There is Always a Beginning

When you just start out in any business, you have no customers, no references, no portfolio. So what do you do?

As I thought about it, what I do have is an attention to detail, being able to learn new skills, and correct mistakes as I go. So although, this project I am going to talk about is not related to furniture restoration, it does require a lot of the same skills and a DIY attitude.

For as long as I remember, I have always been a DIYer. Some of the reasons are that I like to see a job well done and done right and I can save a lot of money. So this past summer I took on the job of remodeling our master bathroom. I had done this once in 2004 and never really did like how it turned out; especially the shower floor. It never did drain quite right even after I tried to fix it.

After some planning and picking out materials, I started around July 8, 2023. It took me until almost October working evenings and weekends. YouTube was my best friend.

You learn things as you go. For instance we had a big solid mirror over our vanity that my wife wanted to take down. After some research I found a post saying to cover it in Carpet Shield. Then I could take a hammer and break it and the film would hold it together. Then you could cut the film in pieces and throw it in the trash. So I covered the mirror in two sheets of this stuff and then took a hammer to it. Nothing. Hit it again! Nothing. Now i started to react without completely thinking it through. I got up on the vanity countertop and started to pry the mirror off the wall. Didn’t know exactly what I was going to do with it if I got it off the wall. But as I started to pry it loose, I thought, what if I hit it from the back. Whack crack. It broke, the film held and soon I had the whole thing in pieces and in the trash can.

We decided to paint the bathroom vanity. I had never done that before. After cleaning, sanding, priming and painting, it turn out beautiful with hardly a brush stroke. Prep and good brushes as well as good paint was key here. I used Sherwin Williams Emerald Alkyd Enamel.

You never know what you are going to find when you do your demo. Like I said, I did this bathroom in 2004. When I pulled off all of the tile and cement board in the shower area I was surprised as to what I saw.

These are the names of every pet we had ever had. Our daughter, Samantha, had gone in there and wrote this in the insulation. We never knew and I didn’t see it when I covered it up. She was 9 at the time. Although covered up again, it is still there to be discovered by the next person that lives in this house and decides to remodel the bathroom again. But it won’t be me!

I am not going to go into all of the gory details of doing this bath remodel, but I will tell you a few things. I used Schluter products for the backing boards and the shower pan. It was a little more expensive than cement board, but much lighter, much easier to cut and much easier to install. We chose marble tile from Floor and Decor and black Delta fixtures. We were very happy with result. We got a quote for the remodel about a year earlier and it was between $25,000 and $35,000 without materials. Materials for this project, including plumbing that I didn’t feel comfortable doing came in just a little under $15,000. So we basically saved $25,000+. It just takes patience, attention to detail and sweat equity.

Until next time…