My Bathroom Reno Process

Come share your ideas for sprucing up your property.

Moderators: Greg, Mark, mhrAJ333, JD

DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Editing this to say: If you are reading this, and thinking about redoing your bathroom - CHECK FOR MOLD UNDER THE TUB before you start. I simply pulled off the panel in front of the tub, so I could replace it and got a nasty surprise.


This was the first post asking about the paint, then I started a progress log:
~~
He picked up the paint for the bathroom walls today, but instead of getting a semi-gloss, he got an enamel. Will that work on a mobile home wall?
This one: http://valspar.com/products/product/Ult ... namel.html

I bought an acrylic water-based primer, but the paint says use a latex primer. I will go tomorrow for the right primer, if the paint will work. If the paint won't work ??? the color is off a little bit, maybe I can return it based on that.

So.. questions:

Enamel paint on mobile home wall?

Enamel must have latex primer?

Thank you!
Last edited by DecoratingChallenged on Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:09 pm, edited 3 times in total.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

I think I have figured this out - I bought Kilz2 primer and I'll use that. I'm not sure yet if I will return the gripper primer, as it may come in handy on future rooms.

Forgive me if some of my threads seem a bit panicky, but I have never done decorating work and I feel a bit overwhelmed and confused at times. I really want this to turn out well.

I think I will change this thread into my bathroom's reno story and a diary of my thoughts while I try to figure this process out. I have only ever painted one room. It was a closet that was built on an old house we lived in. It was built from the ground up, and there was nothing to worry about dripping paint on, it was a shell, the flooring went in after I painted it. It was a closet, it didn't have to be perfect.

~~

Follow along, if you like.

A couple of weeks ago, I got sick of my house looking ugly. Oddly, it seems to occur every time I go to my mom's house, which is very cute. Usually, I have a few days/weeks of discontent, and then I fall back into my rut of not seeing what's around me. This time, I took action before I could fall back in the rut.

I started haunting the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I brought home paint samples AND bought primer. I agonized. This is my journey, such as it is.

I have a disorganized brain. I have a hundred ideas at once, and then I get overwhelmed by them and do nothing.

Monday, I picked out the paint color. Husband bought it for me. He got the wrong type, an acrylic enamel, which should be fine, except it required a latex primer, I had an acrylic primer. I'd planned to do beadboard around the bottom part of the bathroom. I was going to use the paintable beadboard wallpaper. Husband bought the wrong pattern. The wallpaper was supposed to be prepasted, easy to hang. Husband brought home a jug of "Paste for Prepasted Wallpapers". It had instructions like "booking" (?) and other complicated looking things that scared me. I've never even SEEN wallpaper be hung.

Tuesday: I returned it with the wrong patterned paper, and didn't buy more. I crept about Lowe's, looking at paneling, beadboard, backsplash materials. I left and went to Home Depot. I bought the vinyl beadboard kits they have. This: http://www.plastproinc.co...stpro-molding.html It's expensive. I bought the trim kit for it - one vinyl and one wood, since the wood was $10 cheaper. I figured I would use everything vinyl behind the toilet, where it would have a less friendly environment and the wood trim and panels that they had at Lowe's that were water resistant, for the wall between door and tub.

I left, after spending $100 at Home Depot for the panel pack, the trim, a gallon of white paint (for beadboard, trim and cabinets), and two good brushes (not the cheapies). I went back to Lowe's. Turns out the panels were in the wrong spot, they were not actually water resistant. I looked at other options, like the tileboard and some of the other bathroom proof wall panels. It was late-ish. I had to pick the kids up from school. I didn't have time to go back to Home Depot.

All the way home I tried to come up with alternatives. I thought that maybe that one "Tuscan Tan" tileboard would look nice with the color I am painting the upper walls. But I don't know for sure. I tried to find the pattern online last night and can't. I'm so overwhelmed by the patterns I did see, that I hardly remember now what it looked like. Also, it may look good with the paint, but would it look good with the shower curtain? With white trim? If I go with the tile board, it will be easy to put up, I won't have to paint it, so I can return the gallon of paint and buy a quart, since I'll only have to do the cabinet and trim.

