Aug 15, 2010

Bathroom Unveiling

I have held off on the downstairs bathroom reveal for about a month in hopes of finding some fabric for the window. But alas, I am NOT inspired by fabric choices in Calgary. Anytime you want to come to Calgary, Fabricana, I'll be waiting outside doing cartwheels. In the meantime, must wait for my trip home to Vancouver in September...

Soooo, remember this doozy of bathroom? So bad, it was not even worthy of a before shot (read: I forgot to take a before shot). Some original (sink, back splash, toilet, mirror, light, floor vent), some replaced (1970s floral vinyl flooring), some horrifying (shower).

We worked with Cornad Contracting, who also completed our kitchen. We had a few minor glitches:
  • one tiler we had disappeared for 3 days, was fired then took off with all of our tile - took 2 weeks to re-order;
  • a few personnel changes (three different project managers);
  • the shower tile had to be re-grouted;
  • and the sink wasn't installed in the centre below the mirrored vanity (we have to get that one fixed in the fall).
I counted the number of people that actually worked on that bathroom. 14. In the tiniest bathroom. It was a clown car renovation. HOWEVER, the final result is just beautiful and we are very happy with Cornad's work. Take a look below:

Before - original wall hung sink that was cracked. I looked for months to find a similar second hand replacement.


There was nothing local and the one I finally pinned down was in Seattle at Second Use. And it was burgundy. They were willing to ship but it was going to cost a fortune and I had to have it repainted white. Too much work & $$. Finally broke down and decided to buy new.


Hubs and his brother removed the walls one weekend in May. One of the 14 guys added insulation and new gypsum wall board. The shower has cement board and was sealed with this red goopy stuff. Yes, that is its official name.


Framing out the shower in tile and installing a shower light


And AFTER 3 months with no shower and 1 toilet for a family of 4 plus a nanny:


Pretty much had to redo this entire shower. Frameless shower door.


River rock floor with original drain. I fought hard to keep this drain.


Glass penny tile detailing.


Shower - which I chose strictly for the cute engraved sun and snowflake design.


Original Universal Rundle toilet - need to replace toilet seat in the near future - tad oversized.


New wall-hung sink with chrome console. Mirror was replaced but vanity is original. We added an extra outlet (the only one was in the overhead light!) and a bathroom fan.


I love this sink. So. much. Duravit.


Faucet from Grohe - if this faucet was a man, it would be Olivier Martinez.


We had our plumber mack out the piping (one of the perks of owning an older house, we have our plumber on speed dial - should even consider inviting him to Christmas dinner)


Original light over mirror. The outlet is located at the base of the light.


Hubs had this vent cover chrome plated - was originally a dull dark grey.

From the outside. Ceramic tile and baseboard are new. Door is original but needs to be refinished.


Here's a product list of everything we restored/renovated in the bathroom:

Sink:
Basin - Duravit, Vero line with chrome console from Robinson Lighting & Bath Centre in Calgary (ask for Michelle - she really knows her products and has excellent solutions for your space)
Faucet - Grohe, Atrio series, from Robinson Lighting & Bath Centre in Calgary (Ditto to above)

Vent cover chroming: Alberta Plating


Shower tiles:
Main - Daltile ceramic Subway tile, Snow Drift (3"x6"), available at Home Depot

Shower fixtures: Moen shower faucet, Level series, not sure where plumber picked this up?

Towels: DKNY Urban Pique White Towel collection, available at Bed Bath & Beyond


LP

6 comments:

Shane from seaco2000@hotmail.com said...

Can you please show a picture of inside the bowl....

Please take a look at this model that I have been looking for and I lack pictures!!!

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-services-other-Looking-for-Homart-Kenmore-Universal-Rundle-Toilet-LOOK-W0QQAdIdZ323330276

Laura said...

It is rectangular. It's the original 1955 toilet. Some interesting information on your Kijiji post. I didn't know RUndle was a sears brand? We have all of our original fixtures and I just bought a beauty of a Canadian Potteries pink toilet as well.

waynedeer said...

Thank you so much for sharing this blog on plumbing solutions. Our toilet hasn't been working for awhile now and I can't seem to get it to work. We need the help of professionals. Do you know of any good calgary plumbers? Where can I find more information on this? Thank you for your help!

Laura said...

Dorthy - funny you posted this - our lovely toilet just cracked so I'm in the process of sourcing a new plumber. I'll let you know if I have any luck.

plumbers near me said...

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