Except for some assistance with floor demolition and electrical wiring from dear old dad, this project was a solo one. Though we decided not to touch the tub, I ripped out everything else and installed a new floor, wainscoting, sink, toilet, and cabinets. The three pieces of cabinetry I built myself, using ideas garnered from an article I found in Workbench Magazine.
Throughout the painting, tiling, plumbing and cabinetry process, I learned a few things that I thought I would share with my adoring public...
A two week project will likely take more than two weeks. This goes without saying I know, but i'll say it nonetheless.
Mouse hunting can easily add an additional week to the length of the project.
Avoid getting input on color schemes from your young daughters. That is, unless you like orange and green walls with purple fixtures.
Store-bought seashells can easily be passed off as ones you supposedly obtained scouring the shores of Cape Cod in hopes of making your daughters happy.
Pedestal sinks are easier to install than regular ones, but you can save yourself some grief by installing the faucet on the sink BEFORE you attach the sink to the wall.
You can buy one of every plumbing part Home Depot has to offer in one trip, and you will STILL need to go back there for one more thing before you're done.
Toilets and sinks are apparently designed to leak after the first two attempts to install, but will work fine afterwards.
When putting that little magnet catch on the back of the medicine cabinet door, make absolutely sure you don't run the screw right through the mirror.
General Finishes makes a polyacrylic clearcoat that you can put on painted furniture, making the furniture virtually indestructible. I would like to paint every surface of my house and car with this stuff. I'd drink it if I could.
If your daughters want to help, let them. Just avoid the final painting stage. Give them a screw to twist, or a clamp to squeeze. One little project to do will give them a huge amount of pride in their creation, and it will also enable them to take credit for the entire project once it's done.
Custom cut glass is not expensive and easily obtainable. The same is true for custom mirrors. This is especially useful to know when you have to replace the one you broke while installing the magnet catch on your medicine door.
4 comments:
Congratulations!
I like the slide out spice rack between the toilet and the sink. I suppose you could also put toiletries in there instead of nutmeg, but it is a good idea nonetheless. I keep knocking over all of the little perfume bottles on the rickety shelf in my wife's bathroom. I may be banned from there soon.
As the mother of 2 teenage girls, I feel obligated to point out to you that tampons come in 4 sizes, each of which have their own box. There are enough different kinds of maxipads (not to mention minipads and pantyliners) to fill an entire grocery store aisle, and each does a different thing. Hair goo, accessories, and appliances take up an enormous amount of space. Girls have acne one day, dry skin the next. Each day requires a different facial cleanser. Make-up--each component comes in different colors, and you don't want your makeup to clash with your hair accessories...Bottom line, I see no storage facility, thereby restoring your shiny new bathroom into the festering craphole it once was in just a few short years. Congratulations. Your Sister
This coming from someone who's younger child's bedroom is so small she has to stand in the hallway just to change her mind.
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