Wednesday: Today I have to decide what to do on the bottom half of the wall. Or not. I could conceivably just start prepping the walls for painting and then decide later what I want to do - beadboard or tileboard. I could start cleaning the walls. I could prime them. The week is coming to an end. I can NOT paint when the kids will be here. I can not NOT have the bathroom painted by the weekend if I start it, because little fingers will touch and fondle and I will likely have to clean and prime the walls again. I have to go to the grocery store and feed store by tomorrow latest. Grocery store and feed store are south of my house, by about 10 miles. The Lowes and Home Depot are north of my house, by about 25 miles. I have to be done with anything I am doing in time to pick up the kids from school. 4:30 today, 4:15 tomorrow, 2:45 on Friday.
Last edited by DecoratingChallenged on Wed Feb 03, 2010 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mcfael
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:52 am
Location: CT

Too funny! Having just "been there, done that" I understand all those little roadblocks on the way to your decorating destination. Fortunately for us, the journey is over. Let me just reassure you that it's worth the trip. Good luck!
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Well, so far, the one thing that encourages me is that someone before us painted (or primed?) the walls. Not well, mind you, as you can see the pattern of the wallboard through it - but we've lived in this home for nearly three years and I've washed the walls in the bathroom before and the paint has stuck - so that gives me hope that I won't have the peeling paint problem that had been what kept me from painting before now. The wallboard in the kids' bathroom is the same as in ours, so I am positive about the outcome in ours when I decide to get to it (and take down the horrid curtains that hang around our garden tub).

Two of the bedrooms have been painted (not well) also, so it gives me hope for the other rooms which most likely have the same wallpanels. (the other two bedrooms and the living room)

The kitchen scares me the most, because with five kids and a husband, it gets a whole lot of use. It will take a while, it's located centrally (must go through it to get from living room to kids bedrooms) and I doubt that I can convince husband that we need to eat out the entire time I am doing it.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Some before pictures.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

After starting to work... and some challenges.

Removed mirror trim, I think I will prime and paint it white - hopefully that will work.
Image

Where someone must have stuck on a toilet paper holder, which then fell off.
Image

Poor quality picture, it came out really, really dark, so I had to correct the color and it's grainy - but this is the paneling showing through the paint.
Image



A dilemma, the tub surround was installed at a later date. Under it and around it are what I assume are the original 'waterproof' wall. It's white and in good shape. There is a line of 'molding' which separates it from the regular wall. Would it look okay just to leave it white? I think trying to paint over and around the tub surround would be quite difficult - also the finish is different from the walls and it might look odd painted a color. I could replace the molding that separates the two wall finishes with something less ugly.

Picture - tub surround / paneling on the left and regular wall on the right of the molding. Sorry about the darkness, it was the last picture my camera took before shutting down and demanding I recharge the battery.
Image
mcfael
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 11:52 am
Location: CT

I know you want to do this job once, but perhaps you could tape off the white panel around the tub and leave it white for now. See how you think it looks, then if you like it well enough you don't need to paint it. All in all, things look to be in pretty good shape. Our bathrooms were so awful that they needed to be completely gutted...huge job, although we didn't attempt to tackle it ourselves and hired a contractor to do it.
Let's see some "after" photos too.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Actually, that was my plan. After I primed everything else, it looked really yellow next to the white, and since there would be white trim butting up against it, I went ahead and taped off the tub surround and primed that wall.

I will post after pictures, but today was my first day with the primer. It's done now, I think. I'm going back to make sure that there isn't anything that I meant to do and forget. I doubt I'll start painting this evening, because the kids are home and that adds a dimension of activity that paint doesn't mix well with.

~~

ETA: I thought I'd maybe be able to get away with painting the trim around the door white and leaving it but tonight I pulled it off, so I'll be needing to buy trim also.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

I keep running into problems. Ack.

