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Surprise Bathroom Makeover: The Reveal

November 7, 2015 - No Comments - 3 min read

We’ve had a pretty hectic week trying to finish off all the little jobs left to do at Grant’s parents home. This was really our last opportunity to get everything complete before Christmas and we desperately wanted them to have a finished bathroom before Christmas Day! I was feeling a bit down towards the beginning of the week, spending so much time doing a thorough renovation on a room for someone else can really become a bit of a ‘chore’ – it just doesn’t have that same rewarding factor and I’ve simply spent too many hours agonising about this job that I’ve began to despite it a little.
In my last post about this room, we had just fitted the towel radiator. This meant that the last major job left to complete was the flooring. More tiling and more grouting. *GROAN* – We also had to re-fix the shower enclosure, since the door was sticking a little (it needed a slightly tougher pull to close it than ideal) and unfortunately Grant’s parents thought the solution was to loosen every screw and basically un-attach the top bar that was holding the entire integrity of the shower in place. Seriously, irksome. I shall say no more.
Grant’s parents also asked if we could get some more tiles (since they were a bargain clearance price!) and also tile their hallway at the same time. We removed the sink and began laying a cement tile underlay throughout the area.
Bathroom Renovation in Progress

Tiling Over Floorboards
Tiling the Hallway
And so the tiling began. Initially I used the same adhesive we had leftover from the wall tiles (non-flexible) – But because the floorboards underneath have a lot of movement in them, I was a little concerned the adhesive would end up cracking causing the tiles to become unstuck – So I promptly went out to buy some flexible adhesive instead that should allow for movement without breaking the glue. I also used flexible grout too.

Tiling Floorboards in Bathroom
Back when we first began the surprise bathroom makeover (you can read about Day 1 here) we discovered the joists were rotten, woodworm ridden and completely unsupported in places. I highly recommended that they should had the joists treated and fixed before we were to lay any flooring. We re-investigated on our last visit and found that since removing the old bathroom and allowing a bit more air circulation underneath the floorboards, as well as better ventilation in the room in general, the rotten joists had hardened massively. From this, they decided not go ahead with any further work, although I have to admit, this wouldn’t be my preferable decision.
But what this did mean was that due to the unsupported joist, there was an obvious dip in the middle of the room where it was significantly lower than the rest. Without wanting to create more work for ourselves in trying to fix said problem (which would have meant re-building the brick support and possibly replacing joists) we just had to work with the slope when tiling. Naturally, this left a far less-than-perfect finish with altering heights all over the place. I tried my hardest.

Grouting Black Tiles in Bathroom
After a bit of grouting, thorough cleaning and some sealant-ing here and there, the room is now complete. It’s probably not our greatest work. But when you’re on a tough four and a half day deadline, you really do have to rush to get things complete. And rushing jeopardises perfection. I don’t think it’s too obvious where the non-perfected bits are (unless you’re looking for them) and as a whole I think it worked out okay. Let’s face it, this room looks better than it did before!! To remind you:
Bathroom before Renovation

Old Bathroom

Bathroom Before Renovation

 And now….

Black Tiled Hallway

Toilet with White Metro Tiles and Black Floor

White Bathroom Door with Towel Radiator

White Metro Tiles in Bathroom with Black Flooring
Small Modern White and Black Bathroom
It truly looks a bazillion times better.
That’s two bathrooms completed this year. No more bathroom renovations please!! I’m thoroughly relieved to never have to work on this room ever again. I’m going avoid even entering this room until 2016 has begun. I have seen enough of you, bathroom!
If you want to read the other parts to this ‘Surprise 5 Day (more like two weeks) Bathroom Renovation’ you can read each part below:
Have you ever done any renovation work for family members before? 
Kezzabeth

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Hi - I'm Kezzabeth! Self-taught DIYer, Renovator and Blogger on a mission to turn our house into a home. Seven years ago I was clueless and skill-less, but since then I've learnt how to build, tile, plumb and more. This is my little place on the web where I share everything I've learnt so you can learn too. Read More

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DIY Content: We’re not builders or experts in the trade industry, so please take any information on this blog as a rough guide and just our own experiences. This blog relates to our home only and you should always consult a professional in you’re in any doubt of work. Please also be aware Building Regulations change often, so always do your own research as well.
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