I am so excited to renovate our jack-n-jill bathroom for the One Room Challenge this year! My two kids and our guests use this upstairs bathroom and I’ve been dying to rip everything out since we moved in 5 years ago. Here are some before photos and floor plan to visualize the space:
And here is my final design board:
This wallpaper has been on my “design bucket list” and this is the perfect space for a modern, fun print. Later on, I’ll be building the linen cabinets you see on the design board. The pendant lights instead of traditional wall sconces will add an unexpected surprise, as will the free form mirrors. I also love when you can turn practical needs into design elements, so when our electrician said he could put a ceiling light in the middle of the room, I was thrilled to include one that will not only brighten up the space, but lend to the design as well.
This week we completed the demolition in the bathroom and everything was preserved to donate to our local Habitat for Humanity. They will pick the items up and we can even donate the old toilet! Did you know you can do that?!
The toilet, vanities, mirrors, and light fixtures were simple to remove in one afternoon. The tile took me an entire day to remove, but I had the right tool for the job and I’m excited to share with you what made the process SO much easier!
By way of background, when I demo’d the tile on our fireplace (a whopping 11 sq ft), it took me ALL day with a hammer and a chisel. I knew this was not a possibility for a larger area like the bathroom, so I googled how to remove tile easily. I came across Brooke’s blog post about removing tile on All Things Thrifty where she recommended using a hammer drill.
I was thrilled at the prospect of using a power tool to speed up the process, but I didn’t want to spend the money to buy such a tool. So I visited the tool rental department at Hartville Hardware and the staff were extremely helpful in choosing the right hammer drill. They had so many models and sizes to choose from! I ended up with a Bosch Spline 1-9/16 In. Combination Hammer Drill with a chisel bit.
The hammer drill was so FUN to use! Also one of the easiest power tools I’ve used! If you’re planning any tile demolition, be sure to rent one or buy one- it made the demolition so much easier. I was able to take up about 80 square feet of tile in less than one hour!
My technique was this: I angled the chisel bit down towards the subfloor between two tiles on the grout line. I then pulsed the chisel and most of the tiles came up in whole pieces! I put the tiles into cardboard boxes as I pulled them up and put them out with our trash. Easy peasy.
However, that’s not the full story…after I removed the tile, there was still mortar stuck to the subfloor. RJ and I took turns scraping the mortar from the subfloor with the hammer drill. It was tedious, back breaking work, unlike the tile demolition! We spent about 6 hours taking up the mortar, but at least the hammer drill made it much easier than it otherwise would have been.
Next week I’ll detail the process for wallpapering the room with the vanities and the back wall of the water closet/shower room. I can’t wait to show you the wallpaper!
In the meantime, check out all the participants in the One Room Challenge here.
