Woo Hoo! I get to be the first topic on this board! We are going to totally remodel the master bath in June. I am excited and scared

Here's the run down:

• remove vinyl flooring and replace with ceramic tile. We did this in the *other* bathroom and found UGLY peel & stick tile right on the slab. NICE. It took a whole day of Strip-Eze and razor blades to get that junk up!
  
• new vanity. I have a sink I found at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. It is Tiffany Blue and I love it! I also found a faucet on clearance at Lowe's that I love. It is chrome with white handles that say "hot" and "cold on them. I'm hoping well find a dresser that is about the same size as our current vanity that we can strip and refinish. If not, we'll have to settle for a similiar "stock" vanity from the Big Box store.
  
• New tub! We have a fiberglass tub / shower combo thing now and I hate it. Why does soap scum stick to those things like glue? We'll be getting a porcelain over cast iron tub and I'm super excited. We are planning to tile the entire shower area from the tub to the ceiling.
  
• Lots of towel bars and glass shelves and robe hooks. Right now the walls are bare and I don't like to play the "honey is this your towel or my towel?" game!
  
• Lighting. We have a pretty dated vanity light and I'd like to get something modern and chrome with at least 4 bulbs. Cross your fingers for me! We are also looking at putting in a couple of wall sconces for added light.
  
• Paint! How did I forget that? We are going to paint. I found some Martha Stewart colors that I like at Lowe's or Home Depot (?) and we're going with a light green, pale blue, and white. Sort of a calm and relaxing tranquil tone.
  

If anyone has any tips at all PLEASE let me know. Anything to watch out for or surprises that we may not be expecting? The last bathroom renovation caught us off-guard with the peel & stick tile, the fact that the drywall was not finished behind the vanity, the old lighting had been rigged and was quite unsafe, and the area behind the bathroom mirror was a quite shocking color that required 2 coats of kilz to cover!

I'd love to hear your bathroom remodeling tips, tricks, hints, and horror stories!!!

Hey! Good topic! I have 3 bathrooms that I want to tile and a significant amount of floor that needs hardwood! Are you doing the work yourself or paying people?

I have a horror story about a bathroom redo in a rental house. The house was remodeled before we moved in, but plumbing under the vanity had to be redone once we moved in.
The workmen the landlord hired were prompt, polite, quick and cleaned up their mess.
That night i'm in the bathroom, doing bathroom stuff, and i hear a noise under the sink. The vanity door opens a little then thumps closed. There was something under the sink trying to get out! I screamed, which got a reaction from the deadly vanity monster... a soft "meowwww", then a little paw reaches out from the inside of the door.
The workmen, for some reason, had enlarged where the pipes went into the floor and hadn't bothered closing up the hole. One of our cats had gotten under the house, found the hole and decided to investigate.
May not be the kind of horror story you're talking about, but when you're alone in the bathroom and there's a monster under your sink it is a horror story.

PUF - that IS a horror story! They would have found me passed out on the floor!

Heub, me and my BF and anyone we can bribe with beer will be doing all the work. We have a little experience. We remodeled the other bathroom last summer. From floor to ceiling - we painted, tiled the floor, put tile on one wall, replaced vanity cabinet with pedestal sink, put in shower doors, wall sconces, new vanity light, replaced vanity mirror, and hung shelves. This bathroom has a bit more square footage and we'll be replacing the shower/tub fiberglass unit with a tub only and tiling the walls...

We need more hobbies!

...and we put in a medicine cabinet and re-did the light switches (timers rock!!!) and put in an exhaust fan!

I have plans to redo a bathroom asap. Everything in there is BLUE,yuck, it joins a bedroom that I also plan to redo. It was orginally two different rooms that have been made into one extra large bedroom. I would like the colors of purple, lavender,pink,and green.At this time the bathroom has the clothes closet at one end,but I would like to move the commode to that area and remove the large vanity and put in a small one.At the present time the commode is under the window and in front of the bathroom door, you have to keep standing to close the door and then have a seat, if the door is opened while you are on the throne it is dangerous to your knees. I will take a large wall approximately ten feet and put in a clothes closet in the bedroom section.Since I've never tackled a job this size any helpful info. would be appreciated. There is one main question to any one that knows plumbing, When I move the commode will I also have to move the vent pipe? All the plumbing lines are in the basement and no problem to get to.

