The Bathroom Diaries: Week 11
Plastering, painting and preparations for the final phase.
Happy New Year!
This week seems to be the week where normality has actually resumed following all the Christmas festivities. I’ve just about managed to get back into the swing of the normal routine, and by that, I mean managing to drag myself out of the cosiness of my bed before 8.00am and getting the dogs out for their walk at a respectable time, rather than creeping close to late morning. I would like to point out here they’ve been just as relaxed and chilled as their Mum and haven’t been patiently waiting for me to drag my arse out of bed, whilst crossing their paws.
I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas break, and it was as relaxed (or crazy) as you wanted it to be.
We escaped for Christmas and I have to say it was the best decision we could have made, following weeks of the bathroom taking over our lives. It was wonderful to not only have a change of scenery but to properly switch off and realise we hadn’t lost the art of conversation with each other, other than talking about anything bathroom-related.
However, here we are in 2025, raring to go with the second and final phase of the bathroom renovation.
Our bathroom fitter returned on Wednesday this week. Following some much-needed time off, the other half was keen to get on with preparations in the existing bathroom, just to keep everything moving.
Sunday 29th December
Some making good was needed on a couple of the walls in the existing bathroom where tiles were removed and the old shower.
Monday 30th December
The original shower wall was particularly bad as wasn’t straight to start with, so the other half had to gradually build it out so it was level and lined up with the wall before he was able to fully plaster it.
The ceiling in the existing bathroom was also plastered.
Friday 3rd January
The other half plastered the rest of the bathroom walls, so all the plastering is now complete. Just a case of waiting for the walls to dry out ready to paint; unfortunately, it’s not the ideal time of year for plastering as it takes so much longer for the plaster to dry properly.
Saturday 4th January
While we wait for everything to fully dry out in the bathroom, we moved into the garage to start work on constructing the garage ceiling, which will also make the bathroom feel a lot warmer as it will be filled with insulation.
Sunday 5th January
Five days after plastering, the bathroom ceiling is ready for a mist-coat.
Further work continued on the garage ceiling where additional batons have been added ready for insulation.
Monday 6th January
Today was my first day back in the office following an incredible three-week break, so I left the other half to continue with a few tasks.
The day started well with the ceiling receiving its final coat of paint, and two of the walls being mist-coated. The original shower wall is still drying out, so it will be a few more days before that can be painted. Fortunately, there isn’t going to be anything put on this wall (other than some artwork), so it won’t delay anything.
Then, when the other half was cutting into the old floor to remove it, he nicked one of the water pipes! From what I was told, we had water spraying out everywhere; running through the hallway ceiling before he was able to get to the stop-cock (which is in the kitchen) and turn the water off.
Thank goodness I wasn’t at home, as I would have freaked! Although it probably would have provided some good content with an array of saucepans scattered over the hallway floor trying to capture as much water as possible.
Fortunately, we only have a couple of small hairline cracks appear, and luckily I happen to know a good plasterer, so this can be easily filled, and repainted without causing too much additional work (oh the drama).
Luckily, we had the plumber round this evening to install the pipework for the radiator, and he was able to make the necessary repairs so we were able to get the water (and heating) back on.
With temperatures struggling to get past 0 degrees this week, it wasn’t the week for us to not have any heating.
In all fairness, looking at how high the pipework has been positioned, it would have been very difficult not to catch them. We now need to see how we can work around this before we lay the new floor, as want to ensure the floor is level and not sloping as you walk through.
Tuesday 7th January
We got the walls painted today, (minus the original shower wall, which is still drying out), and the rest of the existing floor was removed. Luckily, no damage to any water pipes today.
Wednesday 8th January
The bathroom fitter returned today, and we now have the floor base fully installed. At least the bathroom is no longer a trip hazard and is now starting to look (and feel) a lot more complete.
The other half had the fun job of hammering in over 1,500 nails, so there shouldn’t be any risk of movement.
The stud work for the toilet to be hung from has been constructed, and we’re almost complete with the last constructional part of the build being finished, leaving just internal finishing touches left to be done. As soon as the remaining wall tiles arrive we’ll be there.
Thursday 9th January
The afternoon was spent chasing out the brickwork in preparation for the pipework to be installed for the vanity unit.
There was so much dust, it was ridiculous! Although this is now the last of the dirty work which needs to be done, I’m hoping it won’t be too much longer before I can get the house fully back to normal and completely dust-free.
Friday 10th January
The original shower wall has finally fully dried out, 11 days after it was plastered and we were able to mist-coat it today.
Alongside this, we gave the rest of the walls their second coat.
For anyone that is interested, we have used Slacked Lime 105 from Little Greene. I love this colour and have used it in both our kitchen and conservatory.
The other half also added Hardiebacker board to the wall where the toilet is going to be positioned, in preparation for tiling when the rest of the tiles arrive (hopefully in the next couple of weeks).
We’ve used Hardiebacker board rather than plasterboard as this wall needs to be strong enough to not only hold the tiles in place but also the toilet, which will be wall-hung.
We don’t want any accidents of the toilet coming off the wall, whilst we’re sat on the throne!
Saturday 11th January
The original shower wall had its first coat of paint applied, and we’ve gotten as far as we can at the moment in terms of work we can do.
So, we continued in the garage getting the ceiling prepared for boarding.
Insulation has now been added in between all the joists, making it feel a lot warmer. We just need to top with insulation sheets before it can be fully boarded.
We’re now at the point that not much more can be finished until the remaining tiles are delivered.
Our bathroom fitter had a minor operation a couple of days ago, and we’re waiting to hear back from him when he‘s available to come back to install the pipework for the vanity unit.
With that in mind, there may not be an edition of The Bathroom Diaries next week. I’ll keep you posted on Notes when the next post will be available.
Until then have a wonderful week, and if you have any questions on the project to date, please feel free to ask in the comments.
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The Bathroom Diaries is an additional weekly post every Sunday, sharing the progress of our first-ever renovation journey, documenting the creation of my dream bathroom.
If you missed any of the The Bathroom Diaries series you can catch up here:
Well it’s certainly coming along now Sonya, despite the pipe incident, it’s certainly been a journey so far! I’ve just recently ordered a sample pot of Slacked lime as am starting to plan for my lounge decorating in the spring. It looks very nice in your bathroom, good choice. Hope the next stages run smoothly for you! 🤞🤎
I think the plastering stage is one of my favourites, particularly if the finish is like glass. Something so special about it and gets you excited for decoration.