The dust might be coming from your towels. A few years ago, I got new towels for my kids' bathroom that shed an incredible amount of lint. I washed them several times and ran through the dryer to try to diminish it, but it didn't really help.

Regarding your remodel, it depends upon what you want to take on. My former neighbors did a mostly DIY bathroom remodel that was amazing. They replaced their vanity, toilet, removed a tub and replaced it with a shower. They re-tiled the floor. But they did use a plumber for the shower to ensure proper drainage.

I increasingly find it difficult to find reputable contractors who will take on 1-room jobs. My master bath will probably need a remodel in the next few years, and I love a good DIY challenge. But I have to be in a good frame of mind to tackle something like that.

Let's start with the easy one. Your exhaust fan is likely the culprit of the dust where your floor and baseboard meet. Exhaust fans need a source of air to move into the room they are in, then up and out. Assuming you close your door when using the fan, it seems you have a pretty tight bathroom and one of the sources of air is coming from beneath your baseboards and the space behind/between your walls. Another is coming from whatever airspace is below your door and around your window if there is one. There can be all kinds of dirt/dust behind your walls that gets sucked out with the fan. A quick fix for that would be to run a bead of calk around the room where the baseboard and floor meet.

As for the DIY bathroom remodel. Anything is doable, but a DIY shower waterproofing for a first timer exponentially increases the possibility of water damage down the road - it's got to be done right. Being married to someone who does all kinds of remodel/additions/repair for a living has made me not only more knowledgeable about many remodel processes, but more cautious because I know what happens when things go south. Fixing sh*t other people have screwed up has always been a substantial part of DH's business. Not just DIY homeowners but *pros* as well. I always hate to discourage anyone from trying to stretch their skills but a shower is a huge undertaking, requires knowledge of materials you haven't used before, tools you probably don't have and more time than you likely anticipate in order to accommodate your lack of experience. I know that's not what you want to hear.

Towels! Duh. Never even occurred to me. DH's towels are dark. Let's start with replacing those with white ones. They're due to be changed anyway.

You're most probably on to something as well with the air, DLM.

The remodel is a gut job, no question. Wondering if I can do it in stages or if it's best to do it one fell swoop and hire out the tricky parts. YT tutorials make everything look so darn simple and easy. Roll on waterproofing? I could do that. I can paint. But can I install a vanity? I can't do any plumbing or do a shower floor. Not even sure if I can even tile. I'd hire out the electrical, for certain. Ugh. I need realistic estimates for every task ... Obviously, I want to end up with something well done. More research, me thinks. :)

Thank you both for chiming in.

Also, once I'm a bit more ready to get this room done, can you folks help me choose the elements? Because there are just too many sconce options out there. :P

@tartanmeup would you consider using solid surface walls like @User did in her recent bathroom remodel? I’m tagging Kswl because I can’t find the thread. That would at least eliminate laying tile on a vertical. I have solid surface walls in my shower and tub surrounds because I have an irrational hatred of grout. DD ripped out a tile shower and replaced it with solid surface walls in her old house because she has a genetic irrational hatred of grout.

We did a complete gut job on our masterbath a few years back. I had specific materials in mind and in order to afford both materials and labor, we stretched the job out in pieces. The contractor agreed to do the work in between other jobs or during bad weather which was really helpful. It took about a year to do, but when done we had a beautiful space and we were able to pay cash for the whole project. Dirt and dust? Sure, but well worth it.

