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'We have the worst bathroom in the world,' Na says.
But because she's trying to talk and brush her teeth at the same time it sounds more like 'weavezewersebarfroominvaworlve'.
OK, maybe ‘worst’ is a slight exaggeration. The worst would be completely decrepit, not working and falling down, a take-your-life-in-your-hands-every-time-you-take-a-shower kind of bathroom. Ours isn't nearly that bad, it is functional after all. But it sure is ugly.
When we first moved in it was the worst room in a house that reeked of crimes against interiors. Pink walls, a pink bath, grey and pink tiles and a laminate vanity that even the 1970s would have rejected. Here, look at it.
Inspired by watching every season of Selling Houses Australia we did a cosmetic reno - changed the tapware, updated the lighting, sprayed the tiles, painted the walls and replaced the stick-on vinyl floor tiles with basic porcelain ones. Shaynna would have been proud.
And for a while that was fine. But then things started to change. The spray-on surface started to lift and our two small children (Maddy is five and Ava is almost three) delighted in peeling it off during bath time. Fun! Even our dogs, Sid and Bella, got in on the act by scratching some of the paint off the tiles. And now it looks completely crap.
That was almost four years ago when we first moved to our renovator in Somers.
Somers clings to the south-eastern tip of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. It’s a quiet town - there’s the General Store, Post Office, a primary school, a kindergarten, the Lord Somers Camp and, well, that’s about it. If you walk down to the beach you can look across Western Port Bay to Phillip Island.
I’ve always thought that Somers was a very apt name for a coastal town; almost a little too perfect. Turns out though that it wasn’t someone in the council planning office trying to be a bit clever but it was named after a past governor of Victoria who established the Lord Somers Camp. Thank you, Wikipedia.
Some consider this to be the unfashionable side of the peninsula - it definitely isn’t Sorrento or Rye, but then it’s not Capel Sound either (Google it) - but we love it because it’s quiet and largely undiscovered.
Somers is made up of an odd mix of houses. Some are classic beach shacks that look like they were built over a series of weekends, others are Hamptons-inspired retreats that wouldn’t look out of place in Portsea, while other houses look like they belong on Ramsay Street.
Our house is one of the latter. It’s a late-50s cream brick veneer house that would look perfectly at home in any suburb - there are thousands just like it throughout Melbourne. There’s probably one on your street. Here’s a picture of it.
Since moving here in mid-2013 we have renovated pretty much the entire place. We painted every wall, steamed off the colonial bush scene wallpaper (what was even stranger than the design was the decision of which walls to hang it on, random to say the least) and the chicken wallpaper in the kitchen. Next, we ripped up the green carpet and polished the beautiful floorboards that were hidden beneath. We knocked a wall out between the kitchen and dining room, windows have since become doors, and our kitchen and dining room now look out onto a large deck.
On weekends our two girls cut laps around the deck on their scooters like its Chapel Street on a Friday night, while our dogs laze happily in the sun, keeping one eye open in case one of the girls zigs when she should have zagged.
It’s not the kind of house you’ll ever see featured in a magazine - ‘Startling beachside renovation’. No, this house is a piece of suburbia that took a wrong turn and never bothered finding its way back.
But it’s home.
It’s taken a lot of weekends, holidays and evenings but finally the inside is taking shape, the tide has turned in the battle against the ugly. And emerging from the wreckage is a space that our family feels connected to and is proud to call home. We’ve worked together to complete as much of the work as our limited DIY skills have allowed us to, we’ve argued about light fittings and paint colours and come out the other side. Now as our renovation journey nears its end there’s just one room left, the bathroom - AKA the worst room in our home.
So my wife, Na, and I made the call - the bathroom has to go. We’ve decided on a full reno, a total gut job. This is the diary of our bathroom renovation.
The integrated basins are a good choice, especially when you have kids. Hard wearing and very easy to keep clean.
