New Year Bathroom Remodel

This holiday season, I felt like doing something really over the top for my mother in law. She has been so helpful this year and just moved into her own place for the first time, so I felt like really hitting one out of the park with a bathroom remodel. The bathroom in her house had some major layout issues, but fortunately no major structural issues (short of being in a house built in 1895 and the complications that creates.)

For this bathroom remodel I wanted to give a super premium look and feel, but I wanted to minimize costs by making the process as simple as I could. I built the whole bathroom around Delta’s UPstile system, which gets you that custom tiled shower feel while still just technically being an alcove shower insert. Even so this is going to a huge undertaking, and I am on a bit of a time crunch, but there is only one way to eat an elephant…one bite at a time.

Ok enough with mental gymnastics, let’s get to work.

Demo is always my favorite part of a DIY project, taking a very large hammer to a room you hated is cathartic for some reason. Don’t forget to keep your mess contained because unlike on TV you actually have to clean up the mess after demo day. Make sure you rent a dumpster to haul away all the mess.

A reciprocating saw and a demo hammer can be a huge help during a tear down, I actually used the RIDGID MEGAMax, which is both for my remodel.

Fortunately, the previous installer didn’t properly bed in the subfloor with mortar, so even though I have had to re-grout this bathroom 3 times already, it came up super easily during demo. Everything else was easy enough to cut out or remove.

For this project, rough in was a bit more involved than your average bathroom remodel. In a lot of bathroom remodels with an alcove tub (walls on 3 sides, only one long side of the tub accessible often identified as left drain or right drain) you could simply drop the Delta UPstile tub or shower system right in with little modification. In my bathroom, I had to rotate the tub 90 degrees and move the drain which meant I had to frame an entire new shower stall and a new tub rough in.

This is actually my second bathroom remodel this year and my second using Delta hardware. I have been nothing but satisfied with the ease of installation.
Even the lower-priced models of the Delta hardware come with hardware and rough in kits that simplify install and eliminate a lot of the pitfalls of generic “builder grade” faucets.

While the plumber was there, I also set the bathtub into a bed of mortar and hooked up the drain. My plumber didn’t want to appear on camera, so I didn’t get any shots of that.

My first bathroom remodel this year had a full custom-tiled tub surround. While it doesn’t replace the look of a subway-tiled tub surround, the Delta UPstile system is A LOT more simple and affordable than a custom tiled tub surround.

First, there is no waterproofing to worry about; once you caulk your seams, you’re good. Second, you don’t have to first install cement board so no cement dust or special cutting wheels to worry about. Third, you don’t need to involve yet another trade in your bathroom remodel and that much more time and money to tile the whole surround.

All of these things are true with any tub or shower insert, but with the UPstile system, you still get the look of a subway-tiled custom shower install. You even get a slot to install your own glass or decorative tile insert.

The decorative tile insert is designed to be used with 6” mesh backed tile squares and 1/8th inch grout lines (6 ¼” slot), but you can easily install other tile as well. Since the shower surround is made of pronamel, which doesn’t bond with mortar, you have to use silicone-based kitchen adhesive to attach the tiles for the insert. I used DAP Kwik seal plus kitchen and bath adhesive in clear. This is super easy to do, but do give the manufacturer’s FULL dry time before removing the spacers. Kitchen adhesive remains a lot more flexible than mortar when partially cured, so if you take the spacer out early you can really ruin the look. I cut some 2 and half inch by 8 inch tiles on a wet cut tile saw to fit the slot to continue to the subway tile look.

After installing the tile, you can treat it like usual and grout using whatever color you like. I recommend a bright white grout to match the rest of the tub surround kit.

For the floor, I went with a wood look porcelain floor tile from The Home Depot’s Home Decorator collection. Wood look tile has come a long way; it used to be 7 or 8 prints duplicated ad nauseum, but the new stuff is great, I didn’t see a single repeat in 6 boxes. Pro Tip: If you ever want to see some cool and unique products for your next project, go to The Home Depot’s website and search: “Home Decorators Collection.”

The problem the previous installer had left me behind was a blessing and a curse. I had re-grouted this floor three times because he didn’t put a bed of mortar under the cement board subfloor. At least it was easy to tear up the old tile floor though. After installing the new cement board subfloor, I installed the floor.

When cutting porcelain tile like this to get clean scores, use and angle grinder and a continuous rim diamond blade, I used a Ridgid brushless grinder and a Ridgid continuous diamond blade. Another pro tip I ran across when designing the bathroom: With wood look tile, pick a grout that is one tone darker than the darkest tone in the tile in my case this led me to charcoal grout.

FINALLY, I mean this bathroom went quick and it was pretty easy, but just the sum of all of it in one month was just…a lot. One of the most enjoyable parts of any project is putting on the trim, those last little touch ups of paint and putting on the finishing touches. With this one, I was able to really decorate it to get all the oohs and aahs from my mother in law.

After a month of making all manners of dust and mess in her house, I was finally able to show my mother in law Ruth the bathroom remodel. I think the look on her face said it all, but she loved it. It is such a nice space to just soak in a bath and go through your morning routine for work. I have always said a bathroom is like a mattress, you are going to use it everyday, so you might as well make it as nice as you can.

By properly framing the wall for the new alcove, adding insulation and getting rid of a poorly installed glass block window, the bathroom is a lot more comfortable now as well. I hope it serves her well, Merry Christmas, Nana – from me and family!