Do you think I ought to just paint the entire long wall of the bathroom?
Image

The beadboard I was going to get for the long wall turns out to NOT be suitable for use in bathrooms. I'm using a vinyl behind the toilet. It's expensive-ish. There is a panel in on the side of the tub which needs to be replaced.

I considered doing a tile board instead, behind the toilet and on the wall, then I thought I could use it on the tub, too. Problem, the tile board is 4x8 sheets @ $21.98 a sheet. I'd need two sheets to get enough and then I considered just extending the tileboard up as the backsplash as well. I drew out different 'patterns' last night and I don't think I can get the right cuts out of two sheets.

I could probably(?) use the vinyl beadboard along the front of the tub, I'd just need to do a 2x4 footer - which isn't a problem as I can get scrap pieces at HD for $.51 a board.

Would it look bad to just have the beadboard in the front of the tub and behind the toilet and paint the entire long wall?

*debates*
~~

Also - door casing. I pulled off what was there- crappy strips of nothing. I figured I'd buy new pieces for trimming it. However, the stupid door edge (with hinges) is only 1-7/8" from the wall. The standard door casing is 2-1/4" (or 2-1/2" or something, whichever, too wide to fit.) I considered then just priming and painting the pieces that were there and sticking them back up, but when I pulled them off, they sort of damaged a bit of the wall where it was "glued" from the time someone previously painted the bathroom. It would have been covered up by wider casings, but now I'm not sure if I'll be able to find any wide enough to cover damage, and narrow enough to fit between door and wall.

It's VERY aggravating that the websites for my local stores don't have real-time inventory available for my planning convenience.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Progress yesterday:

Getting ready:
Image

Walls after priming:
Image
Image
Image

Cabinet before priming:
Image

Cabinet after, I really hope it accepts paint okay.
Image

Done with the brush work!
Image
Image

First coat on!
Image
Image

It rather matches the sample! Yay! (the color in this picture is very washed out):
Image



Painting today - the phone rang about 25 times today. It never rings. It got to be ridiculous, me climbing off the stepladder (while saying not so nice words) to answer it again and again.

~~

I used different brushes for the paint than the primer. Purdy brushes. Wow. A good brush makes a really noticeable difference.
User avatar
Arlo
Posts: 94
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:42 pm
Location: Central Virginia

Wow. I really like that color! Does it sat "Tropical Ray," That's what the writing looks like from here. When you do the finish paint on the cabinet try a little 4" foam roller. They are designed for furniture and cabinets. Very smooth. You can use a cheap foam disposable for the cut in. Also get that tape off as soon as possible. Once dry it will leave residue. Next time you paint try blue tape. There's a really cheap version of it at Big Lots and Dollar Tree. One dollar a roll. Did you see bathroom panel that looks lie beadboard but is glossy? That would be great for the tub. You'd need a couple of sheets for the tub panel but you could use the leftover for the lower wall. For door casing I've seen people use simple 1 x3 pine boards. You can have the guy at Home Depot "rip" the board to the width you need for the narrow side.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

The color is Tropical Bay, it's a Valspar color from Lowes. I quite like it.

~

Thanks for the tip on the tape, I guess I'll do over the tub sooner, rather than later. :)

And, no, they don't have the glossy beadboard panels at my Lowe's or Home Depot. Or at any other hardware/lumber store in the area.

I'm not quite sure what to do there, yet... I went to Lowe's today and it seems that while I was driving home the other day, I mixed a color of one tileboard with the pattern of another. I like the color of the plain one and the pattern of the other, but not either separately. I'm debating planning out a simple little 'attached to the wall' shelf for the long wall - very narrow, but enough to fit toilet paper & washcloths & misc. extras. Then I'll simply have to go back and wash, prime and paint the last foot or so that I didn't do, because I planned on covering it. If I do that, I think I'll just buy another pack of the vinyl beadboard, one pack, cut in half will fit under the tub quite nicely. There may even be enough scrap left over to do the backsplash over the sink. I'm not sure at all yet.
~~I couldn't go shopping yesterday, it was horrible weather, so today I had to go to 'my' town, to the grocery store and feed store (and lumber store for a recon), then my husband called and said to run by the mechanic for my van. I was there for about an hour, trying to plan, but I'd forgotten to bring a couple of key measurements with me. The Lowe's and HD are north of 'my' town by about 35 miles.. so once I got up there, I only had enough time to buy trim and paint and eat lunch before it was time to head back to pick up the kids. Not very conducive to thinking in-store.