That is cool that you can move everything around. I am on a slab, so I'm stuck with my plumbing as it is.

I don't know why people design houses so that toilets are near doors, or so that you are facing a mirror while you are sitting on the potty! What is that about??? Crazy architects!

We began remodeling a WHOLE HOUSE (4200 sq. ft.) in December of '05. So far, the UPstairs is about 98% finished. We ended up doing MOST of the work ourselves: new hardwood(pecan and oak) flooring, French doors throughout, ripping out walls, TOTALLY gutting the kitchen and ALL bathrooms, ALL the 40 year old sheetrock was replaced with moisture-resistant sheetrock, new ceilings, new wiring, new plumbing, etc. There are 3 bathrooms UPstairs and 1 in the full basement. We went with a 'Tuscan-theme' throughout. Each bathroom has ceraminc tile floors, pedastal sinks, etc and the master bathroom has a tile backsplash surounding the 1914-era restored clawfoot tub.

hey DogSoldier... we're getting a few cases of beer if you want to come over sometime...

I'll bring the Coronas.

Make sure you use waterproof drywall on any areas that will get wet. We remodeled 3 years ago and had to redo our master bath shower because the genius carpenter we used didn't waterproof the sheetrock! The outside shower wall was soft and had water in it. I guess he (the carpenter, not my dad) was smoking crack that day because my dad couldn't believe he wouldn't waterproof the walls. It was a pain in the @ss to fix everything. Good luck!!

My suggestion - strong liquor or powerful tranquilizers, a good divorce attorney, an orthopedist, and LOTS more time and money than you expected.

When our house burned and we rebuilt, the contractor went over so long the dog thought he LIVED HERE!!! Really. We moved in on top of him so to speak, I was lying on the sofa recuperating from surgery while he finished our bathroom molding, and rods and stuff in the closets. He just walked in, took the sports section of the paper I was reading, went down to the hall to SERIOUSLY, and LOUDLY use my bathroom.

Vick you hit the nail on head with the suggestions!! (captain morgan has helped with our remodel haha!)

anyway, I would have come unglued on this contractor. It would have been hilarious if you had forgot to put out the toilet paper & he had to holler for some one to bring him a roll!!

We are adding on to our house, this is the 2nd house we have remodeled. & being the cheap person I am, we are trying to do all the work our selves. So, far so good. I have always heard that if your marriage can make it through a remodel, you can make it through anything! AND I BELIEVE IT!!!!

Also, I would like to encourage any one to try to do as much of the stuff your self! Of course leave the electrical to the pros, but there is a lot of stuff that anyone can handle.

Our first remodel, our 9 yr old helped out & had a ball. I was so grateful that he enjoyed chiseling 50 yr linoleum tiles off the floor. This time around, our 5 yr old twins are as good with a hammer & tape measure as I am. I did almost have a heart attack when I saw them "walking" the floor joist that are about 3' off the ground!

But you can get all kind of information from the home improvement stores, online, & especially on tv like DIY. Get all the info you can & dive in. It is much more rewarding when it is finished & you look around & say wow, I did that. & it is even better when you realize that you saved thou$and$ of $$ because you did not hire someone.

However, if you are one of those instant gratification folks, go ahead & pay the thousands because it doesnt come quick doing it your self. but in my opinion doing most of it your self is definately worth it!!!

We are re-doing our bathroom after our baby is born. (he's coming in 2 days)

We are going to completely gut the bathroom, put in a double shower, remove the vanity and cabinets and put in this lovely pedestal sink I saw....

I am going to tile the entire thing myself so it will be a while after the c-section in two days before I can get to it but I am SO EXCITED about it....

I love to change things around in here.