Pulp Bath Reno 2

Pulp Bath Reno 2

After the most tedious of tasks, the sheetrock taping/mudding/sanding (which really did payoff big time, walls and ceilings look great), back to the jobs that actually feel like you are really making progress. Here at the Pulp Bath Reno 2, this week, we are talking about paint, cabinets, shower base and floor tile!

Yes indeed, many things happening, of course, not all at the same time, but it was a great move forward week on this one! With the wall and ceiling patching complete, first up was getting a coat of primer paint on both so we’d be ready to set the cabinets. As mentioned, our plan was to set the cabinets and then tile up to them. A couple reasons for that, one being less tile needed, two being with slightly sloped and not completely level floors, having the floor tile marry up to the cabinet bases makes the transition much smoother and ends up looking better in the long run!

Now the cabinets were pre-ordered a while back and were all individual units. To set them in place they needed to be joined together to make one continuous counter, so the countertop folks can come in and do their measuring for the eventual tops. For the Pulp Bath Reno 2 we have two 30” wide cabinets that will make up the vanity with the two new sinks (remember, old bath only had the one sink). Our other “cabinets” consist of one tall storage cabinet and then a lower desk level one plus side cabinet with drawers which will eventually be a “make-up” desk for applying such and/or a surface top to put things on. I should mention we found a very cool, antique chair that will sit adjacent to this counter/desk on a recent antique shop day!

With the counters set and in place, it was time to get busy on the floors. Prior to setting floor tile, we needed the shower base and curb complete. you know, so we have something to floor tile up to. Again going with the Schluter Ditra “build your own” shower kit which comes with a pre-sloped shower base, aka, you cut it to fit your specific shower (they come in multiple shapes and sizes with various drain location and type options) and set it down with mortar. The pre-slope makes it so all water heads for the drain meaning no need to “pitch” your floor tile, it is already built in!

With shower base set and in place, it was time for the floor tile. We are going with a large format rectangular porcelain tile (see adjacent pic) which is nice as each tile covers up a decent amount off space, you just need to be careful with the level thing so that the tile edges all line up to each other. If you look at that adjacent pic, you’ll see a few red mushroom shaped pieces on top of the tile, these are pretty handy “leveling” tools which help out on that front. They consist of a threaded plastic upright screw that has a couple flat fee on it. You place the feet beneath the tiles you are trying to level and then screw the mushroom cap down until it hits the top surface of the tiles. The tighter you screw them down, the more lift you get on your tiles and you just adjust until you are satisfied with the soon to be finished product. Prior to grouting, you remove the mushroom caps and simply snap off the plastic upright screws. Extreme cool!

We are cooking now, plan is to continue with floor tiling until complete. Going to do as many full tiles as possible and then get busy with all the cuts we’ll need to do to finish out on the perimeter. If all goes well, we’ll be putting up the crown molding and then finish painting on the walls in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Some progress pics adjacent and below. See you next week!