're caught up again.

Today I got a friend to volunteer her husband to remove the rest of my three-fourths-ripped-off gutter. So, if I can't handle the remodel, I know people who can . . .

literaqueen said...

And yes, I've been battling carpenter bees every May since I moved into the house. Persistent creatures, but I think I've almost persuaded them to find a new home.

Nettie said...

So, how does one carpenter bee proof? It sounds like your bathroom is coming along nicely! We have a tile cutter saw if you need one. We spent spring break a couple years ago tiling the kitchen, hall, bath, laundry...It was the project that never ends. I'm not sure I ever wish to tile again!

literaqueen said...

I had no idea you had a tile saw, Lynette. I've found one already, but if I can't locate a replacement blade, I might be contacting you.

Carpenter bees don't like painted wood, so I painted most of the wood they were burrowing into last year. I still have one little edge area to finish. Hope this works . . .

Fletch said...

I think you're smart to tile. Wood floor in a bathroom seems impractical, right? And tile is just way more attractive than linoleum.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product! Good luck.

Tom said...

We remodeled our bathroom years ago. I'm glad we did it, but I will keep you in my prayers.

literaqueen said...

It's now a slightly longer, more complicated process-- I'll do a separate entry about it.