Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Status:
"Mistress of finance and foods."
(set 21 days ago)
Location: Coastal Georgia
50,036 posts, read 63,384,408 times
Reputation: 92564
Advertisements
What I mean is, do little cosmetic makeovers EVER work out that way?
We just started removing wallpaper in a bathroom. All we were going to do is paint, and put up a new shower curtain...just to get it up and running for summer guests.
So now, we find that old wallpaper liner that's been painted over is under the wallpaper we're taking off, which is a nightmare which will leave the wall uneven. Either we replaster the walls, or maybe we should try our hand a tile instead? Then, we realized that we need to remove the toilet to get to the wall behind it. Since we will have the toilet out, how about we replace the floor while we're at it? Yada yada...
Why can't a simple project ever be that way?
LOL. That's what happened to us yesterday with our ceiling fan. I took some parts off to clean it. We just bought a foreclosure and the fan was caked with dust. I couldn't clean the blades with windex and a rag, so i ended up taking a part more of the ceiling fan (so I could clean it in the sink). The fan had that ugly polished gold brass, so I figured, half the fan was down, so let's take the whole thing down and spray paint it. It took all day to finish this project up!!
Our kitchen though we were able to do a lipstick job. The wallpaper in the kitchen was easy to take down. So we just took that down and painted.
I've been doing old houses for years. One thing I learned is to estimate a job, no matter how simple, then double it. I estimate the job for material, time, and now include money and time for extras. Like the kitchen sink I tried to replace and ended up replacing the sink and counter tops. I've done bathrooms like yours also. It's never just a lipstick make over. It's lipstick with alot of powder to get the shine off.
What I mean is, do little cosmetic makeovers EVER work out that way?
We just started removing wallpaper in a bathroom. All we were going to do is paint, and put up a new shower curtain...just to get it up and running for summer guests.
So now, we find that old wallpaper liner that's been painted over is under the wallpaper we're taking off, which is a nightmare which will leave the wall uneven. Either we replaster the walls, or maybe we should try our hand a tile instead? Then, we realized that we need to remove the toilet to get to the wall behind it. Since we will have the toilet out, how about we replace the floor while we're at it? Yada yada...
Why can't a simple project ever be that way?
OMG! This just cracked me up!
Same thing here, thought we'd just remove the psychedelic bathroom wall paper and paint! Well, the previous owners (in their LSD induced psychosis) failed to size the wall. We ended up removing the wall board, and gutting the rest of the bathroom (except the lovely cast iron tub).
New wall board, paint, tile and floor...the room was great.....except for the
lovely tub....... which had to be re-glazed!
It will take several years, but you will be able to laugh about this.
Your guest will enjoy your bathroom.......but you will love it!
Trust me
Our second house we replaced a worn out vanity, painted and the room looked completely remodeled. We were lucky. Our third house we had an issue with the bathtub faucet. No biggie, we will just replace it. HA! That house was built in the 40's and all the newer faucets have a different spread. The faucet was old looking and we figured since we were changing it, we would go with something more modern. Well that involved special ordering one which put us in the hundreds of dollars (which we didnt have). The tub wall was tiled and we were not about to go knocking tiles off the wall and all that. So we found an old hardware store and they actually had the same style faucet with the correct spread for 70 bucks. So went through all that work just to replace the faucet with another one just like it. At least it worked but it was a weekend ordeal to end up with exactly what we had.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,307 posts, read 38,678,683 times
Reputation: 7184
My wife and I bought our house thinking that we would probably paint the plywood paneling as a stop gap and take things easy. A week later I had the ceilings braced with temporary walls, laying new plate, replacing studs, re-wiring, re-tiling, insulating, sheetrocking, tearing out cabinets, etc. etc. I'm still amazed at how quickly things went thermonuclear and how innocently we started.
What I mean is, do little cosmetic makeovers EVER work out that way?
Why can't a simple project ever be that way?
Because you are peeling an onion when doing these things in older homes.
Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Hope everything works out well.. btw, replace the toilet if it is older than 10 years to save yourselves some headaches down the ling. Don't forget to install a new wax ring when doing this job.
I would always recommend tile, at least half way up the batroom wall with a bull nose cap, so long as the wall is level and in good shape. Otherwise, rip that old gypsum board out and install new "blueboard and then tile, and paper above the tile. Tile the floors if you do the walls.
Make sure you have ground fault electrical outlets. They are easy to install, and are code now, but cut the circuit when doing the work.
Don't use flourescent lights above, or along side, mirrors. Use wallsconsces since they don't create any shodows in the mirror. While you're at it modernize the main light in the bathroom ceiling but if you go with recessed light, never over mirrors. The are great in showers. Then remember, you will be opening a new can of worms in the ceiling.
Status:
"Mistress of finance and foods."
(set 21 days ago)
Location: Coastal Georgia
50,036 posts, read 63,384,408 times
Reputation: 92564
Quote:
Originally Posted by brien51
Because you are peeling an onion when doing these things in older homes.
Always prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Hope everything works out well.. btw, replace the toilet if it is older than 10 years to save yourselves some headaches down the ling. Don't forget to install a new wax ring when doing this job.
I would always recommend tile, at least half way up the batroom wall with a bull nose cap, so long as the wall is level and in good shape. Otherwise, rip that old gypsum board out and install new "blueboard and then tile, and paper above the tile. Tile the floors if you do the walls.
Make sure you have ground fault electrical outlets. They are easy to install, and are code now, but cut the circuit when doing the work.
Don't use flourescent lights above, or along side, mirrors. Use wallsconsces since they don't create any shodows in the mirror. While you're at it modernize the main light in the bathroom ceiling but if you go with recessed light, never over mirrors. The are great in showers. Then remember, you will be opening a new can of worms in the ceiling.
Update..we dodged the bullet with the floor for now, but are drywalling over the skylight in the ceiling. We wound up skimcoating the wall to even it up, and are painting and replacing the towel rods. The floor will be saved for another time. Fortunately the vanity top and tub surround are newer cultured marble and in good shape.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
That house was built in the 40's and all the newer faucets have a different spread. The faucet was old looking and we figured since we were changing it, we would go with something more modern. Well that involved special ordering one which put us in the hundreds of dollars (which we didnt have). The tub wall was tiled and we were not about to go knocking tiles off the wall and all that. So we found an old hardware store and they actually had the same style faucet with the correct spread for 70 bucks. So went through all that work just to replace the faucet with another one just like it. At least it worked but it was a weekend ordeal to end up with exactly what we had. 
