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Diary of a bathroom renovation

Darren
Making a Splash

Diary of a bathroom renovation

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'We have the worst bathroom in the world,' Na says.

 

But because she's trying to talk and brush her teeth at the same time it sounds more like 'weavezewersebarfroominvaworlve'.

 

OK, maybe ‘worst’ is a slight exaggeration. The worst would be completely decrepit, not working and falling down, a take-your-life-in-your-hands-every-time-you-take-a-shower kind of bathroom. Ours isn't nearly that bad, it is functional after all. But it sure is ugly.

 

When we first moved in it was the worst room in a house that reeked of crimes against interiors. Pink walls, a pink bath, grey and pink tiles and a laminate vanity that even the 1970s would have rejected. Here, look at it.

 

original-bathroom_web.jpg

 

Inspired by watching every season of Selling Houses Australia we did a cosmetic reno - changed the tapware, updated the lighting, sprayed the tiles, painted the walls and replaced the stick-on vinyl floor tiles with basic porcelain ones. Shaynna would have been proud.

 

And for a while that was fine. But then things started to change. The spray-on surface started to lift and our two small children (Maddy is five and Ava is almost three) delighted in peeling it off during bath time. Fun! Even our dogs, Sid and Bella, got in on the act by scratching some of the paint off the tiles. And now it looks completely crap.

 

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That was almost four years ago when we first moved to our renovator in Somers.

 

Somers clings to the south-eastern tip of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. It’s a quiet town - there’s the General Store, Post Office, a primary school, a kindergarten, the Lord Somers Camp and, well, that’s about it. If you walk down to the beach you can look across Western Port Bay to Phillip Island.

 

I’ve always thought that Somers was a very apt name for a coastal town; almost a little too perfect. Turns out though that it wasn’t someone in the council planning office trying to be a bit clever but it was named after a past governor of Victoria who established the Lord Somers Camp. Thank you, Wikipedia.

 

Some consider this to be the unfashionable side of the peninsula - it definitely isn’t Sorrento or Rye, but then it’s not Capel Sound either (Google it) - but we love it because it’s quiet and largely undiscovered.

 

Somers is made up of an odd mix of houses. Some are classic beach shacks that look like they were built over a series of weekends, others are Hamptons-inspired retreats that wouldn’t look out of place in Portsea, while other houses look like they belong on Ramsay Street.

 

Our house is one of the latter. It’s a late-50s cream brick veneer house that would look perfectly at home in any suburb - there are thousands just like it throughout Melbourne. There’s probably one on your street. Here’s a picture of it.

 

exterior-may-2017_web.jpg

 

Since moving here in mid-2013 we have renovated pretty much the entire place. We painted every wall, steamed off the colonial bush scene wallpaper (what was even stranger than the design was the decision of which walls to hang it on, random to say the least) and the chicken wallpaper in the kitchen. Next, we ripped up the green carpet and polished the beautiful floorboards that were hidden beneath. We knocked a wall out between the kitchen and dining room, windows have since become doors, and our kitchen and dining room now look out onto a large deck.

 

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On weekends our two girls cut laps around the deck on their scooters like its Chapel Street on a Friday night, while our dogs laze happily in the sun, keeping one eye open in case one of the girls zigs when she should have zagged.

 

It’s not the kind of house you’ll ever see featured in a magazine - ‘Startling beachside renovation’. No, this house is a piece of suburbia that took a wrong turn and never bothered finding its way back.

 

But it’s home.

 

It’s taken a lot of weekends, holidays and evenings but finally the inside is taking shape, the tide has turned in the battle against the ugly. And emerging from the wreckage is a space that our family feels connected to and is proud to call home. We’ve worked together to complete as much of the work as our limited DIY skills have allowed us to, we’ve argued about light fittings and paint colours and come out the other side. Now as our renovation journey nears its end there’s just one room left, the bathroom - AKA the worst room in our home.


So my wife, Na, and I made the call - the bathroom has to go. We’ve decided on a full reno, a total gut job. This is the diary of our bathroom renovation.

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

@Darren - the bathroom is looking amazing! As someone who enjoys reading in the bath I'm very jealous of your new setup. The placement of the massive window is great! 

Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

Hi @Darren,

 

Have you made any further progress? I'm sure the community is looking forward to seeing the finished product. 

