Big 'ol picture post.....the bathroom. Finally.

So last fall Kim allowed me the privilege of learning a hard, hard lesson. She gave the seal of approval for me to destroy the bathroom and re-tile the shower and floor. In my glorious ignorance, I accepted said task and what happened will forever be burned into my mind as the worst thing I will have ever attempted or will likely ever attempt in terms of home renovation.

If you ever want to re-tile something....don't. Contractors charge so much because it truly sucks that bad to lay tile. And HGTV doesn't show you the hell between the before...and the after. Why? Because HGTV is in cahoots with the building supply places and they make tons of money off of morons like myself that believe I can do anything if I only read a book on how to do it.

I want to be completely clear on this....I opted out of the shower installation because while I am half way handy...I'm not stupid. If it leaks then that's MY fault....it ain't an easy fix. So I didn't tile the shower or the tub surround but I did the floor with absolutely zero experience in laying, cutting, grouting, or handling tile....period. But the finished product is pretty ok if I do say so myself....enjoy the 9 Circles of Hell as seen from my camera through this renovation.

BEFORE.....

White shower with tile only head high....plenty of cracks that cannot be seen.

The tub with the useless and cumbersome step. It served no purpose other than to trip and maim.

The unique transition from one tile to another...beautiful. I was sure that this was a design element until I began to rip up the tile around the toilet....this tile was grouted and set in kryptonite.

 

When I would rinse....all of this BROWN painted sheetrock would be soaked. BROWN....like poo poo.

Beautiful scum in the grout lines.....ahhhh yes. Shower with mold and scum....I love it.

Nasty looking insulation.....be GONE!!!!

The tub and the nightmare of tools on the old vanity.....

 

Tile starting....

 

 

 You've never had fun like this....I promise. I mean this is good times.

 

 

 Showing some signs of progress.....

 And now for the final product.

 

 

 

 

 

  

So there it is....the mistake that I'll never make again. I'm only half kidding. There is some amount of satisfaction with doing something like this. The floor and base mold are my handy work and the installation of the vanity was by a pro as well as the counter top and mirror. 

A quick story about the counter top...our neighbor that watched Reese for a while came over one Saturday to see the renovation and she looked at what is obviously a granite counter top and asked, "Now what is this?"...I assumed that maybe she was not versed in the varieties of hard surface counter tops so I proclaim "Granite." Where as she promptly made me feel like mud by saying...."No, I know that...what is the name of the style?" Holy crap...you know your granite enough to know the names and what the styles are? I felt like a shithead. There. I said it. If you ever read our blog Krissy...sorry about that. I didn't mean to imply that you were a granite virgin. My bad.

I assume that we will pull or normal nomad-like ways and depart from this house once we decide that another child is in order but I assure you.....In fact I will proclaim to you on this blog that I will NOT be laying tile in a bathroom....EVER......AGANE. (misspelled on purpose so as to sound all hoity.)

Thanks for waiting patiently :)