Project Half Bathroom: To-Do List

We just received confirmation from the plumber that he will be here to start on the bathroom 2 weeks from now! I am totally stoked! I wish he could come sooner because it's cutting it close to our get together that we're hosting with the Bees. Pat the plumber seems to feel confident that he can get it done in 3 days.

3 days? Excuse me I don't think I heard you right.

Imagine my elation when we've been living with a ceiling less kitchen for a year and months of unfinished home projects. He's pretty much a contractor in addition to being a plumber, so he said he could tile the rest of our floor and put the door in as well (at an additional cost of course). That's fine with me if it means getting it all done!


My bathroom inspiration from Better Home & Garden. I ripped this out of their magazine and have it taped to my kitchen/bathroom wall for months now. My MIL used bead board in her bathroom and I really like it. I think it's great for us because of the crappy spackle job we did with that room. I love the sink console as well and the wide vessel sink. I've used them before and I like it way better than the round vessel sinks. What really drew me to this bathroom was the mosaic tile. I get a lot of free tile samples at work and I thought this could be something I can do in this bathroom.

This is what I do before a project. I make a to-do list that includes more than what is involved with the room itself. Things that aren't always obvious (to men especially). Then I put them in chronological order.

1. Measure room. Take notes of dimensions in a notebook. Take the dimensions with you when you shop.
   
2. Buy sink console, cabinetry and toilet. You need these 2-3 things to lay out your room. That's why you take notes of the room dimensions.
3. Clean out the room. It's our pantry currently so we need to remove everything and thoroughly clean any particles and dust.
4. Either mark or temporarily set the cabinet in the room where you plan on locating it.

Here's the part that I get very worked up about - the prep.

1. Protect your floors and surfaces. Because our soon to be bath is in the back of the house, dirty shoes are going to be walking through the entire length of the house for days.
2. I start by throwing an old runner rug down from the front entrance through the living room to "protect" our carpet.
3. Hang and tape plastic up in doorways to the dining room. I just cleaned it and I don't want more dust getting into that room.
4. Because the room is attached to the kitchen, you can count on it getting pretty dusty. I drape the stove with an old table cloth (to avoid cleaning the burners and knobs).
5. Stow everything away - wall art, decorative accents, utensil holders, etc. It's less you have to wipe dust off of later.
6. Since our kitchen counters will act as a work area, line the counter tops with brown paper for protection from scratches.
   

Back to the bathroom:

1. The plumber is going to come in and do his thing - run sanitary and water lines from the basement to the bathroom. Put in a flue for exhaust. Just leave me him alone to do his work. He will set the cabinet for a looksy to make sure the lines are going to the right place and that I like where the cabinet is at.
   
2. Tile the floor.
3. Spackle any holes or open seams (usually the access panel that you see behind your shower or bathtub).
4. Do any painting or trim work NOW before the furniture goes in.

Hang the door:


(Nasty right? Yes, that's a sock you see.)

1. We realized we had a little pickle on our hands. The previous owners took all the door trim off the opening so all that has to go back on before we can hang the door. We've never done that before and the walls are uneven. We're going to have to read up about it.
2. Buy door trim, buy all the wood that goes inside the opening. Buy a threshold.
3. Buy door hardware.
4. Buy door. I found an old door in our attic that measure 27" wide. Our door way is 28.5" wide so I think this is the original door!
5. Clean up old door, sand, paint.
6. Install hardware.
7. See if the door fits.
   

Back to Bathroom:

1. Set all cabinetry and toilet into room.
2. See if the toilet and faucet works.
   
3. Install towel rack and toilet paper holder.
4. Now hang the door.
5. Clean up.
6. Pay plumber.
7. Add decorative accents.
8. Have a new half bathroom poo poo party! Umm, okay. Maybe not.

Sherry and John over at Young House Love recently renovated their bathroom and this breakdown is great for reference.