Photography
Related: About this forumBefore/After 2nd-floor bathroom in our 121 year old house (5-month project)
Before:

After:

It was a mess!
*Plaster walls and ceilings
*Layers of paint and wall paper
*Layers of old tile
*Hundreds of pounds of hand-poured concrete between floor joists
*Active knob-and-tube wiring
*Asbestos
*Incredibly old plumbing
*All the demolition had to be carried down narrow stairs in 5-gal. plastic buckets.
The second floor is my study/studio and storage, so this is my "executive wash room." I plan to use the second floor for my work as long as I can climb the stairs. Since I can still do fire lookout towers, that should be a while.
Our contractor specializes in old houses, and he has been doing work on our house for over 20 years. This was the last big project that we are planning on, and we finally have the house ready for our old age. When the time comes that we can't do stairs, everything we need is on the first level.
The house was built in 1905, before the street existed. It was a caretaker's or guest house behind a much larger house which has been long gone.
SheltieLover
(81,663 posts)Congrats!
MiHale
(13,157 posts)Deuxcents
(27,664 posts)Just from following you on your travels with your camera, I would think youd save the house and bring back some of its old charm. Looks great..love the plantation shutters..they transform any room
sheshe2
(98,407 posts)SuzyandPuffpuff
(666 posts)Lotta work but what a payout... excellent
Old Crank
(7,239 posts)Our new flat is 25 years old. We are going to be ripping out the tub and replacing it with a walk in shower, old age. The toilet cistern will have to be addressed also. Open teh wall to get the old one out and the new one in. Can't wait.....
I just finished, for the most part the kitchen from our move in.
Always a joy to remodel houses.
10 Turtle Day
(1,307 posts)Pucks mom
(126 posts)I had a house built in 1904 and the before picture is just like what I had to work with.
niyad
(133,985 posts)hlthe2b
(114,644 posts)updating. (Too bad the same principle is apparently being lost at the White House by you know who)...
irisblue
(37,895 posts)hurple
(1,362 posts)Want to see the whole house.
multigraincracker
(38,030 posts)KPN
(17,504 posts)improvement projects behind you.
highplainsdem
(63,058 posts)ms.pamela
(93 posts)Maybe these pictures will help propel me into action on my second story bathroom too.
paleotn
(22,684 posts)Very impressive.
Active knob and tube?! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
Karadeniz
(24,760 posts)Beartracks
(14,646 posts)The before shot looks like little more than a closet, but maybe it's a wide angle pointed more toward the floor?
In any event, you've got an incredibly satisfying "new" bathroom. Very executive!
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calimary
(90,742 posts)Quite an improvement!
ultralite001
(2,670 posts)What did you do for insulation??? Is the only ventilation through the windows???
It looks fabulous!!!
TommieMommy
(3,066 posts)PatSeg
(53,515 posts)PatSeg
(53,515 posts)CaptainTruth
(8,253 posts)I also realize that the real lasting quality is hidden behind the surface the homeowner sees.
I hope you've found a truly good contractor who takes pride in their work! Trust me, they're rare in this business.
greatauntoftriplets
(179,329 posts)I hope that you have a second bathroom. Five months is a long time....
erronis
(24,497 posts)And great job on the bathroom. I have never dealt with hand-poured concrete between the joists. That had to have been a bear. How did you get it our without using a jackhammer?
1WorldHope
(2,144 posts)The picture makes it look huge. The floor of the shower is interesting. Is that a mat?
Our house was built around 1900 as well. I love these old houses. I wish we had a really good contractor like yours.
GiqueCee
(4,723 posts)... the basket-weave tiles in the shower floor!
KS Toronado
(23,846 posts)Onlyserious
(111 posts)We're doing a similar project using as many grab bars that double as towel rods as we can manage--we have a TP dispenser that doubles as a grab-bar as well. Beautiful project!
LoisB
(13,442 posts)Bristlecone
(11,185 posts)Figarosmom
(13,285 posts)Work to be proud of.😊
Aussie105
(8,164 posts)Must have cost a lot of money!
Our home is less than 80 years old, but the kitchen and bathroom got the makeover too.
Your reno is a work of art though, ours is more of the 'basic but practical' school of thought.
Bathroom workers, them of Middle Eastern descent, worked their butts off in the bathroom, never even stopping for lunch.
Worked out later it was the time of Ramadan!
Did some work in there myself though - grab rails, and plenty of them, some vertical and some horizontal to double as towel rails, shelving.
Just to put my personal touch on it.
I'd suggest one grab rail near the shower, for when you close your eyes, and one near the toilet, to make getting up easier as you get older.