Back to the bath.

Oh, hi there. You may remember us from posts like Kent Dates, Surrounded, and Tile Quest, when we were beginning our ensuite bath reno as bright-eyed, energetic fools. Well, our last post on the matter was mid-April, as in…many, many months ago (do we have to say ‘years’?)

Between that time and now, we have been doing important framing, plumbing, and electrical work on the space, albeit at a very comfortable pace. A pretty sizable kitchen upheaval took place last summer, which stymied our steam. Then this year, we had the nicest summer on record. But no more excuses: we have the plumbing and electric installed, vanity purchased, and we’re pretty much in the home stretch of this make-over!

Here’s a photo montage of our progress to date:

March 2010

See Kent Dates for more details on how we gutted this room to prepare for the master bath.

March 2012: the frame is built, and tub laid in for visualizing tile and fixture placement. Also, new toilet placed, ready for plumbing!

The bulkhead and ancient cast iron sewer vent were removed.

Next, we waterproofed the plywood surround and backsplash with Mapelastic™ AquaDefense.

We laid down our favourite tiles to choose the parts of each that we wanted to feature.

Filing the edges of marble tiles after they’ve been cut. This process was only done for the corner edges that will be exposed.

Mortaring the cut tiles into place.

We chose brushed nickel tile edging to frame the tile.

The tiles were set in the polymer-modified mortar for 48 hours, with ‘tombstones’ placed to prepare for the grout lines.

After the grout came plumbing, and installing our fixtures. We chose the Aqueous Roman Tub J-Spout series in brushed nickel.

Cribbing to support the bathtub.

Mortar, covered with 6 mil vapour barrier, and then placing the tub!

Yep. I totally took a bath when it was first installed, before the corner bulkhead walls were restored.

November 2012: Progress to date! New vanity is placed, but not plumbed in yet. Crown moulding (not original) being removed.

November 2012: Walls have been plastered, and are ready for paint and new crown mouldings. Then we’ll tile the face of the surround. AFTER THAT, stain and finish the floors. We’ll need a new light fixture, vanity mirror, and a towel rack. Aaaand then?! We’ll be done 🙂