Budget Bathroom Remodel

The first major project I found myself tackling after I bought my fixer upper duplex was my bathroom. Several descriptors for this room include: dated, yellowing, moldy, and rusty. Just to name a few. You can observe from the pictures below:

Close inspection led me to believe that some improvements had been made in the early 90’s. This bathroom was more than ready for an update. And by necessity, a budget-friendly one.

I started prying off the tub surround on the third day after closing the house. My family had come to help. I had initially thought I would just update the surround and a couple other minor things, but quickly realized it really just needed to be gutted and completely redone. Out with the tub, toilet, sink, and vanity.

Being my first project, I thought “Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?!?!?” I owned a small toolbox with a few basic tools and had no idea how I was going to get this all done, much less repeat the process upstairs for future tenancy. This was a scary image at the time.

New Tub and Surround

Thankfully, I found a great plumber to help me install a new tub and surround. I had a new Kohler tub, drain, faucet, and showerhead installed by him, along with a glue-up tub surround. If I could do it again, I would have tried my hand at tiling, but I was a bit overwhelmed with all the other projects I needed to accomplish, and the urgency in needing a bathroom in my apartment.

Before the surround was installed, a drywaller did some prep for it. He suggested I prime and paint before the surround install. This saved me from having to cut in the edges and made for a cleaner look overall. The old paint color was more of an antique/off white, and had a slightly dirty feel to it. The white paint I used from Home Depot cleaned up the walls nicely.

New Flooring

The flooring in the bathroom was a dated linoleum pattern. Although I was happy to pull it out, it revealed some damage to the wood floor. I was worried repairing this might be a big expense, but it really did not total more than a couple of hundred dollars on my final plumber’s bill. The area between the tub and toilet were mainly where the issue was. I also had the toilet flange replaced (and I also learned what a flange was!)

I installed some luxury vinyl plank (also known as LVP). I floated it from the kitchen into the bathroom for a seamless look. This stuff is super easy to install. I watched several videos online before putting it in just to make sure I understood the process, but it was quite simple. The most challenging part was cutting around the door frame. I wasted a couple of pieces on that, but once I got over the learning curve, I had the entire bathroom done in one evening. And I loved how it looked! I will make a post detailing how to install LVP, since I have put it in the entire upstairs apartment.

New Toilet and Vanity

I thought installing a toilet would be pretty complicated, but it actually wasn’t. Aside from losing a bolt down the return pipe and subsequently using the life-saving shop vac to save it, there wasn’t a whole lot of difficulty. Well, at least for me, since my dad did most of the install while I supervised. (I was glad I watched though, because it helped me install the upstairs toilet all on my own!)

The vanity wasn’t too difficult, either. I centered it on the wall. It came with a sink and countertop so that made things fairly simple. My dad and I hooked up the faucet and handles and voila! Not even a leak to be seen. I went with this Moen faucet. I like it because you just have to “pop” the sink drain to open and close it. I also like the look of the square sink, although I will say that dirt tends to build up in the corners of it so it needs to be cleaned more frequently than a round one.

Additionally, I put up a new mirror. I actually had this one hanging in my old apartment, above my dresser. A nice find from Kirkland’s. It was the perfect size for the space.

New Trim

I’ll be honest; trim work can sometimes bring out the worst in me. I have to cut just the right length, at the right angle, and adhere it onto the wall without issue. I don’t curse very often, but when I do, it’s usually when I’m working on trim. It’s probably due to the fact that I don’t have the best tools to do it and I’ve never had someone teach me the proper way to do it.

I would suggest making friends with someone who has a miter saw. They probably could do a great job for you. But if you’re like me and determined to do it yourself (and don’t own a miter saw), this is what I would suggest.

The first time I installed trim, I used my jigsaw to cut it. I can change the angle of the blade to get the angled cuts for the corners. However, I have found that it is not very precise. For the next trim project in my upstairs apartment, I purchased a miter box and saw. I would recommend going this route. You’ll need to cut it by hand, which is a little more time consuming, but you’ll get a better angle. I’m pretty sure the corners of these walls were not exactly 90 degrees, which furthered my frustration. I ended up using some stainable wood filler to fill the gaps. Wood putty has also worked well for this purpose.

In addition to the dark brown trim, I placed a piece of white, decorative trim along the edge of the tub. This hid the seams and caulking from the edge of the flooring. I used a hammer and nails to install all of the trim and, now that I have a pneumatic nail gun, I would recommend that. Much less swearing involved. Just use a little bit of wood putty to hide the nail holes. 

New Light Fixture

I didn’t get around to this until like, four months after the bathroom was done, and I’m really not sure why. The light fixture was one of those “Hollywood” mirror styles, gold and well-rusted. I replaced it with a similar style, but a more updated version. And it felt so much better. It was one of those, ‘be careful Kim, or you’re gonna need to go in for a tetanus shot’ kind of projects.

New Bathroom Accessories

The devil is in the details- you can’t forget about things like the shower curtain rod, toilet paper holder, and towel bar. For most of these, I found a little set for a very affordable price at Menards in the antique-y bronze metal color that matched my vanity mirror and light fixture. Unfortunately, they stopped selling it so I had to search around for the upstairs that I finished in a similar style. 

The shower curtain rod was unique in that it needed to be an “L” shape due to the window. I found this inexpensive one on Amazon. It came with a corner piece that I could attach to the ceiling. It worked perfectly for attaching to my nine foot ceilings. Then, I no longer needed a shelf bracket attached to the window frame to keep the shower curtain up. Amazingly, I put this up myself without having to grow a third arm (I’d suggest getting a helper to hold things during installation).

Built-In Shelving

The little nook where my toilet sits is perfect for some built-in shelves. I kept debating what kind of shelving- I was considering doing floating shelves- but opted for the easier route with some simple bracketed shelving. All I really needed for this was a screwdriver, some screws, a level, and measuring tape to install them. The brackets themselves are simple and metal, about $2 each at Menards. I took a 12 inch board, cut them to size with my jig, and then stained (in Varathane ‘Espresso’) and poly’d them to coordinate with the dark wood tones of the flooring.

I found a set of 4 wicker baskets from TJ Maxx to organize my bathroom stuff. They’re shorter, so they don’t hide all the clutter, but I don’t mind. The openness keeps the bathroom feeling more spacious, and they are also more functional since it’s easy to see what I’m looking for.

Bathroom Fan

I had an electrician install a bathroom fan. There was evidence of mold on the old surround, tub, and floor, and also some around the window area, and I wanted to prevent this from becoming a future problem. I first picked up a light/fan combo that looked pretty modern, but the electrician said that those styles often stop working a year or two in, and that I get something with a little bit higher CFM. He recommended 80-110 CFM for a bathroom my size, anything smaller might not be effective enough. So I returned the original one and picked up a more utilitarian looking, but just as functional, bathroom fan/light combination. It’s been working perfectly for the past six months.

An Updated and Clean, Fresh Bathroom

I was overjoyed when everything was completed. I no longer had to step outside, and march up the steps to the second floor apartment to go to the bathroom or take a shower. Everything feels so clean with the crisp white walls, dark wood tones, and antiqued, brass accents. The only thing left is to replace the 100 year old window!

Budget-Friendly Bathroom Remodel

In all, I spent a little more than $4,000 on the bathroom. Work done by contractors was over half of the cost, so if you can DIY more of it, you can save a ton of money. I’m glad I DIY’ed as much as I could, since it not only saved me quite a bit of money, but it also helped me learn some skills, being that it was my first major remodeling project. Even if the trim brought out the worst in me. It can only get easier, right???