Bathroom remodel

The bathroom in our condo had reached critical mass. Whoever the genius was who did the original work put in mismatched tiles. The grout was beyond cleaning or repair. The tiles had cracks. Basically it was a squalid mess. So we called in the fine folks at Miracle Method and had them resurface the tub and all the tiles, and while they were at it, they also removed the floor and put in a new one.

We lucked out in a major way because our next door neighbor was going to be out of town, so we were able to use his bathroom. This turned out to be a Very Good Thing because the three days of work that were originally estimated turned into six days. I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to go that long without peeing or showering.

The Horrible Before

So, you know, typical bathroom. It's kind of astonishing how much you don't see when you see a room every day. For example, see mismatched tiles and chips in tiles above the toilet.

I'd grown to really despise the toothbrush and soap holder. They would soon be gone! Those colored tiles stayed though. They were hand painted and fired by a friend of the guy I bought the condo from and I like 'em.

Also hated: the towel rods. Buh-bye!

Again, mismatched tile, chipped tile where apparently someone before me tore down a hated, glued-on something.

I actually liked the sink. Nice and big, room to put stuff on the back. But as you can see: zero storage. I was sick and tired of having all my toiletries out for the world to see.

Oh god the horrible floor. HATE.

Mismatched tile. Cracked tile. Horrible, horrible grout. Horrible soap holder. Horrible faucet and knobs. Tub that just would not ever look clean again, despite my valiant and seemingly nonstop attempts. Good riddance to all of you.

The horror!

 Day 1 -- The Deconstruction

Horrible floor, sink, toilet, everything that was attached to the walls: GONE.

Apparently they just ripped everything off the walls and filled it in with new tile. Didn't meed to match it at all, because it's all going to get the spray treatment.

It's a sight to behold.

And here's the bathroom, gutted, filled in,  and ready for spraying.

Day 2 -- The Spraying

On Day 2 my man Saul from Miracle Method came in and worked his ass off all day. He worked for about 8 hours straight, never taking a single bathroom or food break. I don't know how he did it. Most of the day he spent chipping out nasty grout and smoothing down all the surfaces. Then he put on the hazmat suit and fired up his weapons.

There were lots of chemicals involved.

There was chaos.

It was LOUD and it was STINKY.

Oh the shiny, shiny beauty of the sprayed surfaces! Uniform color! No more grout! I am in love.

You could eat off that tub.

Day 3 -- The Fiddling

Saul came back the next day to go over the whole surface with a fine-tooth comb to fix anything that he missed. I was hoping the flooring people would be able to also come out that day, because Saul was in and out in the space of an hour, but the guy's truck broke down and so we had to wait until the next day.

Day 4 -- The New Floor

I have to say, the floor is probably my most favorite thing about the bathroom now. We spent way more money on the tiles than I had planned for, but it was totally worth it. We found some fancy Italian ceramic tile that looks like slate at Best Tile.

Hot damn. That's one good looking floor right there.

I mean really.

 
Day 5 -- The New Stuff

The new toilet and sink get installed! We quickly realize that the fittings won't fit, so naturally the workers have to come back for a sixth day to get everything in working order. But even if it's not quite usable yet it's still awfully pretty. At least now we could finally use our own toilet again.

Do I love my new Ikea sink? Oh yes. Yes I do. I also love the new tall toilet that makes a tremendous whooshing sound when it flushes.

This will be SO much easier to keep clean. The old faucet and knobs were terrible mold attractors. Blech.

Day 6 -- All Done

The very second I came home from work on Day 6 I busted out all the new stuff I had purchased months ago in anticipation of my new bathroom. New shower curtain, towels, shower curtain rod, etc.

New towel rod.

The sink came with hooks and a soap dish that hang over the side.  It also has shelves along the side, which don't show particularly well in this photo.

Yay new bathroom!!

Of course now the paint on the walls looks just dreadful, so that's next. I also ordered slate switchplate covers which should arrive in the next few weeks. But other than that it's done.

More to come, including more pix and a materials and cost breakdown.