Our Bathroom Renovation With Home Depot
Wow, old homes are so much fun to renovate...said no one ever. All jokes aside, we knew that this needed to be done to not only better our family of five sharing one full bathroom with no storage, but also to make our time spent in the home while the world is upside down more enjoyable.
We inherited a mismatched bathroom when we moved in. There was a homemade barnwood vanity, with a sink so far back, the kids could never properly use it (even on a stool). It had just one giant open space inside with a hand sewn curtain covering the mess. Opposite to that, there was the original cast iron tub made in Toronto, Ontario in 1938. It was chipped and stained and sat in an odd space where the window was half in it. It HAD TO GO. Finally, tucked in a small corner (you really needed to squeeze to get back there) was a yucky toilet which didn’t even have the proper floor seal, causing the boards under the tile to be squishy and rotted out.
We bought the house knowing the room’s faults, but wanted to prioritize renovating it until certain other large ticket rooms (aka the laundry room) had been done. Now that it was the bathroom’s time to shine, we were on a strict budget. Renovating down to the studs like we had to, we knew would cost a pretty penny. Bringing in contractors to help like we did with the laundry, would cost even more. We knew this was something we had to take on by ourselves.
Now that it's over, I can attest to the fact that people in the trades are worth their weight in gold. Beside moving the plumbing ($800) and the electrical ($600) we took on the rest. Boy did we learn. I won’t say that we won’t do it by ourselves again, but I also think if the ability to hire out for drywall and tiling is there, I’d opt for budgeting that in.
So what exactly did we do?
Before anything, I created a mood board showcasing the look I wanted. I headed to Homedepot.ca and pulled my want list straight from the site. We love that The Home Depot Canada has great price points to fit any budget and they deliver straight to our door. This is a must when we don't own a truck and live in the country, an hour away from any The Home Depot Canada locations or similar stores. From the clawfoot tub, to the sconces, they had everything I was looking for in the exact style and colourways, plus it was so easy to place the order. I made sure we had the full order in to allow for time to deliver before we needed it.
We started with totally gutting the room to the studs and original wide plank subfloor. We were also going to redo the ceiling but our plumber was worried our design for a ceiling mounted shower head would freeze in the attic, so we opted to keep the old drywalled ceiling and add a floating cedar ceiling with potlights to it.
The first step, while the whole room was opened up, was to get the plumbers and electricians to come in and do all the moving of those major things. Having it done at this stage, makes work quicker and easier. We were able to totally remove all of the old plumbing and add brand new options which made us feel much more confident in this old home. With electrical, it allowed us to add sconces easily, as well as the temperature gage for our soon-to-be installed heated floors.
Once that was done, we began building the room back up. Installing new subfloor first and then starting on the walls. The Home Depot Canada has a fantastic selection of insulation and ours needed to be fully redone. We ended up using a spray insulation on the outer walls to get the highest R rating we could in a 2x4 frame (nowadays it is a standard 2x6). We then used a soundproofing insulation on the interior walls as the bathroom shares walls with both kids rooms. After that, we were able to start drywalling. With the help of our friend, we cut and hung Blue drywall which is made for moist areas like bathrooms as it has a high water and mould resistance. We knew we wanted to do a wall treatment to the room eventually, but wanted to protect the walls until then. Mudding and taping was a lot more difficult and time consuming than we had expected, but with it being our first time doing it, I don't think it turned out too bad.
It was now time for the floors. We went with Schluter Ditra mat as we had installed it in our laundry room renovation and loved how it helped with tiles not cracking and waterproofing. This time we opted to install the Ditra Heat kit available at The Home Depot Canada so that we had heated floors in our always-cold bathroom. They were easy to install and tile on top of. For tile, we wanted it to feel lux but also flow with the laundry room. We opted for the same shape hexagon, but went smaller to make the room look bigger, and the marble look to add that luxe factor. We also opted for a light grey grout to match the grey in the marble vein of the floor and also the color of the vanity.
For trim, we salvaged the original-to-the-home trim from the bathroom and only replaced what didn't survive being removed. We also matched the size of the trim with the baseboards, making them a wide 6 inches. Because flow was so important to us in the design of the home, we went with painting the trim ‘Shoelace’ by Behr to match the rest of the home, and the walls ‘Ultra Pure White’.
Now it was time to install the finishings that all came from The Home Depot Canada. The tub, a smaller size than originally planned for due to such a small space, fit perfectly and the vanity has the perfect vintage vibe but also high enough that Rob, who is 6’6” doesn't feel like he needs to fold in half to reach it. For a shower curtain rod, we opted for a DIY Rob pieced together from The Home Depot Canada’s plumbing section out of steel pipes that we then sprayed black. It adds a touch of industrial to a very modern feeling bathroom and also allows some extra room when we shower which is always lovely.
The antique cabinet I refinished from Facebook Marketplace fit perfectly between the tub and door and is going to be a great place to finally have proper storage in the room.
We are so happy with the end project which totalled around $9,000. Not only does it now suit our home so much better than before, but the function of the space has taken a whole new turn. We have proper storage, a warm room, and a place to escape from the world (and the kids).
Linking everything that we purchased from Homedepot.ca below to make it easy for you to find.
So what do you think about the space?
Katie-Rose
Thanks to The Home Depot Canada for supporting our family by sponsoring this post.