Warning, there are no pretty pics in this post (except an inspiration pic at the end!), but if you like renovations, you might enjoy this progress report on my sister and brother-in-law’s new master bath.
As we all know, renovations are not fast!
We’ve all watched HGTV long enough to know that a real life renovation is not like they show on TV. One hour later and POOF…it’s done! A beautiful room all finished and decorated and waiting to be enjoyed. Oh, they show some of the mess along the way, but not the whole truth. The way a project disrupts life can suck the fun right out of it, but the end result is always worth the effort and mess. I remember when we were renovating my house 2 years ago. All I could see was the dust, mess, and wood scraps everywhere. It seemed I’d NEVER get to move in this house. But, I did.
I think that’s where my sister and BIL are living right now. Renovations take time. Especially when you are doing it yourself and my BIL is a major do it yourselfer. I shared the plans of this master bath renovation a few weeks ago, so if you missed that, you might want to catch up on that. All the Before pics are there, so you can see where they started. It wasn’t ugly at all, just time for an update since the house was built in 1998.
I thought you might enjoy the progress pics of this renovation and how it takes time to get a beautiful end result. They are about 5 weeks into this renovation and you ‘ll see, there is still a long ways to do. Of course, when it’s all done, I’ll share the beautiful master bath reveal with all of you too.
Bruce said the demolition part was the longest and most tedious. He took out a wall in the old shower, which now will be the entry for the walk in closet. Added a header in the closet wall, filled in the old shower walls with new studs and drywall, put up drywall, broke up and took out all the old tile and concrete board. That’s a lot of work!
He had a plumber come in and do all the plumbing for the new shower, getting it ready to tile.
This is inside the old shower looking towards what will be the new shower. And this area will now be part of the walk in closet. Just adding a little extra to the closet makes it feel so much more spacious. They moved the door too.
New shower floor and plumbing.
Shower pan installed and framing done for a new bench seat in the large shower. It’s going to be such a nice shower. This room is vaulted, so it’s has a really spacious feel with a big window over the new shower area, which you can’t see in this pic, but it’s up there. Let’s in a lot of light which is a big plus.
Taking up the old tile and concrete board. That’s a messy job! The old vanities will come out so that the entire floor can be retiled. He’ll add new backer board to the floor to lay the new tiles down. They are reusing the vanities and adding feet to them, which will be a cost savings and getting new countertops.
Floor cleaned up and down to the plywood.
Mirrors came down too and they are adding framed mirrors in their place.
The truth of renovation. It has to be ugly before it can get pretty again. That door on the right got walled up and drywalled (the old closet door) and the old shower door will now be the new closet door. Got it?
Another look at the shower pan.
Next time I went by, progress had been made. Waterproof backer board was added in the shower getting it ready for tile. Notice the bench seat and the ledge where the seamless glass shower doors will sit. All of that will be tiled.
Bruce found a cool shower drain and tile can be added in there so it sort of disappears after the tile goes in. Can’t wait to see how this turns out. He also told me about a product that is painted on all this backer board which makes it waterproof too and that it’s a new kind of product out there. I thought that was a great idea.
Water closet. At least they have another full bathroom on this floor to use but it’s still a disruption to have your bathroom completely torn up.
Bruce is off every other Friday and has been working on it those days and on the weekends too. He’s repainting all the walls with Comfort Gray the color they put in there when they did bedroom updates 3 years ago. He did a great job with the drywall taping and mudding and I cannot even tell there was a door here before.
The walk in closet will be accessed by the old shower door here.
The walk in closet is long and narrow but adding that little bit of new area to it really opens it up. I’m sure they will utilize every square inch of this space.
Vanities are out waiting on the new tile. And I’ll give you a look at how this real life renovation lives too. You have to have somewhere to store things until the bathroom is finished, so they go all over the house.
Dresser and shoe rack which came out of the master closet.