@bbstx, solid surface as in acrylic or a stone? Did I miss @kswl's recent bathroom remodel? It's not ringing any bells. Pretty sure stone walls aren't in the budget. I have an acrylic shower base that's worn and a pita to clean. Wary of acrylic walls for that reason but maybe my shower base is just too old and worn? Was considering a stone shower base for ease of cleaning and plain large format tile for the walls. Based on my experience with my tiled shower, I have a rational hatred of grout. :P Friends with newly done showers tell me grout is no issue for them. Apparently, new grout has dirt-repelling fairy dust in it? And when I see vintage tiled bathrooms that still look spotless and in good shape after half a century or more, I can't help but be envious and bemoan my builder basic ensuite. It was one of those vintage beauties before the previous owners got their hands on it! Ugh. :)

@Lukki Irish, can you give me an idea of your labour vs materials ratio? Did the labour cost as much or more as the materials? When I estimated my remodel, it was about 40% materials and 60% labour, with almost 10K Cdn for labour. Did I overestimate the time required? Granted, I know labour costs vary a lot by location. But lukki you indeed (it's not luck, I know) to have a master bath that suits your taste and needs.

I’m not sure what Kswl’s is made of. I was hoping she would see her tag and chime in. IIRC it is Kohler Choreograph. The material is described as “Serica®, KOHLER's proprietary composite material, offers unparalleled durability, strength, and aesthetic beauty.”

The walls in my shower are made of polymer which is probably just another word for acrylic. I built this house to live in for the rest of my life (which looks like it isn’t going to happen if you saw my post last week about moving to be closer to family) and didn’t care about anything but ease of cleaning. They look like white subway tile.

This is a picture of DD’s old house. On the right is the shower stall and on the left is the bathtub with surround. The shower stall has polymer walls in a tile pattern; the tub has tile. What she ripped out looked like the tile around the tub but larger format. Her shower walls had a matte finish and did not look plastic.

I can tell you how to have spotless tiled bathrooms that are a half-century old - never use them! My mother took down the shower curtain over the bathtub soon after the house was built. She did not want to deal with cleaning the tile or the grout. We either bathed or used the shower stall in the master bedroom. I don’t remember the tile and grout in the shower stall looking bad, probably because I was a kid and did not notice such.

I think a man invented grout 😀

@bbstx, there is an older Choreograph thread that I follow. Maybe Kswl posted in that one? Can those shower walls go to the ceiling? And a lower ledge or larger shelf be added (for products and foot resting for shaving)? What's the best way to clean these polymer surfaces? Squeegee after ever shower and a mild liquid dish soap once a week to remove any soap scum? I really want to avoid cleansers like Scrubbing bubbles, etc. Family has scent sensitivities and those products are off limits.

I'm also foregoing glass doors for a shower curtain. Next owners can install glass.

You might be right about the grout in vintage showers. Perhaps all I've really seen as spotless grout is on the tiled outside walls. I have no intention of tiling more than the absolute necessary in this ensuite! Don't get me wrong: I love the look of tile. But man, what a pita to maintain in a bathroom. I haven't heard much about those huge porcelain slabs in showers either. The kind they're starting to use for kitchen counters? Guess that's still new and would require an expert installer. I'd even do vinyl sheet flooring if I didn't think it would devalue the house when it came to selling.

Oh boy. You are way way more precise about it than I was and it was a few years ago so I don’t have an answer to your question. What I can tell you is that stretching out the job gave me the benefit/opportunity to shop resources for sales and discounts. The entire job, cost approximately 13,000 including labor and materials. We kept the same floor print, but opened up a window, closed in a 2nd door and even bumped a wall out to allow for a larger shower. I loved my contractor, he was smart about things, did a super good job and provided suggestions that were so helpful. We still love it. We prefer natural materials and warm tones. The only thing I compromised on is the shower door. I wanted frameless and settled for sliding instead.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5958054/basement-bath-redo-peek

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5971033/downstairs-bathroom-completed

Why do I ever try to search on Houzz? I could not find these threads for the life of me. However, Google came to the rescue.

In our current house, one wall of the shower stall is frameless glass. I do not find cleaning it to be difficult. Whoever showers last (we both shower in the morning), squeegees the glass. I bought a very utilitarian squeegee head that is about 12” wide. It just takes a couple of swipes. I much prefer a glass door to a curtain. Curtains always seem to blow and stick to my legs!

