Bathroom Remodel Project

Updated: I've completed the difficult part of this project and am no longer looking for a contractor. To see the in progress pictures see 09/26/05 entry; final results after the contract work are in the 09/30/05 entry on my blog.

This is a 5 foot by 7 foot bathroom in a 1930s bungalow house in the Fremont neighbourhood of Seattle. To get started, here are two views of the bathroom as it stands. Click on the images for a larger (852x1136) view. There isn't much room to stand in the bathroom to take a decent picture of all of it, the first picture was taken from the door at an angle and shows most of the pieces (tub, toilet, vanity and sink); the second picture was also from the door but straight at the wall and shows the shower enclosure and window, which is the main focus of this remodel job.

The highest priority is the tub and shower surround. The picture to the right shows the worst of it, including where the tiles buckle out in some places. The previous tile job was badly done and the entirety needs to be retiled. There is water damage behind the tile; I'm not sure what the extent is. Hopefully there is no need to reframe (although I'm not confident about that). It definitely looks like concrete board or equivalent should be installed before tiling can be done. I would like the tile to be matte white 3" by 6" subway tile, i.e. Daltile Rittenhouse Square Arctic White (0790) or American Olean Greenwich Village. I believe the former is cheaper even though both are owned by the same company (would love to know why!). Prices for the Rittenhouse Square white look to be less than $3 a square foot. Here is a link to another web site which gives an idea as to the sort of look I would like to have. I don't care much for their accent tile look but the trim around the window and the extent to which the tile goes to the ceiling is ideal. As far as the trim that I do want, it depends on cost but for the upper border of the tile I have a look in mind. I don't know what it's called but I have a picture of it. (This is a bad scan of a book I own, I will be happy to show you better pictures from the book.). If this tile trim is expensive or unavailable, the Rittenhouse Square White Classic decorative accent tile is fine. I would also like cove tile for the base where it meets the bathtub. Tile border

Since the wall behind the shower probably needs to be taken apart, it seems like a good opportunity to replace the shower and bathtub faucet. The Kohler Revival line in brushed nickel looks fine.

The window is definitely a problem as well. The frame/window ledge is constantly splashed by shower water and is showing signs of rot. I would like the frame removed and the window resized by half (upper half). It is the only source of ventilation for the bathroom at the moment. It is an exterior window, to the right is a view of the window as it looks from the outside.

I believe the current bathtub is a Kohler cast-iron. The drain fitting is broken and definitely needs to be replaced (you can see how it's broken if you click on the close up of the bathtub picture above, or just click here. I might not have the budget to replace the tub, in which case I would like to refinish it. This is definitely something I would like to discuss, i.e. if replacing the tub in the future makes more sense now given the retile job then I might just go for it. If that's the case, it's been suggested to me that the Kohler Mendota tub is suitable. Further along those lines: there is a drum trap (I think this is what it's called) and an ugly access to it in the bathroom, and if the tub is replaced the drum trap should go.

At the minimum, the toilet tank internals should be replaced - there are some flush problems. This might be something that I could do given the know-how. Optionally (again depending on budget) it would be replaced. Since this is an old toilet, I believe there are some issues with the toilet rough-in, i.e. it might be 15" and not 12", which might mandate plumbing work. Obviously if I can find a new toilet that works with the existing plumbing and avoid the plumbing work that would be nice. Re: toilet styles, I'm partial to the Kohler Devonshire.

This is where we get into the more optional part of the remodel which depends entirely on budget. Ideally the rest of the walls in the bathroom would have white beadboard wainscot installed. There already is a clear height (where the towel racks currently are) to which the wainscot would go. I don't know anything about what my choices are for beadboard (materials, quality, etc) and would appreciate some suggestions (Internet pointers, etc) on this.

The current sink/vanity and the medicine cabinet above the toilet is ugly. Unfortunately these give me some storage that would need to come from somewhere else. If the budget on everything else leaves me room I'll do more thinking on this part.

Ditto for the current flooring.

This is the only bathroom in the house. Hence it would be ideal if the disruption to my usage of the bathroom could be minimized, so I would like the remodel not to go on for more than, say, a couple of weeks if that's reasonable. If it drags out to a month that would be problematic. A portable toilet may need to be setup, both for my use and for the use of workers.
Haulage: there's a pretty clear pathway from the bathroom straight out into the backyard. This minimizes the number of stairs to traverse (5 or so, from the side street Phinney).
If there's anything that can be done (by me) to minimize budget, i.e. demolition, that would be great.
Hours: I leave the house at 8 am and am generally home by 5:30 pm to 6:00 pm.