Seven years ago, we bought our 1891 house in New Bedford from people who flipped it. We saved them from a plummeting housing market and they bestowed upon us their crappy renovations. Don't get me wrong. I love our house - the beautiful trim, hardwood floors, the sunny kitchen. But the modernizations done by the previous owners weren't the greatest.
Case in point, the uber-cheap tub surround they installed. You like its matte, stained, almond-ness, right? I feel dirty just looking at it.
The tub was also put in crooked so we had this lovely gap where water could drip downstairs into the ceiling. And yes, that tub is also grouted into place. No trim here.
But wait, it gets better. Here's what the vinyl surround was attached to....just the lathe, baby. The new tub can been seen below too.
THANKFULLY the studs weren't rotted and we were able to attach the new cement board easily and securely. I say easily but of course this whole project almost killed my husband. :)
Soon, we were tiling. It took a lot of convincing for the hubs to agree to tackle subway tile. We were a bit scared of the precision and math aspect of it. Nothing in our house is plumb or level, but we did it!!! And the butterfly tile effect in the corners looks pretty good. This was definitely a two-person job. Me, sitting on the toilet, making sure things were level and symmetrical, while my husband did the hard work. Thanks, honey!
And here's the finished product!!!
We love it so much and can't believe we waited 7 years to get the courage to do it.
Next I'll post about our recent rip-out of that lovely tile floor....
Sources
tile - white 3x6 subway tile from Home Depot
grout - Delorean Gray grout from Home Depot