Master Bathroom Project

The Before Picture
Our home was built in 1995 and has been owned by several families in that time. Don't ask me why, but in all this time there has never been a shower in the master bathroom. Granted, there has been a lovely jetted tub in the corner, which was fun the two times I have used it since we moved in last August. But neither Dave nor myself are tub people. Obviously the people before us have had to be tub people, but that sends us in an entirely different and disturbing direction I don't want to pursue.

Back on topic. Dave has been gently suggesting I focus my energy on rigging up some kind of shower for our bathroom since we moved in. After a lot of thought in design and cost I finally came to the conclusion that: 1) I would have to do it myself if I wanted to get something half decent in our price range, and 2) I have expensive taste so my version of half decent is probably more intense than someone else's version of half decent, and 3) If you are going to do all the work for half decent you might as well go for awesome.

Result: I plumbed in a new shower head and I am currently tiling a travertine surround. I decided to keep the jetted tub. It still works well and would have been too much work and a huge waste to remove it. I realize it is a little unconventional to have a shower over a jetted tub, but it is also a little unconventional to not have a shower in the master bathroom. Any other options would have cost too much and been to extensive.


STEP 1
First I took out all the drywall that was the only surround on the tub. Our kid's bathroom now has another outlet now due to some questionable electrical I found behind the drywall, but that is another story.

After all the demolition you have to start putting things back together again. This is usually where I start to panic and call Catherine for reassurance.

Sorry Catherine for waking you up on several mornings. Your encouragement is always helpful.

This first picture was taken after the first piece of DensShield went up. (See Step 2)

STEP 2
Though you can't see it, I next teed off the waterlines to the roman fixture and ran hot and cold lines to a shower valve on the left wall. I really enjoy doing PEX. It is quite fulfilling.


STEP 3
Originally I bought cement board to put on the walls in preparation for tiling, but started freaking out when I realized I couldn't even lift one 3x5 sheet of it on my own. That is when I called Dad and he told me about DensShield, a gypsum product coated in fiberglass made for tile and stone. It cuts and hangs almost like sheetrock except you get little fiberglass itchies sometimes. It is more water resistant than cement board, tons easier to work with, and very easy to tile on.

The second picture is after I put up all the DensShield and siliconed all the seams.

STEP 4
I set up shop in the garage since it is still cold and randomly snowy here. A tarp behind the wet-saw has worked just fine.

I just do little batches of thin-set at a time since it would be a shame to be pulled away to watch "Max and Ruby" and have a large batch go to waste.

Note: Anyone who knows my kitchen, the measuring cup that has "Not for food" written all over it is once again really NOT FOR FOOD.

I bought a 1/4" mixing bit for the drill, but was afraid the drill couldn't handle the thickness of the thin-set. I have been pleasantly surprised though. It does just fine on my little batches.

Many thanks to my wonderful husband for letting me take over his parking spot in the garage...again.



STEP 5
The actual tiling.
I have tiled a tub surround before with Catherine when we did her shower in porcelain subway tiles all the way to the ceiling. Compared to that, this has actually gone rather quickly and smoothly. Travertine isn't as scary as it sounds. It may rhyme with Wolverine, but that is where the similarity ends. It is still a ton of work and I currently have a serious case of "man hands" to prove it, but overall, not too hard.

Of course there is always a certain level of mess involved in these things. You probably can't tell, but my face broke out from the grime and the tee-shirt and pants are probably headed to the ragbag soon. Small price to pay for the end product.


STEP 6
Keep tiling. This is where I am at as of 3/20/2010. I am most of the way through two walls. I just need to finish the bottom rows on both and the top row on one. Then I have the valve wall and little pony wall to do. Hopefully it will all be completed this week. Dave and I will love to finally have a shower and not have to use the kid's bathroom down the hall anymore.

Kristen wanted to get into the tub and was mad at me for telling her no. The bottom three tile weren't quite set yet and I didn't want her making a mess. She and Loryn have been such good girls through this process.

The back wall will be done as soon as I finish the bottom row. The decorative rows are made of 4x4 tumbled travertine. I also bought five little flower mosaics to sprinkle into the design.

There is still a lot of work to be done including grouting, sealing, and putting on the fixtures, but we are excited.