I went and returned my unopened, white Behr paint today and picked up a quart of white at Sherwin Williams. I've been lurking on a few painting forums and the pros (and many diy-ers) say Behr is horrible. I've painted the first coat on the cabinet, and one the mirror trim. The paint is a $18 / quart trim /door paint and self-levels, so the SW guy said brush strokes wouldn't be a problem. And brushes are easier to clean....

For the door casing, I bought some sort of fake-wood, paintable trim that is narrow enough to fit - it was also inexpensive $3.xx for 7ft lengths. I also bought a miter box. I'm not feeling brave (or alert) enough to cut the corners yet. I'll leave that for tomorrow or when my kids aren't around. I've found that I can not do semi-complicated things when they're around. You can definitely tell where I was cutting in the paint when the kids were home vs. where I did it when I was alone in the house.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

I painted the cabinet and mirror trim last night with the first coat of paint.

This morning, I gave them the second coat and did the first coat over the tub. One coat may be plenty up there, as it was a white surface and primed with white primer.

Cabinet last night:
Image

After the white was done, I did a bit of laundry and then moved the mirror trim to finish drying in a not-at-home child's room, laying on a hallway gate we use to keep the dogs out of the house.

I primed the cross piece of molding for the door. Then I took the cabinet door outside to give it some attention. Being in the kids' bathroom, it was horrible. The paper veneer was peeled off in many places and the particle board (or sawdust) was swollen and ugly. I figured I couldn't make it worse and if it doesn't work, I'll just buy some pieces of trim and a thin piece of plywood and make a new door.
I sanded the puffy spots down with a very coarse sanding sponge and then went over it with a 60 grit and then a 150. It seems to be holding the primer well. I'll likely do two coats of primer, paint a coat, sand it, and then paint it again. Or not, I'm not sure yet. Somewhere in the process I will sand it lightly to try to get rid of the fuzzies.

This is another cabinet door, not nearly as bad as the one I'm doing (which I forgot to take pictures of):
Image
Image

^ No WONDER I couldn't stand the way the house looks - could they have used cheaper materials? (though the other cabinets are in much better condition, it's just this one and the one that I'm working on).

This is the one that I have primed and drying right now... You can see where the paper was gone (I peeled some off, back to where it was still stuck on and then sanded it). The close up shows the fuzzies that wouldn't sand away, they just kept getting fuzzier.
Image
Image


I'm off to cut the long door casing down to a more manageable length and prime them, so I can get at least the first coat of paint on today.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

And oh, I cut the top piece of door trim yesterday. I knew I shouldn't, I even posted that I shouldn't. I cut the angles backwards. Luckily, it was the short piece, so I had enough to cut them correctly.

My husband laughed at the miter box, and said I should just use the circular saw and follow a line. :) Oh well, I have plenty of trim left to do in the house, as I want to trim out the windows, at least in the public areas and my bedroom.
DecoratingChallenged
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:27 pm

The cabinet door looks like it will be okay. Not great, but better by far than it was.

While I'm waiting for various things to dry, and before I pull out the panel in front of the tub (Image), I hung (partially) the shower curtain up to see how it would look with the paint. (what looks like white slashes on the wall is actually the flash reflection off the tops of the paint cans.) I quite like it! (please note: I'm putting up some sort of panel behind the toilet, I'm not going to leave it a jagged paint line)
Image

Reminder:
Image
Locked
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post