Budget Bathroom

(Including what homeowners purchased on their own)

Project Duration: 1 Installer, 2 weeks.

Metal Finish: Brushed Nickel

The focus in this job was cutting costs by reusing materials, so almost everything excluding the new tile is something that was reused. The homeowners purchased items at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, and also had other items they had picked up on Craigslist such as the vanity. They reused their tub and toilet. The original bathroom in this project had a lot of wasted space, so we redesigned it to be smaller than the original. This achieved two things: made the space more efficient overall, and secondly, it allowed for a future expansion of the master bathroom that is on the other side of the back wall.

We started out by gutting the old bathroom completely. We removed a 4′ high tile wainscot around the room of your typical 4" gold-speckled white tile that you see in old bathrooms all the time. We ended up cleaning and servicing the old cast iron tub and replacing the drain hardware on it, as the tub was in good condition. We replaced the shower valve with a basic brushed Nickel Moen valve. We rearranged all of the remaining plumbing, electrical and HVAC in the bathroom, as we had to move the toilet, sink, and HVAC supply vent. In addition, we made sure there were at least 4 outlets by the vanity, as a simple duplex outlet is rarely sufficient in the modern age of electric toothbrushes, razors, etc that all have to be charged over long periods of time.

We were allowed to get creative with the tile without going overboard, so using what they had purchased, we went to work. We came up with a very basic shower surround, however recommended a nice touch on the floor with the custom border. The star was as per the homeowner's instructions. As for the vanity, the one they had selected was a little too big to put in the space we had without getting too close to the tub, so we came up with another pragmatic solution: tiling over the side. The homeowner preferred the sink and mirror centered to the main vanity doors, so we went with that. Overall, we feel that we came up with a solution that didn't break the bank, but gave their home some character.