Bathroom Facelift - November 3, 2002

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November 3, 2003 - a little more than two years after moving into our house, we finally got things together and arranged to get the bathroom redone. We chose Royal Custom Bath, a company that does acrylic surrounds and overlay tubs. We looked at samples of the work and after talking to the owner/installer and several references, we decided to plow ahead. We're getting the tub and surround plus a new sink and new fixtures for both. Here goes!

Original equipment, ca. 1950. Colors are OK but the plumbing is worn out it just needs some TLC. Note the built-in 'shelf' at the end of the tub. We like that a lot. Impatient? Skip to after. Eccch. Pick a knob, any knob. Chances are they won't work and if they do you'll get whatever temperature it feels like giving. A tub bath is impossible.

Same story here. Enamel worn through. About 1-1/2" of space beneath the water. Who ever thought this was a good design? Now we're talking. Our bathroom man offered to install a new sink free of charge. We picked out a nice pedestal model with a fixture that matches the new tub hardware. Got it at Home Depot Expo.

Out with the old stuff. Making room for the new fixtures. Getting seriously angry at the old tile. It looked plenty tough under there. Probably would have lasted another 50 years.

Ed, the installer, has two guys working for him. One cleans up behind him, the other gets the materials ready for him. Good system. Ed is King and lords it over the other guys. Here's our new bathroom!

Got more people in the bathroom than I would have thought possible. Guess it makes the work go faster having extra folks prep the materials, get the right tools ready and clean up after you.

Ed and Joe unloading the paneling. Ed needs everything placed just so. He's conducting the symphony and telling Joe how he worked all weekend at home installing his own granite flooring. The work goes on.

Combo of adhesives and tape going up. Out front, cutting the acrylic. Luckily it's a gorgeous day, clear and 70º.

And the first and biggest wall piece goes up! Phoebe and Maude escape the turmoil. I'm glad it's warm and sunny.

Tub is waiting its turn. Spencer getting some drip drip.

Here is the 'custom' part - the built in shelf. Ed just cut the pieces around it and it should look nice. Ed is quite the little tyrant here, ordering his two helpers around. He knows exactly what to do in what order and though demanding, he seems like he's trying to show the other guys the tricks of the trade.

This is the moulding that matches the overlay back down to the existing wall. Nice stuff. 12:30 PM. Transferring measurements from the bathroom to the tub for final trimming and fitting.

Fall colors are exactly peak. 74.4º at 1PM. The tub weighs only about 20 lbs. making for a much easier trip upstairs than a 200 lb iron tub would be. Seems to fit like a glove.

1:40 PM. Brian is prepping the 'plumbing wall'. They put a plywood board over the new plumbing. He's building up strips of double-sided sticky tape and filling in other voids so the acrylic will have a steady surface. More of the tub. Hard to believe it was a drop-in.

Here Ed's cutting the plumbing holes in the front wall. Ed's cuts are very good and the wall goes in with only some minor adjustments.

2:45 PM. Haven't had a bathroom sink for about four hours. Good riddance! Mainly just some trimming and caulking left to do...and the sink to install.

3:40 PM. Ed's done a nice job of fitting the panels around the shelf/ledge. This is not a standard job, but he said it's pretty simple stuff. The finished and sealed job. Nice.

6:00 PM. The finished product. And lastly, the new sink we've wanted since we moved in!

Well, that was an interesting day and the bathroom looks great. Next, we'll strip out all the old wallpaper and put a coat of white bathroom enamel on the other walls and ceiling. But for now...that's all, folks...

Original equipment, ca. 1950. Colors are OK but the plumbing is worn out it just needs some TLC. Note the built-in 'shelf' at the end of the tub. We like that a lot. Impatient? Skip to after.	Eccch. Pick a knob, any knob. Chances are they won't work and if they do you'll get whatever temperature it feels like giving. A tub bath is impossible.
Same story here. Enamel worn through. About 1-1/2" of space beneath the water. Who ever thought this was a good design?	Now we're talking. Our bathroom man offered to install a new sink free of charge. We picked out a nice pedestal model with a fixture that matches the new tub hardware. Got it at Home Depot Expo.
Out with the old stuff. Making room for the new fixtures.	Getting seriously angry at the old tile. It looked plenty tough under there. Probably would have lasted another 50 years.
Ed, the installer, has two guys working for him. One cleans up behind him, the other gets the materials ready for him. Good system. Ed is King and lords it over the other guys.	Here's our new bathroom!
Got more people in the bathroom than I would have thought possible.	Guess it makes the work go faster having extra folks prep the materials, get the right tools ready and clean up after you.
Ed and Joe unloading the paneling. Ed needs everything placed just so. He's conducting the symphony and telling Joe how he worked all weekend at home installing his own granite flooring.	The work goes on.
Combo of adhesives and tape going up.	Out front, cutting the acrylic. Luckily it's a gorgeous day, clear and 70º.
And the first and biggest wall piece goes up!	Phoebe and Maude escape the turmoil. I'm glad it's warm and sunny.
Tub is waiting its turn.	Spencer getting some drip drip.
Here is the 'custom' part - the built in shelf. Ed just cut the pieces around it and it should look nice.	Ed is quite the little tyrant here, ordering his two helpers around. He knows exactly what to do in what order and though demanding, he seems like he's trying to show the other guys the tricks of the trade.
This is the moulding that matches the overlay back down to the existing wall. Nice stuff.	12:30 PM. Transferring measurements from the bathroom to the tub for final trimming and fitting.
Fall colors are exactly peak. 74.4º at 1PM.	The tub weighs only about 20 lbs. making for a much easier trip upstairs than a 200 lb iron tub would be. Seems to fit like a glove.
1:40 PM. Brian is prepping the 'plumbing wall'. They put a plywood board over the new plumbing. He's building up strips of double-sided sticky tape and filling in other voids so the acrylic will have a steady surface.	More of the tub. Hard to believe it was a drop-in.
Here Ed's cutting the plumbing holes in the front wall.	Ed's cuts are very good and the wall goes in with only some minor adjustments.
2:45 PM. Haven't had a bathroom sink for about four hours. Good riddance!	Mainly just some trimming and caulking left to do...and the sink to install.
3:40 PM. Ed's done a nice job of fitting the panels around the shelf/ledge. This is not a standard job, but he said it's pretty simple stuff.	The finished and sealed job. Nice.
6:00 PM. The finished product.	And lastly, the new sink we've wanted since we moved in!