“What an ‘ah-kee bah-kee boo bathroom!” said our older kids.  If you read our previous post and saw the ‘before’ picture of the full bathroom at our project house, you might agree.

The Water Itself

Aside from a leak under the sink, the bathroom functioned enough that you could flush the toilet and wash your hands. However, after inspection, we were told the well was shot. The water would only run for about 2-3 minutes before going down to a trickle. Further investigation confirmed those initial thoughts that we would need to put in a new well. Clearly this is a job for professionals. This expense was going to set us back approximately $4400.00. Ouch. We did get the sellers to take half of the cost off the sale price which helped. We also knew we would need a water softener with the hard well water. After all, water is important….not somewhere that you cut corners!

Once the well was dug and functioning, we had the water tested so that we knew what water softener was needed. We weren’t at all surprised to see that the iron level in the water was crazy high. Based on the iron level and size of the house, we had the appropriate size water softener installed.

The Bathroom Itself

This room was interesting to say the least. From the rust stained fixtures, to the drop ceiling, to the kitchen cabinets put up on either side of the mirror, and spare kitchen base cabinets as a vanity. Not to say none of these things weren’t functional,  but it was not appealing, especially being the only main floor bathroom.

Here is a reminder of what the bathroom looked like ‘before’:

What did we get rid of?

• Tub/Shower Combo- the bottom was 50% deep rust color
• Toilet- ditto of the tub
• ‘Vanity’- as I mentioned were actually kitchen cabinets, the counter was not even attached, and the plumbing was leaking
• Ceiling- noticed the ceiling was lower in the bathroom than any other room on the main floor. After poking a hole and looking up there, the ceiling was gorgeous! Saws al with a 12 inch blade and 30 minutes later- no more drop ceiling
• Bath fan- was ‘vented’ between the ceilings and improperly installed

Progress- Can you See the Beauty Yet?

Putting it back together:

• Built new bulkhead to cover new plumbing and install bath fan
• Miscellaneous dry wall/plaster repair
• Two coats of paint on ceiling, walls, trim, and doors
• Installed new trim
• All new fixtures
• Accent tile on the bathroom floor- there was no tile under the cabinets we removed
• Spray painted the fixtures to be black (to tie into the colors of the bathroom)
• Scored a vanity complete with faucet and drain from online yardsale for $200 (over $800 new)

Presto!! New gorgeous bathroom!!

Now do you see beauty in this bathroom?