DIY Bathroom Renovation

About a year ago, my husband and I started a pretty ambitious project - renovating both our bathrooms and our kitchen. We took a week off thinking surely with our prior experience (my parents started me renovating houses when I was a kid and his parents are pretty DIY handy) we could get it all done in that week. We were wrong.

Just like any other construction project, you can set a schedule of work that needs to be finished each day, but that's not a guarantee it'll get done. Invariably we had to make a trip to Lowe's to get something we'd forgotten on our initial list. Is that universal? Please say yes. Please?

Anyway, as we went along, I took pictures of the process with the idea in mind that one day I'd start a blog and share with friends how exactly we did what we did (because we got a lot of "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?? reactions). And so here we are.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in these things. I started young and I've done many things, but I'm by no means a professional tile installer, for example. I tend to rely on trial and error and creative problem solving, so there could be a better way to do this that I don't know. Feel free to comment!! I'm still learning!

Step 1: Make a plan
What don't you like about your bathroom? The flooring? The sinks? The wall color? For us, it was all three of these things. So I began thinking about what I liked and what I'd like to put into the house that would help the ultimate resale value.

I figured tile floor would sell better than linoleum and vessel sinks are hot, hot, hot. The problem is that the faucets are about as expensive as the sinks and we were working on a budget. I was lucky enough to find vessel sinks that accepted a regular faucet. Just try to think through all the pieces and parts of this as you're in your planning and budgeting stage so that you're not broadsided with an unexpected expense when your toilet is sitting in the bathtub.

I began looking around for design ideas and putting them into a wish list. It may help to print things out on a color printer and arrange them like a picture to help visualize the final product. Be sure to measure (twice to be sure!) the area, for example, where your sink will be placed. You don't want to come home from your local home improvement store with a sink base that's 2 inches larger than your space. Plot, plan and measure... and then comes the fun part.

Step 2: Gather your materials
Ladies, grab your debit cards, it's time to shop. This step actually took several months of shopping and budgeting once I'd found what I wanted design wise. We designated a place in our home to store the materials while we were gathering them.

One way we were able to save money on a bathroom vanity and kitchen cabinets was to transfer the base cabinets from the bathroom to the kitchen (they were builder's spec) and then used a dresser as a bathroom vanity. I scoured Craigslist in our area for the perfect dresser to paint and use - I'll post more later on this particular project - and after about a month of looking was successful in finding the right "look" for our space.

As you think through every aspect of what you're doing, make a list of things you'll need. For example, if you're painting you'll need rollers, paint brushes, drop cloths, paint trays, painter's tape, stirring sticks and paint. For tile, you'd need backer board, tile, a wet saw or tile clippers (depending on the project), mortar, grout, a rubber float, a sponge, a bucket, etc. Go through the project and try to list all the tools and materials you'll need. As I said, I often got knee deep into the project to realize I needed just a little more grout or a different width of tape. Patience is a virtue....

Step 3: DEMOLITION

For some, this is the heart of the project. It's an opportunity to let out all your aggression. Rip up that floor. Pull out that vanity. Tear off that vanity. Whatever floats your boat.

We started with the huge mirror that dominated one wall. Luckily, it was held to the wall with a series of clips and a track at the bottom instead of being glued to the wall. We loosened the clips at the top first and then slid the mirror out of the track. If you're doing this at home sports fans, you'll figure out when you start trying to pull the mirror off the wall whether it's glued on or not. Keep in mind these wall mirrors are heavy, so be sure to have an extra set of hands to help manipulate it off the wall and out of the room.

When left with a mirrorless wall, we then turned our attention to taking the top off of the vanity. First thing, empty the cabinets so that you can get to the plumbing. Then, most importantly, TURN OFF THE WATER TO THE HOUSE. Trust me on this one. Otherwise, you'll have water everywhere.

Once the water is turned off, be sure to turn on the faucets to drain as much water as you can out of the lines. Then, from under the vanity, unhook the faucets from the water pipes. You'll probably have a bit of residual water that comes out when you do this, so keep a towel handy to mop up. Do the same for the drains from the drain pipe.

Next, we had to deal with the side splash panel (very technical term here) - the piece that was attached to the wall to the side of the sink to prevent the drywall from getting wet. Sometimes these are tacked on with caulk, but ours was glued on. We cut the caulk around the sides of the panel with a carpet blade and pried it off with a small pry bar. You can see the green of the drywall that was behind the panel in the picture to the right.

Once that's done, check to see if the back splash is glued to the wall as well. If it is, cut the caulk like you did with the side splash and pull the vanity top away from the wall. If it's glued to the wall, you can pry this from the wall as well. Once the back splash is free, lift the top off of the vanity. If it still won't come off, check underneath to see if the vanity top is screwed into the base. If so, remove those screws and try again. The picture to the left is after the top's been taken off the vanity.

Then, we took the doors off the vanity, checked to see if the vanity was screwed into the wall, removed those screws and - being careful of the pipes in the floor - lifted the vanity out of the bathroom.

You might be left with some unfinished wall board that you should prime and paint before replacing the vanity. But otherwise, you're through the first part of DIY bathroom renovation!

Next up? Tiling!