. Damn You, Bob Vila ............

. Part II


Yep, I went ahead and did the other bathroom. Although smaller than the first, it wasn't particularly any easier. This bathroom had built-in cabinets that required a lot of sanding and took quite a while to paint due to all the surfaces from the shelves. Since this is the guest bathroom and Chris doesn't have to look at it every day, I went with a little more funk (like the beaded curtains).


Give it up, designers: colored sinks will not hide spit and toothpaste any better than white sinks. This I know!
Behind the big mirrored medicine cabinet was the remnants of an in-wall cabinet. The previous "sport" carpenter failed to cover it.
Ripping out this cabinet was easier than the other because nobody freaked out with the glue.

The floor beneath the cabinet was really nasty. Probably the most tenement-like vibe I've encountered to date in this house.
The old galvanized fixtures wouldn't stop leaking. I used old socks to help the water drip into the buckets and not down the wall.
Old-school carpenters learned to use newspaper in the most unusual places. This was behind the cold water valve.

Plumbing expenses were high on this bath/garage project, so I may have to learn plumbing after all. (Not Steve's fault, though.)
This was the uneventful back wall.I ended up tearing out the tp holder. Now the rolls are loose in a basket...it's buffet style!
I thought maybe I could save the underlayment and just scrape up the asbestos-ladened vinyl...

After several hours of scraping, I gave up and busted out the circular saw. Wholesale destruction always is the answer.
Like the other bathroom, water damage was apparent. However, the wood wasn't rotted so I opted not to chop up the subfloor.
Thanks to those trees that gave their lives so that my feet could happily float on an even floor.

Laying down vinyl is pretty easy. But then again, this was a perfectly rectangular room.
Yes, that's a rolling pin you see. I like to pretend I'm in the kitchen baking when I do home repair.
Much to my sincere astonishment, I lined up the vinyl straight. I don't know what god of flooring was watching over me, but thanks.


After having remodeled two bathrooms, here's what I've learned:
  • Avoid buying the cheapest items (paint, fixtures, etc).
  • If you insist on going cheap, just don't buy cheap vinyl. After laying down some relatively inexpensive stuff I bought from Home Depot, I proceeded to dent it when I dropped a spray can. Now I have a nice crescent-shaped cut in my new floor.
  • If you have black hair, don't put down a totally white floor. Put down something with a little color or pattern so all the hair that falls off your head can blend in. Everytime I look at the floor I'm convinced I need to start Rogaine treatments.

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