 

Thanks again for keeping us updated during the renovation in such an informative and entertaining fashion.

 

Jason

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Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

Hey @Jason, yes and no is the answer. The bathroom is all but done save for one small thing - the bath tap. Originally we selected a swivel tap that matches the bathroom vanity taps. We wanted a swivel tap so when the bath was filled the tap could be safely tucked against the wall. Our daughters, Maddy (5) and Ava (3), treat the bath like their own private water theme park, so keeping the tap out of the way was high on our list of safety measures.

Unfortunately this particular tap took its sweet time arriving - it finally showed up to the party long after all the other tapware had been installed (weeks after to be more precise). Our plumber, Brendan, who we have worked with for years is a family friend who we trust implicitly, arrived shortly after to fit off the tap. Finally our bathroom will be done we thought. Wrong again.

Brendan recommended against using this particular tap as there was the possibility that it could come loose from the wall. Fail. Thankfully Brendan was able to source a similar looking matte black tap that will fit, but unfortunately it doesn't swivel.

I guess the take-out here is that if we ever do a major bathroom reno again (not for a loooong time), we'll run the tap selection by our plumber before purchasing.

With a bit of luck the room will be complete next week and I'll share the final reveal photos then.

Thanks for your patience and for reading!

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

The final reveal

And we're done. OK, there's a little bit more work to do on the exterior of the window to clean up the dodgy ugly eaves but the interior is finally complete following some (lengthy) bath tap dramas. It's not the tap we initially purchased, but you can't win them all. Overall, we’re stoked with the finished room, we love the space and it’s turned out just as we hoped.

 

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So, what did we learn? Here's a few final thoughts.

 

Be prepared

We had spreadsheets, we'd looked online, in-store and all over social but despite all the research we weren't still quite fully prepared. Deliveries run late, hidden problems are uncovered, it happens. Purchase as many things as you can as far out as possible to avoid installation delays if a delivery deadline is missed.

 

Your budget is probably wrong

Ours certainly was. We budgeted $30k, but the the total came to $35k. Why did we blow out? The main reason is that we didn't stick to the budget on one particular item - we ended up spending a lot more on the vanity than we had budgeted. The other area where costs blew out was tiles - I miscalculated the amount of tiles we'd need, then we decided mid-project to tile all the way to the ceiling. It all adds up. Set aside 10% of your budget for unexpected surprises to cover yourself.

 

Check, check then check again

If you're doing this for the first time then maybe run your figures by a friend or someone you know who has renovation experience. They may pick up something you've missed, which could save you a (potentially costly) delay in the future.

 

Work with good people

Renovations take time. Our bathroom took 4 weeks in the end - the Olympics are run and done in half that time. Before you kick off a big project, make sure you meet your tradies first. Get multiple quotes and make sure you feel comfortable with who you give the job to. We chose our builder because during the quote process he was happy to discuss options and welcomed our input into the final layout of the room. He also had a good portfolio of work on his Facebook page. As for our other trades, we were lucky that our electrician is a relative and the plumber is his best mate and we've worked together previously on other projects. There's a lot to be said for having trust in your trades - ask around and get recommendations from people you trust. It can mean the difference between a great outcome and one that you're less than satisfied with.

 

What’s next?

Probably the small garden outside the bathroom window, but that’s a project for another (sunnier) day.

 

Dallas_Mc
Cultivating a Following

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

Nice one @Darren! An amazing result and I'm sure the tub will get used a fair bit to waste away some cold winter day's with a good book!
Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

Thanks again for sharing your journey in such an informative and entertaining manner @Darren. I'm sure community members appreciate the advice and lessons learned, and will be inspired by your end result. Congratulations, the room looks fantastic. 

 

Jason

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Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

I see tiles are one of the "small items" that can dramatically impact the final price of a build or renovation in this article - https://www.domain.com.au/advice/build-budget-discover-tiles-flooring-paint-can-quickly-add/

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

Thanks @RenoQueen, tiles really can break the budget - good thing is there are plenty of options out there.

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

That's a winner @Darren - well done! Be proud and go and enjoy it!

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artrato3
Cultivating a Following

Re: Diary of a bathroom renovation

I see you moved all your plumbing, do you build yourself or hire people?

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