Life's Unexpected Joys: Master Bathroom Renovation: Days 1-3

We are back to work and kicking! We have finally settled back to real life after our lovely vacation to New Zealand. The master bathroom is the last major gut job we will be doing in our condo. Per a friend's request, I have agreed to give better step by step instructions on the process of tiling and renovating a bathroom. Well, how my husband tiles and renovates a bathroom. Trust me, I work hard, but he works harder.

Please note, we are not professionals or contractors. Everything we have learned has been from youtube, google, Home Depot DIY blogs/videos online, and talking to the helpful employees at Home Depot. Also, I am doing this from memory so it is probably not entirely complete. But, the main steps are here. Please, do your research and don't just use my instructions. :)

So, here we go!

The first step: Always start by planning out each step of the renovation project. This will help you keep track of all that needs to be done and to not forget an important small step that holds up the larger strides. Keep in mind that whenever you lay anything down that needs to dry and harden, you will need to let it sit for 24 hours without being stepped on. That allows for quite a bit of down time in between steps and causes tiling projects to last several days to several weeks.

The first day: Gut and clean the room. Start with the toilet. Turn off the water and flush several times to empty the tank as much as possible. Next, remove the bolts securing the base to the floor. Andrew removes the tank from the base as well by unscrewing the the bolts securing it to the seat. Once you are ready to lift, grab a trash bag and have someone standing ready with it open. Once it is lifted, have your helper put the base of the toilet in the bag to catch all drips. After that, cut and remove the carpet and pad. After removing the carpet and pad, there will probably be tac strips and carpet staples still in the ground. Remove all of them (pliers for the staples and a crow bar for the tac strips) as you will need a flat smooth surface for the tile (screw any screws or nail any nails down flush with the floor if they are sticking up). Any raised edges could cause cracking in the tiles so be cautious. Next, remove the vanity (turn off the water first!!!). Finally, remove the floor trim and the side trim to any doors (the floor will be raised once all layers of the tile is down). Remove all covers that can be taken from the wall (vents, light socket or switch covers, etc).

The second day: Now it is time to get messy! First, do all your shopping. Buy your tools, supplies, and alcohol (:D) when you go and get your paint. No matter how many times we have renovated, we always forget something and end up becoming close friends with the good folks at Home Depot with our frequent visits. So far this is our shopping list (you can add and subtract, as we will, based on your discovered needs):

1. Paint
2. Backerboard
3. Mortar
4. Grout
5. Sealant
6. Trim
7. Cabinets
8. Counter top (we are getting ours custom made by St. Paul through Home Depot to match the sink in our guest bathroom only at 72" wide, 21.5" deep, and with two rectangle bowls)
9. Faucets
10. Towel hooks and toilet paper roll
11. Pipes/plumbing items for converting a one sink to two sink system
12. light fixture
13. Frog tape
14. Wax ring for the toilet (always has to be replaced when removing a toilet)
15. Killz paint for corners where water/mold has been found
16. Wood door jam

Sidebar: This is not a complete list. We already had buckets, seam tape, tac strips for the carpet, stain for the door jam, and backerboard screws as well as paint brushes, rollers, and paint pans from our other tiling projects. Your list may be much longer or shorter.

Once your shopping is done (this will be a long day so plan on a Saturday!), tape off the edges of your mirror and anything you want a hard line on (tile around the shower is a good example) as well as the ceiling along the edge of the walls so that you can paint the entire wall without worry. We use frog tape as it seals the edges much better than typical blue tape (it has special liquid sealing technology that turns to gel when the moisture of the paint touches it thus blocking the paint from going further). It is the best tape we have found. Paint all the walls (if you are painting the ceiling, do that first and then do the walls). Two coats are usually needed.

I painted while Andrew cut the backerboard to fit the room. Place the backerboard in a brick pattern thus ensuring that you don't get four corners together (this can also cause tile to crack as it is a flex point in the floor). Once the backerboard and paint was done, we replaced the light fixture.

Carefully remove all tape before the paint is completely dry making sure to pull the tape in a way that cuts the edge if any of the paint has started to dry (you could pull some of the paint off if you aren't careful). Touch up the paint as necessary.

By the time this day is done, it will most likely be late late late. Get some takeout (pizza is usually our choice) and make yourself a relaxing alcoholic beverage (we had margaritas) and watch a show (Psych!). The best advice when doing home renovations is to be sure to make time to relax and enjoy something fun in between steps (but also realize you will have to make sacrifices and not do as many fun things as normal because you will be busy).

Day three: Mix your mortar, let set a few minutes, and mix some more (get a mixer hookup for your power drill, it will save your arms and is only $10 in the mortar tool section). Take your notched trowel and lay a smooth layer of grout on the ground (follow instructions on all bags and items, if in doubt youtube the steps!!!), then take the notched side of the trowel and make grooves. Lay the backerboard on the mortar and press evenly and gently once in place. Repeat until all backerboard is down. Next, take your power drill and put backerboard screws in the 6 inch spaced sections of the backerboard (we use 3x5 hardibacker boards which have a grid showing where all the screws should go). Be sure that your screws are flush with the surface of the board. Once you are finished, put a smooth strip of mortar over the gaps. Lay the seam tape on top of the mortar and smooth with your trowel and a little more mortar to cover the tape smoothly. Once you are done with this, you will need to stay off the surface and let it dry completely (24-48 hours, but check the mortar manufacturer's recommendations). If you step on the backerboard while it is not completely dry, you risk cracking the mortar beneath.

Well, that has been our weekend this weekend-Friday night, Saturday day, and now Sunday afternoon-night. Andrew is almost finished with day three (there really isn't anything that I could do except sweep the subfloor before he started mortaring). We will be laying the main tiles (day 4) on Wednesday. Stay tuned. :)

Before shots:

Day 1: Gutting and cleaning:

Day 2: Painting and cutting backerboard:

We chose Behr Semi-gloss (always go with a gloss for a bathroom) in Sparrow (the one on the left although we liked the right one too).

My face after painting the ceiling. I have white freckles!

Day Three:

Off set the boards like brick in order to minimize weak joints that can cause cracking.

The cut out circles are where you need to screw in backerboard screws. Do this right after you lay the boards while the mortar is still wet. Put them all in. They are needed to keep the floor stable and even.