Oct 2001 Checklist As some of you know, we live in an Old House, built in 1909 by Dr. Dickenson. Our bathroom was his examination room. Our former pantry, now our laundry room, was his pharmacy. Bathroom Remodeling
- 1. Count the cost: Do you really want your home torn up for months? Estimate, and then double your estimate regarding time. Bathrooms can cost $5000 or more so count your money too! We saved big by using some vintage fixtures we had and one like-new toilet we bought at an auction for a couple dollars; and by doing all the work ourselves.
- 2. Buy a good remodeling book and read it. These are available at your building supply store.
- 3. Think about what you want for an end result. Plan. My ideas were formulated for years, but I also designed as work progressed.
- 4. Demolition (fun but a big mess and hard work--especially shoveling and toting heavy plaster). We had plaster on lathe and took walls down to studs. We also tore out very old and drafty windows.
- 4. Windows. You don't have to pay high retail prices! If you are not particular about exact size, you may find what you need in the retailers returns and clearance areas. I found hundreds to choose from at our local Pella store and they were half price! True, I had to special order the snap out grills, but I still felt like I got a great deal.
- 5. Close off doors if you have more than one into a room. You will have more usable space. We closed off two.
- 6. Build needed stud walls or part walls.
- 7. Keep fixtures in the same place if you can. I moved everything around and caused a lot of plumbing time and expense.
- 8. Our son, Ezra, 16, studied electricity for many years and did a fantastic job on our wiring. I have four switches on the right side of door: one for bathroom ceiling light, one for laundry ceiling light--which is separated by French doors from the bathroom--one for the lights on the sides of the medicine cabinet, and one for the wall lights over the toilet and tub. He also wired the washer, put outlets just where I wanted them, and hooked it all up to the breaker box.
- 9. Insulate. We used foam board on the ceiling and roll insulation in the walls.
- 10. Gypsum board or cement board (Dens-Shield, easiest and best for tiled areas). Tape and sand seams and nail holes.
- 11. Tile and flooring.
- 12. Paint or paper. Any other finishing touches or tasks, such as putting up new fixtures and towels. I want our bathroom to be nearly all white, so may look for brightly colored towels. We are using an old Victorian light fixture that we had. I purchased simple outdoor lights for less than $3 each for over our sink. For the lights over the tub and toilet I want wall "theater" lights but haven't found what I want yet.
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Copyright 2001 Lorraine Curry.
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