Pepper Design Blog

Building a Bathroom: Rub A Dub Dub

We’ve made major progress on our closets-turned-new-bathroom project, with choosing and installing the bathtub as the biggest item crossed off of the list recently.

We haven’t had a working bathtub in at least a year (maybe two? I’ve lost count of the days…), so as you can imagine, I was skipping down the plumbing aisles imagining what it would be like to soak in any one of the beautiful baths hanging from the shelves. And to upgrade Liv’s bath time from the kitchen sink (or showering with Mom or Dad) to an actual bathtub? Exciting.

Olivia: What is this magical place? This must be bath-land, the land that Mommy dreams about.

Liv’s quite the little shopper, and she’s easily impressed:

There’s plenty of criteria to consider when you’re shopping for the perfect tub. If you find yourself in the plumbing aisle anytime soon, consider the following:

• Style: This is an easy one, but there are two main styles of tubs – free-standing and wall-mounted. The design aesthetic of the overall bathroom can easily be affected by your choice, let alone installation. While our goal is to create a modern bath with plenty of vintage-esq accents (to help tie the bathroom into the rest of the 1930′s home), we decided that a free-standing clawfoot bath would take up too much room in our small ~75 square feet of space and opted for a wall-mounted version instead. Clawfooted tubs come with the traditional claw, with a pedestal mount or with ball feet.
• Size & Features: If you’re replacing an older tub in a current bathroom, you’ll be limited on the size and plumbing of your new bathtub. The location of the drain, for example, is already set. The average bath tub is about 60″ wide, 30″ deep and 14-16″ high – though this can range on what year your home was built and what style of tub was installed. If you are building from scratch, take into consideration which wall will be plumbed and how the layout of the bathroom will affect your tub placement. Then choose a bathtub that fits the appropriate space, lines up with the drain lines and is skirted on the correct outside edge.

A free-standing tub is stunning but requires plenty of space.

• Cost: A final limitation can be cost. While free-standing tubs are beautiful, they can often run in the $1,000 plus range (even from a salvage shop). Wall-mounted tubs are much more cost-effective and you can expect to spend somewhere around $250 for a basic version up to $800 for a whirlpool-style tub.
• Cool fact: Roman tubs are deeper than your standard wall-mounted variety, and Japanese tubs are even deeper than Roman tubs.
• Final notes: Be sure the tub allows for a shower installation and double check that your current water heater can support a new bathtub (especially a really large one!). If you’re installing a bath tub into a brand new space, make sure the floor area can support the new weight.

We opted for a recessed bathtub (three sides will be wall-mounted while the fourth side, or “apron”, is exposed – the most common style of tub) with a custom tiled shower (as opposed to a wall-kit, or a plastic lined shower). We found the perfect Kohler option right off of the Lowe’s shelf. It’s small enough to fit comfortably in a 5 foot nook in the wall, but still offers relaxation features such as a row of jets for the best spa-like experience (without being out-of-this-world pricey or jacuzzi-like).

Here’s a peek though the dining room door:

At this point the walls were framed (see all of the demo and before closet shots here) and the space for the new tub was ready to be filled. That’s a layer of hardibacker there on the floor, evening out the different styles and sizes of the closet floors.

The skirt (or apron) is open for plumbing purposes.

Once the tub is in place (the framed walls firmly hold the 60″ bathtub) a roll of tar paper is applied to the walls to add an additional water-resistant layer.

That’s a future closet space over to the left and the rest of the walls remain to be lined and filled in with dry wall.

A staple gun is the easiest application for adhering the tar paper to the studs, though a hammer and tack nails would do just as well. Attach tar paper directly to wood frames and don’t be afraid to use as many staples as necessary to keep the paper taut. Corners should be pressed in manually so that they are especially tight.

The edge of the tar paper should meet the edge of the tub and not overlap it.

Use a utility knife to identify any spaces for future fixtures, these holes won’t be visible at the end but will help you stay organized and aware of the space of the entire project.

We haven’t covered plumbing here because it’s so very specific to each home. Consult a plumber or head out to the land of Google to find out more details on converting a current bath or building one from scratch. A detailed project, indeed!

In other news, Liv is three months old! I’ll be back shortly with a round-up of our favorite baby products for the first three months and an update on the mantel and nursery projects.

Building a Bathroom: Initial Inspiration

Our new guest bath design was originally inspired by the latest Decor & Trends project videos that were recently released by the Lowe’s PR team (not available on the website so be sure to check them out here). After hopping out to the Lowe’s website to explore additional how-to ideas (listed under Home Ideas and Projects on the site), I was surprised at how many great diy suggestions, articles and videos that they share online as well.

One particular video from the Decor & Trends section happened to feature a bathroom that rang very similar to what we had envisioned for our new guest bath and it was quickly added to the ‘inspiration folder’ on my desktop. Here’s a sneak peek:

What we loved about the bathroom decor was the simple integration of old-world style melded with modern furnishings and details. The white subway tile (a favorite of ours as we used a glass version in our kitchen remodel) brought in an original, traditional element that will stand the test of time, while the vanity, eco-friendly touches and rich colors keep the bathroom modern.

Having several visual images to work off of is so helpful for Kevin and me when remodeling – it helps to keep us on track with the overall look we’re trying to achieve (it’s easy to get distracted when you start shopping and there are so many choices out there) and since we’ve already decided on a plan it keeps us from mid-aisle disagreements about the shade of this paint over that. When the decisions get tough, we can pull out our handy inspirational images to see what color grout might be best or how various tile & paint colors work together in a final room.

The diy sections and videos are totally worth a look!

Building a Bathroom: PDB + Lowe’s = LOVE

A while back we received a surprise email from one of our favorite stores. Hint: it starts with ‘L’ and rhymes with ‘toes’.

And when I say we’re huge fans, I mean we’re huge fans.

Liv makes the cutest project cheerleader.

So here we are minding our remodeling business and working away on project after project when out of the blue we were offered a helping hand. As in, Lowe’s casually emailed, “would you like to review several Lowe’s products while building that future bathroom?” and we fell out of our chairs in speechless awe/excitement. Yes please!

Best email ever, no?

We are building this bath from scratch – the current location is three adjoining closets that sit plop in the middle of our hallway. The goal is to create a new full bathroom that compliments the Spanish style of the home all while being both eco-friendly and tastefully modern at the same time.

As you can see, access to the bath will be through our hallway (off of the kitchen) and through Liv’s room.

If we could throw any visual out there for what’s playing around in our minds, this might be closest:

Here’s a first look at the materials we have in mind for the space (we built this little inspiration board right on the Lowe’s shelf):

I was soooo excited that I offered a little sneak peek of the layout back in February, but we really weren’t ready to act on it until all of our research was complete, with the goal to begin slated for the end of March. And drumroll…. it’s nearly the end of March! I’ve been counting down the days.

Over the month of April we’ll be revealing all of the how-to’s on the design, tiling (heated floors, anyone?), installation and even our decision making process (on how to choose the best toilet, for example – you laugh, but there’s more to it than meets the eye ), all while covering the rest of the home that we’re slowing working on (such as the new guestroom/office, decorating the nursery and updating the living room).

Now back to pinching ourselves!