No darkroom attached to this one, but it was way too much work not to document. Including the cabinet building it worked out to about 8 hours per square foot of floor space.
Old tub and vanity, minutes before the tear out. The plastic tub and yellow walls seem to infect all natural light in the space with cataract stain. The mirror was more suitable for a bed canopy than a bathroom. And that photo veneer! The only thing I saved from the space was the light switch cover in the reflection.
The new cabinets were mostly made from solid pine, only used plywood for the cabinet bottoms. I glued up the side panels from S4S 1x4s, routed a face bead along each edge before joining to give it a beadboard look. The cabinets and mirror frame were finished with 6 coats of lacquer. 2 coats in, I tinted the lacquer with a mix of TransTint lemon yellow and amber dye, then sealed the color coat with 3 clear top coats. The door panels and hutch back are tin ceiling panels, clear coated. The cabinet tops are solid cherry finished with teak oil, and had enough cherry left over to make a matching window sill as well.
The mirror has a LED backlight behind the stained glass, on the same switch as the side lights. I added a 4″ LED recessed light in the shower ceiling and over by the toilet as well, on a separate switch from the vanity lights. Now it’s nice and bright for the long winters here. The only light in the old bathroom was a 2-bulb vanity light bar.
I made the side light fixtures, towel bar and TP roll holder out of cast iron pipe fittings, thoroughly cleaned and sealed with lacquer. For the light fixtures, 1 1/4″ street 90s are a good fit for the “waterproof” rubber coated lamp sockets. I glued the socket to the inside threads of the pipe fitting with liquid electrical tape, added a grounding screw to the inside of the cast iron flange, turned the cherry mounting plates on the lathe. I added mounting screw holes to the iron flange and through the cherry plates to match a round old-work junction box, which made them easy to install. For the towel bar and TP holder, 1/2″ fittings and pipe seemed about right. The towel bar weighs about 6 pounds, but it’s screwed to solid blocking in the wall with eight 3″ #12 screws. I hate flimsy towel bars.
The tile tub surround was by far the most work. The curved apron on the tub and matching curtain rod are great, add a lot of elbow room. I goofed and ordered a 32″ wide tub instead of 30″, but glad I did because the drain just squeaked by the joist layout. Floor is resilient plank vinyl.
The old Broan ventilation fan had been located over the toilet, and was ducted with what looked like plastic corrugated drain pipe to a roof vent- it used to drip condensation on really humid days. I upgraded to a Panasonic fan, moved it closer to the shower, then ducted and insulated it properly. Right now it’s just on a toggle switch, will probably install a timer at some point.
I kept the paneling short on two walls and added a picture rail, and made a new inset linen shelf. It’s a bit cozy with the toilet, but it’s needed storage space. Will probably add a curtain to cover it eventually.