Small bathroom finished!

16 years ago

Our original 1930s bathroom was shabby but had never leaked. Because it held up so well and because it fit the house construction best we chose the same kind of construction (mud) which is not done much today. We had a great contractor who demolished the old mud bathroom and installed the new and we hired our own plumber and electrician who co-ordinated well with the main contractor. We saved around $1500 by doing this and did not compromise quality as we knew these tradesmen.

The bathroom is very small - less than 4' by 9' so we wanted it simple but sufficiently different from the original black and white one to merit the cost and trouble. We are pretty pleased and to date there is nothing we would have done differently but then we took forever to decide and thanks to this forum anticipated potential problems. It was expensive - probably $5K more than we had thought upfront but that was associated mostly with the construction technique we chose - there is a lot of labor involved in building mud walls and floors. The mosaic floor was also very expensive but we both liked it and it was not easy to agree. In addition we replaced other galvanized pipes in the house at the same time so the work expanded. The pictures are a bit of a jumble and it was difficult to take good ones with the small size. Most are taken before the frameless glass shower door was installed. I haven't listed all the materials and fixtures we used but would be happy to if anyone is interested. Last I have to thank Bill for recommending Rob our great contractor.

Here is a link that might be useful: finished bathroom

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Comments (9)

dedtired
16 years ago
Your bathroom is so pretty. It's very close to the look I hope to achieve. What are the wall tiles? I like them very much. What kind of toilet did you get and are you happy with it?

I love your comment that "it took forever to decide." That's where I am right now. It isn't easy! Thanks for sharing your pictures. They are great inspiration.
mahnrut T
Original Author
16 years ago
Dedtired. Thanks for the compliment. I am glad the pictures have helped - I got a lot of ideas from other's pictures too.

The toilet is the Toto Carlyle with elongated seat in cotton white and it is fine. We have another Toto - the Supreme and they have different flushing actions but both work well. I had read about hearing gurgling noises in skirted toilets such as the Carlyle but although the noises are different as the back is open we don't have any issues with it. We wanted a skirted version as, as you can see, you can see the side easily and it looks tidier. They are a bit more expensive so if it wasn't for that view I would have not spend the extra. It is higher than the Supreme and I like that.

The wall tiles are Adex USA Neri collection in celery. I did not want to do a traditional subway design as I thought it would make the room too busy and we are pleased with how the stacked design worked out.

By the way I was nervous about buying online after reading some negative comments but all the places we bought from were excellent with prompt shipping, excellent packing and ready exchange after paying the obligatory 25%. We saved around 40% on most things over high street prices.

Good luck with your decisions!
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dedtired
16 years ago
Mahnrut, did you by any chance remodel your kitchen about five years ago? I think I remember your name from the Kitchens forum.

Would you mind sharing any online sites you used? It would be nice to have the name of some that have performed well.

The more I look at you bathroom, the more I like it!
mahatmacat1
16 years ago
Yes, where did you buy your tile online? Thanks! Great work on all choices. The tiles are perfectly in scale with the bathroom.
mahnrut T
Original Author
16 years ago
Dedtired, clever of you to remember me from the kitchen forum! Funny we are on the same schedule of remodeling. I need to have several years between these projects which all turn out to be more expensive than we imagined but at our age we know we won't do them again.

Here is the list of the online vendors we used chosen because of price and free shipping:
National Building Supply: Grohe shower fittings, Toto toilet
Home Perfect: Grohe faucets
Lawrence Plate Glass: Century Electric Option medicine cabinet
Supreme Kitchen and Bath and Quality Bath: Valsan accessories - grab bar, soap holder, toilet roll holder etc
Nameeks: Cono sink
Pex Supply: Runtal radiator
Decor Glamour: Jeeves heated towel rail
CSN lighting: over mirror light
Lightology: shower light

As I said all gave us good prices and service.

Flyleft, We did not buy our tile online. That was one thing I did not consider and using a DC area local shop enabled us to return tiles we thought not acceptable (although the tiler said that the minor defects we objected to were typical and was surprised we got replacements). I have seen the Adex wall tile in several shops and I imagine you can order it online too.
laurmela
15 years ago
no pics :(
jeanteach
15 years ago
Can you repost your photos? The current link goes to Flicker and you have to sign in. Can you post them directly into this forum? Thanks. Would like to see your finished bathroom as I am remodeling a small bathroom as well and am thinking about the Carlyle. Thanks! (Just previewed my message and this is the second time that an unwanted link - this time with the word remodeling - comes up, which is just a popup advertisement. So irritating!)
mahnrut T
Original Author
15 years ago
Sorry. The photos are public now.
kitchenkrazed09
15 years ago
Beautiful bathroom! What color and type of floor tiles did you use?