Days 5-7: Making progress
So a few things have happened since the last update. The bathroom has been sheeted with waterproof plaster, the plasterer has done his thing, the shower has been screeded and the niches have been framed up in the shower. The gaping holes in the floor have been sealed up and the room really is taking shape now.
Day 8: One big hole
So today we hit a big milestone - the two windows have become one. Unfortunately I missed the demo session but judging by the rubble down the side of our house, it looks like the builders had a good time! Unfortunately you can't see all of the window in the pic below - the glass hasn't been put in yet, just the frame, which you can see a little bit of in the bottom right corner. The waterproofing process has also started, so apologies for the lack of photos as I’m unable to enter the room at the moment.
Tile trouble
As much as you plan (or think you’ve planned) there are always questions that pop up that you haven’t thought of. For us, it was tiling and what height to tile to. Initially we planned to tile to a height of 1800 but then thought that may not look great when the tiles intersect with the new window. So what to do? Tile to the height of the window or go all the way to the ceiling (including above the window)? Any thoughts?
Good job, looking good.
Personally I like the floor to ceiling tiling, however with having the strip of plastered wall you can add a bit of colour as your mood changes.
Totally personal choice and good luck deciding.
Cheers
Daryl
We decided to tile to the ceiling in the bathroom we built last year. There's some pictures here - Backyard games room project and a big version here.
Obviously cost is a factor, and you don't have the option down the track of changing the room a little with paint, but we think it looks fantastic.
I'm keen to see and hear what other community members have done with their tiling.
Jason
Day 9: Window reveal
The waterproofing is done, the under-tile heating has been laid and now we can see the new window in its entirety. We’re still waiting for the glass to go in - that should be happening some time today. Also the vanity will be hung today and tiling will begin. Again, sorry for the lack of pics, I still can’t get into the room and there is still no light, so picture quality is very average!
Here’s a sneak peek at the tiles we’ve chosen for the bathroom - the carrara marble herringbone tiles will just go on one wall - surrounding the vanity and mirror (they’ll also be used in the wall niches in the shower). Otherwise, the small subways will be used on all other walls (floor to ceiling) and the large format (300mm x 600mm) charcoal tiles are for the floor.
And here’s the vanity (Issy Glide 1750mm) we’ve chosen.
Day 10 & 11: Taking shape
The vanity is up, the glass is in the window frame and tiling has begun! The room is starting to take on some character and the window is letting in plenty of light. It’s tinted, so you can’t really see in but looking out you can barely tell that it’s tinted. Today the floor tiles should go down and tomorrow the bath.
Days 12 & 13: Tiling …
Yep, still tiling. Turns out those small subway tiles take quite a while to do … The floor tiles are done and the walls should be finished today. This week I’ve made two trips to Port Melbourne to source extra tiles. Despite adding on an extra 10% to allow for wastage we have still run short on both our subways and the carrara marble tiles.
With the subways we were initially only planning to tile part of the way up the wall, but once the build started we changed our mind and decided to tile all the way to the ceiling. That was our first mistake.
As for the carrara marble tiles, I think I must have screwed up my calculations. I guess the lesson here is if maths isn’t your strong point, get someone else to check your figures.
Once the tiling is done the next thing to be done is the bath followed by the taps and lighting. Our bath is from Bunnings, it’s a Rick Maclean’s freestanding bath. Our tapware for the vanity and bath are from JamieJ, while the shower rail and shower head are both from Caroma.
Sorry about today’s pics - still no lights in the room.
I think it's great that you're doing up your bathroom. We are about to start our bathroom come laundry in our unit. We won't be moving any plumbing as we are doing it on a budget. It's so strange that I have to worry about the expense of doing up a bathroom I have three brothers that are plumbers and one that is a builder. Unfortunately they all live interstate. It would be great if they all needed a holiday as I live at the beach on the Gold Coast. We could do a trade-off, work for accommodation. Ha. No, not really.
If you tire of doing your renovation you could always start writing novels. That was some introduction Darren.
Manda
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