Before/After 2nd-floor bathroom in our 121 year old house (5-month project)

[Bo Zarts]

Before:


After:


It was a mess!
*Plaster walls and ceilings
*Layers of paint and wall paper
*Layers of old tile
*Hundreds of pounds of hand-poured concrete between floor joists
*Active knob-and-tube wiring
*Asbestos
*Incredibly old plumbing
*All the demolition had to be carried down narrow stairs in 5-gal. plastic buckets.

The second floor is my study/studio and storage, so this is my "executive wash room." I plan to use the second floor for my work as long as I can climb the stairs. Since I can still do fire lookout towers, that should be a while.

Our contractor specializes in old houses, and he has been doing work on our house for over 20 years. This was the last big project that we are planning on, and we finally have the house ready for our old age. When the time comes that we can't do stairs, everything we need is on the first level.

The house was built in 1905, before the street existed. It was a caretaker's or guest house behind a much larger house which has been long gone.

[SheltieLover]

1. Lovely!

Congrats!

[MiHale]

2. Beautiful! Wow, whatta job.

[Deuxcents]

3. Tons of work but not razing the house is respecting the past and you've done it very well

Just from following you on your travels with your camera, I would think you’d save the house and bring back some of its old charm. Looks great..love the plantation shutters..they transform any room

[sheshe2]

4. That's beautiful!

[SuzyandPuffpuff]

5. Good job

Lotta work but what a payout... excellent

[Old Crank]

6. Good job.

Our new flat is 25 years old. We are going to be ripping out the tub and replacing it with a walk in shower, old age. The toilet cistern will have to be addressed also. Open teh wall to get the old one out and the new one in. Can't wait.....

I just finished, for the most part the kitchen from our move in.

Always a joy to remodel houses.

[10 Turtle Day]

7. It's absolutely gorgeous!

[Pucks mom]

8. Very well done!

I had a house built in 1904 and the before picture is just like what I had to work with.

[niyad]

9. 'Tis a thing of beauty!

[hlthe2b]

10. Nice. I am really glad you maintained the overall aesthetic of the old house with this

updating. (Too bad the same principle is apparently being lost at the White House by you know who)...

[irisblue]

11. Grab bar by shower head?

[hurple]

12. Show us more

Want to see the whole house.

[multigraincracker]

13. Great job, enjoy. Main floor laundry is a must for seniors.

[KPN]

14. Very nice! Must feel great to have all of your big home

improvement projects behind you.

[highplainsdem]

15. Lovely transformation!

[ms.pamela]

16. Beautiful Job

Maybe these pictures will help propel me into action on my second story bathroom too.

[paleotn]

17. Great job!!!

Very impressive.

Active knob and tube?! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

[Karadeniz]

18. Gorgeous !!!

[Beartracks]

19. Is it the camera lens, or is the end result actually a bigger bathroom?

The before shot looks like little more than a closet, but maybe it's a wide angle pointed more toward the floor?

In any event, you've got an incredibly satisfying "new" bathroom. Very executive!

=============

[calimary]

20. Very nice!

Quite an improvement!

[ultralite001]

21. Curious...

What did you do for insulation??? Is the only ventilation through the windows???

It looks fabulous!!!

[TommieMommy]

22. That's fantastic 👍👍

[PatSeg]

23. Wow, thanks for sharing!

[PatSeg]

24. Wow, thanks for sharing!

[CaptainTruth]

25. As a contractor who's done a ton of kitchen & bath remodels, that looks great!

I also realize that the real lasting quality is hidden behind the surface the homeowner sees.

I hope you've found a truly good contractor who takes pride in their work! Trust me, they're rare in this business.

[greatauntoftriplets]

26. It looks great.

I hope that you have a second bathroom. Five months is a long time....

[erronis]

27. Every time I see the stairs you climb on the fire towers, my knees ache.

And great job on the bathroom. I have never dealt with hand-poured concrete between the joists. That had to have been a bear. How did you get it our without using a jackhammer?

[1WorldHope]

28. That is wonderful. I love the walk in shower.

The picture makes it look huge. The floor of the shower is interesting. Is that a mat?
Our house was built around 1900 as well. I love these old houses. I wish we had a really good contractor like yours.

[GiqueCee]

29. LOVE...

... the basket-weave tiles in the shower floor!

[KS Toronado]

32. Loved that shower floor also.

[Onlyserious]

30. Grab bars?

We're doing a similar project using as many grab bars that double as towel rods as we can manage--we have a TP dispenser that doubles as a grab-bar as well. Beautiful project!

[LoisB]

31. Nice! I love that shower.

[Bristlecone]

33. I really like the lattice tile

[Figarosmom]

34. Hard work paid off, it's beatiful.

Work to be proud of.😊

[Aussie105]

35. An admirable job!

Must have cost a lot of money!

Our home is less than 80 years old, but the kitchen and bathroom got the makeover too.

Your reno is a work of art though, ours is more of the 'basic but practical' school of thought.

Bathroom workers, them of Middle Eastern descent, worked their butts off in the bathroom, never even stopping for lunch.
Worked out later it was the time of Ramadan!

Did some work in there myself though - grab rails, and plenty of them, some vertical and some horizontal to double as towel rails, shelving.
Just to put my personal touch on it.

I'd suggest one grab rail near the shower, for when you close your eyes, and one near the toilet, to make getting up easier as you get older.

[gademocrat7]

36. Amazing renovation

[democrank]

37. Well done!

What a transformation. You must be very pleased.

I share my friend’s 1830s brick house. The upstairs bathroom is on the renovations list. It has an old cast iron tub which has to come out.

[Historic NY]

38. Walk in showers are the bomb....

I had one put in while I was recovering from a major medical issue....sure beats climbing over a tub through sliding glass shower door. For good measure I put in a folding teak bench and a a grab bar.

[Susan Calvin]

39. That is a bathroom I can get behind.

I hate these newfangled bathrooms that practically shout in your face.

[twodogsbarking]

40. Superb. Well done.

[evolves]

41. Beautiful!

Major kudos for a gorgeous restoration!

[Be The Light]

42. Dude!

Love the rug, it pulls the whole room together!

[Richluu]

43. Nice!

Bern there done that. Our house is 180 years old and had knob and tube electricity and conduit on the outside of the walls! We tore out lathe and plaster, put in romex, and drywalled.

Congrats, fellow old house remodeler!