Entry Hooks & Shelf

Remember back at the beginning of August when we picked up these hooks? (here)

Finally they have been put to good use in our front entry. It's our first completed project of 2012!

The house came with the hooks below. Boring! Also not very much storage. We wanted to add a shelf to place our gloves etc. on.

We also bought these knobs from Anthropology to add to our project and pick up the yellow colour.

We bought one plank of laminated pine from Home Depot and a piece of trim to create the lip on the shelf.

We cut the plank, to create the shelf, and attached it together using glue and extra long screws, clamping it in place. Then we sanded it smooth and used the left over grey wood stain from our dining room table top. Attached the hooks and hung it on the wall using butterfly clips for sturdiness.

Voila!

Now that we have been using it for a few weeks it is way more function than the old hooks. We like how the hooks are spread out more and the shelf is pretty handy too. It still tucks nicely behind the door and makes the space feel more finished off.

Entry Hooks & Shelf

Remember back at the beginning of August when we picked up these hooks? (here)

Finally they have been put to good use in our front entry. It's our first completed project of 2012!

The house came with the hooks below. Boring! Also not very much storage. We wanted to add a shelf to place our gloves etc. on.

We also bought these knobs from Anthropology to add to our project and pick up the yellow colour.

We bought one plank of laminated pine from Home Depot and a piece of trim to create the lip on the shelf.

We cut the plank, to create the shelf, and attached it together using glue and extra long screws, clamping it in place. Then we sanded it smooth and used the left over grey wood stain from our dining room table top. Attached the hooks and hung it on the wall using butterfly clips for sturdiness.

Voila!

Now that we have been using it for a few weeks it is way more function than the old hooks. We like how the hooks are spread out more and the shelf is pretty handy too. It still tucks nicely behind the door and makes the space feel more finished off.

DIY: Mercury Glass

great DIY project via Teal and Lime

Bathroom Reveal

Ta Da! Here is our long overdue Bathroom reveal. The shower walls have been in for a few weeks but we needed some extra time to make some prints for the walls and find some daylight for photography.

We're absolutely thrilled with the new shower and the other updates we made in the bathroom. The best part is we no longer have a leaky shower.

The tub surround was also updated with the new tile for an integrated look with the new shower.

New shower hardware (standard).

We made these prints to add a little pop of colour in the otherwise serene room. The feature close up details of nature in various shades of vibrant greens from our honeymoon in New Zealand.

We kept all the old hardware to save money but they still look great.

We also updated the vanity with new glossy white doors and new hardware (see the old ones at the bottom of the post). Yay for Ikea cabinets! We only had to paint one side with special primer and paint.

The new vanity connects with our new glossy white shower and bath tile, making the room come together. We did not want the new shower to stick out but also didn't have the budget to renovate the whole room.

And for comparison here are the before pictures of the old TRON bathroom.

Bathroom Shower Tiles

Well we didn't quite complete all the tiling during our 1 week renovation vacation. Hence the delay in posting on the tiles. Just a few touch ups left to do while we are waiting for the glass walls.

Tiling is hard work! Especially when you choose to stack tiles. Brick or subway style would have been much easier for our shower (I think). If we ever do a stacked tile again the shower will be built to the size of the tiles to avoid making so many cuts.

We used glossy white 4" x 12" ceramic for the walls, 1.5" Carrara marble hexagon tiles and Carrara marble thresholds.

First we added the floor tiles and drain. Love them!!

Then we added the marble thresholds. I know most people add these last but in our case it was important to do them first as It would effect the tile spacing on the large full wall.

A helpful hint when dealing with marble. Use a wet sandpaper as fine as possible to polish any unfinished edges. In our case we had to cut the marble to our correct size and polish one end. Thanks to the associate at The Home Depot, Gerard Square for giving us this (and many other) helpful tips.

Once we had the marble in we could begin the tedious task of tiling all the walls. It was particularly painful because of the stacked pattern that we decided to use. We choose to have the full tiles starting on the outside of the shower with the cut pieces in the corner. We started with the tiles direct above the ledge. All the other tiles would have to match up to these ones.

And this is where we are at today. We still have to touch up the walls and paint around the shower. We also have to caulk all the seams and paint the tub deck (white). The glass has been measured and the template has been checked. So we're hoping maybe next week the glass will be installed.