The bedroom is full of bathroom things, but that is just part of the trials of renovation. You have to be willing to put up with dust, mess, and general chaos. It’s worth it all though!
The toilet is sitting by the window in the master bedroom. Whatever works, right?
General chaos and mess.
Clothes piled on the guest room bed.
Stuff everywhere! I thought you might get a kick out of seeing it in progress. I imagine it will be several weeks before the bathroom is completely finished, since Bruce is doing all the rest of this by himself. It will look gorgeous when he is done. He’s quite the handy man and very talented at DIY. He’ll do it right and it will save them a ton of money by DIYing this themselves.
I will definitely be back to show you the after pics on this major renovation, so stay tuned for more!
In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful before and after large master bathroom renovation from Beaux R’eves, a client project. I love how they really brought this bath to a current update, but also used some of the old stuff.
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Kim says
Hi Rhoda,
Love the pictures of the renovation progress! We are thinking about a large shower as well on our next renovation project. I have a question about the shower liner/pan that they used. Is that all that has to be done before tiling or will he have to pour the shower pan on top of the liner that is down? We aren’t sure how you go about the sloping so that the water all drains to the center. Just wondering! We love the inspiration bath!
Rhoda says
Kim, I’ll see if I can get details on that part when he does the tiling. I think the rubber liner is all that needs to be down, but I’ll ask that question.
Becky in 'Bama says
We did a master bath reno last summer… unfortunately for us we had to sleep upstairs (on a mattress on the floor) as the master bedroom was headquarters for all the ‘stuff’ that was ripped out and as we were replacing the bedroom carpeting, we didn’t worry about trashing the carpet in that room. We gutted our bathroom down to the studs, but did not change the footprint, and it took my brother contractor and his helper 10 weeks to do the job – and yes…there were those glitches along the way that will make a person nuts…e.g. tile that had to be shipped from California and then was the WRONG STUFF and then reshipped from New Orleans, the toilet that almost got trashed but was rescued at the last minute, the cabinetry that was delivered at the 99th hour, the shower head that couldn’t be used because of our poor water pressure, all solved and we are still enjoying the end results. Love the ‘during pics’…keeping it real! And did I mention that at the beginning of the reno I injured my shoulder in an accident and had to have surgery and rehab during this time? Sheesh!
Rhoda says
Wow, Becky, your renovation sounds like par for the course. It’s never quick and easy and that’s part of the process. Thanks for sharing, glad you are happy with your bathroom now!
Kate says
Hi Rhoda,
What is that step stool type thing around the base of the toilet?? It looks like it fits and belongs there, but I cannot imagine what it actually is or why it’s there! LOL! Please satisfy my bizarre curiosity!
Rhoda says
Kate, I had to go back and look at that. I have no idea, I’ll see if I can find out. I’m sure it’s not a step stool and it’s not normally there, but it must have a function.
Lauren says
You don’t want to know.
http://www.squattypotty.com
Rhoda says
OH my word! I stand corrected. It is a stool for better pooping. Who knew? I’m dying laughing now!
Paula says
Love the wall color! Thanks for showing the real-deal involved with a project. Having done many myself, I know how much of the project isn’t pretty. Sometimes things have to get a whole lot worse before they get better! Funny that in all detail of these photos, I wondered the same thing as Kate, regarding the toilet. I thought that it may be something to help balance the toilet when carrying it out (not that I’ve ever heard of such a thing).
Allison A. says
Fun to see the progress on your sister’s renovation! Good size shower they have! We’re in the same boat over here. We gutted 2 bathrooms and our master bedroom. Stuff is everywhere but I’m enjoying the process. We’ve got clothes piled on our living room couch. We have another bathroom to use and we share it with our contractor which gets a little hectic at times. I love your sister’s stenciled (?) wall in her bedroom and the colors she used. Beautiful! Can’t wait to see her finished bathroom!
Cindy says
Thanks for featuring my Client’s Bathroom Renovation on your blog! Good luck with the renovation, can’t wait to see it finished!