Bathroom Remodel

This bathroom remodel was a huge effort and we improved the plumbing, ripped out scary electrical work, and nearly doubled its footprint.

The cabinets were reused from an old kitchen, which we realized when we found the hole for the hood vent. We moved them to the barn and now they're holding tools above a work bench Dad built.

The toilet, shower, and sink plumbing were on a pump system like you'd find on a boat or in a trailer. Not only that, the pump moved everything to the main house's system and then to the septic, and with zero vent pipes, it was a slow and stinky system.

As you can see in the photo on the left, the small water heater was also doubling as someone's counter support...A small water heater and this pump meant short, cold, and loud showers.

The closet on the left holds the pump. In the photo on the right, you can see the pump at the back of the toilet.

Peek-a-boo. We planned to push this wall out so that it was parallel to the exterior wall, put in a larger water heater in the pump room (where I'm taking this photo), update the plumbing so it moved directly to the septic, and include a washer/dryer, plus all new electrical. Notice how far apart the studs are.

I am standing exactly where the new wall will be.

Looking at the ceiling, the old bathroom ends where the ceiling drywall ends. All framed up, it's looking so much bigger and better (and square).

My electrician gave us this super quiet vent fan so my dad could install it before they came to start their work. Oh, and check out this sweet electrical nest buried in the wall.

We cut out an access panel behind the shower/bath to see what we had to work with. The plumbers corrected all of these mistakes, but not until I finished digging the trench to the septic clean-out.

Before and after. I had to dig on a specific slope for the pipes to properly drain towards the clean-out. That slowed down the process but I'm so glad I didn't pay the plumbers to do it.

The clean-out on the left now connects both, the main house and ADU to the septic.

This isn't the last utilities trench I'll dig, almost immediately after I started working on the trench for the new electrical work. And actually, all along the wall in the photo above, I later dug out and put in another gravel trench to keep water away from the house.

This was a very exciting moment, the new plumbing, electrical, and washer/dryer hookups are all complete, minus the new, larger water heater.

I forgot about this trench...once the new plumbing was in, I took out the old pipes running between the ADU and the main house.

This was a good day.

Although we worked every day during their month-long visit, I managed to somehow get these two out and about to enjoy some beauty in town, including this visit to Wilderbee Farm. It's so beautiful here, their farm is fantastic and they have a wild area with trails you can cruise around eating wild blackberries and sipping on mead. Also, their lavender starts have done so well at my house and I can't wait to get more in the ground this year! Lavender is very happy here.

The new vent! There wasn't a vent before this so it all vented out of the main house's bathroom vent. The small vent above the window is for the fan above the toilet. The smell of septic in this area, and even in the ground where the former pipes ran is now gone.

The drywall is up. Because I was also working at my new job up here, my dad hired someone to help expedite the drywall and mudding while he simultaneously worked on other projects. We ended up cutting the helper's time short because his mudding was pretty bad, he was slow, messy, and often late. I had to sand down and redo a lot of his work.

Here's a good example.

I sanded and primed and found a vanity online from Home Depot, and we took the ferry to Coupeville to pick it up.

Another fun/work day-trip. We just so happened to take this trip the same day hundreds of boats were out for a king salmon run.

Learning how to install a sink from the pro.

Next, I primed the ceiling and got ready for my gorgeous washer and dryer. No more driving to the laundromat, I'm living in luxury now.

My parents sent me this while I was at work, we're all super impressed with the way these men carried this washer/dryer unit. They were so efficient and had a truck full of similar deliveries. Someone needs to give these men, at minimum, a raise, a bonus, and weekly massages.

The temporary sconces are up, my mirror, and someday I'll put in a cabinet above and around the washer/dryer with a laundry bin holder underneath and somehow an arm that folds out for folding laundry. Still working on that idea. There's also a narrow place behind the bathroom door for some sort of tall and shallow storage.

This bathroom feels so large and comfortable now and we didn't have to do anything to the shower/bath combo. We kept all of the bathroom plumbing above the slab, it would've been insanely expensive to drill into it. And I got a new and larger water heater. No more slow, short, cold, loud (because of the pump) showers.

It's very cozy in here now.

Well, except for the wall heater that lets cold air in from outside - but that's a project for another day.