Since our renovation was unplanned and only for the shower we had to try and Connect the new tiles with the old charcoal grey tiles. Honestly we would have loved to ditch the grey tiles all together and start fresh however it was not in the budget and technically nothing is wrong with the existing tiles. So we decided to work with what we have.

We choose to use the tiles stacked because we thought it would best match the other grout lines already in the bathroom. The Carrara marble blends the white and Grey together. We choose to retile the front of the tub surround as well so that the tub and shower would both be white and the new shower would better integrate into the room.

We have a few additional updates that we are working on. We should be able to show you everything once the glass has been installed. We can't wait! It's been one month of only taking baths.

Installing the Shower Kit

For our new shower we have decided to use the Schluter Kerdi Shower System. It is not cheap (around $550 to $600 depending on the size) but it is one complete kit that comes with pretty much everything you need to have a leak free shower. In our case because we were dealing with a previously leaky shower we wanted to ensure that not a single drop of water would get through.

You can also purchase individual components of the kit should you want to do some parts yourself (like make your own sloping floor). There are also additional items that you can add like a corner bench etc.

Before you attempt to install this kit it is really important that you read all the instructions. The kit comes with a full installation booklet and DVD and additional resources are available online.

Let's get started shall we?

First you install the perfectly sloped floor tray to line up with your drain. It is made of polystyrene so you can easily cut the sides down to the correct size. Using unmodified mortar you attach the tray to your sub floor.

Once the tray is in you can start to add the Kerdi polyethylene waterproofing membrane and vapor retarder.

Start with all the seams and the inside corners that do not go against the curb. We measured and cut ours before installation. It's really important to make sure that you smooth out all the Kerdi seams, especially in the corners where there will be multiple layers. You do need to apply some pressure to do this properly.

Once all the seams and corners are in you can apply the Kerdi membrane to the walls. Again we measured and cut our pieces before installation. This is two person job to attach and should be approached like wall paper. Start from the bottom/top middle edge and work your way up/down and across. Again it is really important to smooth out all the excess mortar and a fair amount of pressure needs to be applied to do this.

Once all the Kerdi Membrane is on the walls the drain flange is ready to be attached. Measure and cut your last piece of pipe to connect the drain flange to the p-trap below the sub floor. Apply the glue to the pipes and mortar to floor and attach. Eek! This part had us nervous but everything seemed to fit together really well.

The last step is to attach the curb (again is it polystyrene and can be cut in length and height). We cut down the height of our curb so that we would have one full tile on the outside edge. Once the curb is attached you attach the last 2 inside corners and the 2 outside corners. Then the Kerdi membrane can be added to the curb and then finally the shower floor.

Viola! The shower kit is complete. You need to wait 24 hours to allow it to dry before you can tile.

My outline above makes it seem really simple and easy. Let's just say it's about as easy as installing a shower kit. While using the kit did simplify the process it did still take about 10 hours to install.

When it was done were feeling really triumphant (and exhausted) that this phase was complete. It is starting to look like a shower.

Building The New Shower

Now that we* finally have the bathroom demo complete we can start building the new shower.

The first step was to move the drain so it is centred for our new larger shower. Then we built in extra support for the framing where we are going to be attaching Durock and the glass. We then added Roxul Safe'n'Sound insulation for the interior wall and floor for noise reduction. The vapour barrier was secured.

Next we glued and screwed 2 layers of sub floor to build up to the height required. We worked around one small corner of the old sub floor that was just to difficult and time consuming to remove. We will be pouring self levelling cement to even out the entire floor later.

Durock was added to the shower wall. We will be building ledges on the other two walls and need the floor to be level before we do that. We sealed and primed** all the edges to prepare for the cement.

Then we attached the wire mesh.

We poured self levelling cement to smooth out the rough patches, get us to the correct height and level the floor. A level floor is absolutely required for our new shower kit.

Next we framed the two ledges and finished adding the Durock to the last 2 walls.

Then we used the kit template to cut the hole to expose the drain.

The next step is to install the shower kit.

*And by we I mean Rob. Applies to entire bathroom shower project.

**Special primer for self levelling cement to adhere to surfaces.