This project involved completely remodeling a basement bathroom / laundry room in a 111-year-old house in St. Paul, MN. This project posed a variety of problems typical in working on older homes. The existing walk-in tile shower was badly damaged because of humidity and moisture issues. The dryer had been illegally vented with a make shift accordion style plastic vent presenting a dangerous fire hazard. The room had a non-functioning electric wall heater designed to heat the space. An awkward layout made using the space difficult.
Because of the age of the house we realized we would be presented with plenty of surprises once construction started. We decided it would make more sense to demolish the room down to the bare studs and foundation to reveal a clearer idea of our situation. The bare walls exposed outdated galvanized plumbing, some cracks in the foundation and a hidden window that had been covered.
The next step in the project was to have our plumber move some drains, vents and water lines to accommodate the new room layout. With the new plumbing in place we had 12,000 lbs of new concrete poured to create a new floor foundation. New 2×6 exterior walls, 2×4 interior walls and 3’ x 3’shower were framed to form the new room. Our electrician visited the site and installed the rough electrical wiring, outlets, lighting, heating chords, fan and switches. The exterior walls were sprayed with foam insulation to keep the bathroom warmer.
With the preparation work out of the way the walls were sheet-rocked with lightweight drywall and the shower was covered with cement board coated with green waterproofing. One shower wall was framed to include two recessed 12” x 12” ledges for shampoo and soap. We contacted a company to install a frosted glass block window with a screened vent to the existing window opening to allow fresh air into the room on nice days.
We selected and installed white subway tile with gray accents in the shower along with 1” mosaic glass tile in the recessed ledges. The tile for this project was purchased at Kate-Lo Tile in Plymouth, MN. Self-leveling thin set concrete was poured over the heating chords on the floor before installing the 2” x 2” white marble tile throughout the room with white grout.
A new solid wood door was painted white and hung with satin nickel hardware. We painted the walls Venezuelan Blue and installed white trim around the base and door. We purchased a 48” white classical style vanity with black marble countertop and satin nickel faucets from Menards. The vanity was positioned in the corner of the room and a matching mirror was mounted above. The Delta shower fixtures were selected to match the sink faucets. A laundry sink was installed along the wall in between the washer and dryer units.
Next we installed the dropped acoustical ceiling grid and tiles. The ceiling system had to be bent over a low pipe in the center of the room but the result was barely visible. The plumbers and electricians returned for final hookups of the washer, dryer, sinks, heated floors and recessed can lights.