As to cleaning the polymer walls, yes, soap and water will clean them fine. In fact, the salesman told me specifically not to use vinegar (my go-to for cleaning) or anything even slightly acidic and no scrubbie sponges. You can etch and scratch the polymer.

We moved into our house 7 years ago today. I think the shower and the doors still look great!

Thank you both for the additional info. (Don't know why but I often don't get notifications on my thread updates and this was another instance, hence my delay in seeing your comments.)

@Lukki Irish, I love your wood vanity! May I ask what type of wood it is? Is it custom? It looks huge. Your total reno costs reassured me. Thank you for sharing. Maybe I grossly overestimated the labour involved in mine.

@bbstx thank you for those links to kwsl's bathroom. The Choreograph looks so sleek and easy to maintain. That's what I want as well. Going to research it here. Happy to hear your good experience with polymer walls. Vinegar is my go-to for cleaning as well and it's easy to forget it it's not suited for all surfaces.

Have you cleaned your fan lately? If not they spread dust when the vents are dusty.

We did a new tile floor, replaced a pink toilet, and sink but left a pink fiber glass shower in place but it is hidden behind a curtain any way. We put in a wall hung medicine cabinet, vanity light and painted. It cost us less six hundred dollars but it is tiny a larger vanity instead of freestanding sink would add a few hundred dollars. We did it years ago and I am ready to redo the floor and vanity light.

Roarah, I cleaned the fan this summer. How often should it be done?

When you say you did a new floor, etc., do you mean DIY? Why do you want to redo the floor? And what are going with?

we do ours every six to twelve months. So it is likely not the issue. Do you notice less dust after cleaning it?

I did diy it but it is small and easy enough to change and I picked the present tile out when we first purchased and had a more limited budget now I can afford to spend more and hire out but I think my diy was better than some hired pros work. I love encaustic tiles so I am leaning that way. This is a main floor tiny powder room with a tiny shower so I plan to DIY it again. The present tile is just a generic home depot black and white hex pattern so a bit tired style wise.

Good question about the fan. Can't say I noticed a difference. I just checked the floor now and the baseboard edge looks less dark than usual. I'll give it to Friday to decide if the dark towels were indeed the culprit. I like that tile floor. Simple and classic, imho. Totally understand wanting a change though. So many great looking options out there.

I got the cabinets through Home Depot (20% off) they are not higher end but they have held up extremely well and we’ve been happy with them. I don’t remember the brand, but the color is cognac on maple. They’re standard kitchen cabinets. We got 2 regular drawer banks, 1 extra wide drawer bank, 2 sink cabinets and the closet you can see in the picture for about 1800 w/the discount. We bumped the shower wall 6 inches into the bedroom to make the shower bigger, pulled the cabinets out from the wall a couple of inches to provide more counter top. And curved the edge the counter for interest. Just for fun, this is what we had to start with. The tub was rusted and there were two doors, 1 from the hall & 1 from the master bedroom, we closed up the hall door. I think we got our moneys worth. LOL

As for the labor, I found my Contractor through a plumber I had hired to put in a kitchen faucet. I asked if he had someone good he could refer and he referred Matt to me. Matt had his own company but just him and his guys. All of his work was by word of mouth, he didn’t advertise or push for business, he didn’t need to. I think I got fair pricing from him because he didn’t have the overhead a lot of the larger companies might have. He wasn’t the least expensive and he wasn’t the most expensive. Finding someone who was willing to work on our schedule and not having to have it done ASAP is what really helped me to be able to keep our costs at a minium for both labor and materials.

Love your counter as well, Lukki. Your bathroom looks great.

Thank you for the encouragement, Lukki! :) It won't be easy to do because other projects are creeping up the priority list...Ugh. Best timeline is next year. Well, it'll give me time to plan it well, I hope?

(I really don't know what's going on with this forum. Didn't get this update and didn't see my post scrolling through the forum either. Had to "retrieve" it from my Recent Activity page.)

Thanks all for chiming in. Btw, the dark dust along the baseboard isn't back. I really think it was dark towels. Can't believe it never occurred to me before.