Just the other day, I watched the contactor fill the last hole in the grout and our remodel is complete! A round of applause is warranted.
After years of planning, sketching, researching, calling, interviewing, etc, etc. we found a general contractor who was willing to take on this job! Turns out, most builders do not prefer remodels. They are even less likely to want to do an ADA compliant remodel and they may as well have laughed in my face at the prospect of doing major plumbing work on a house built on a concrete slab. I lost track of how many builders and contractors that I introduced the job to and never heard from again. I'm sure they were wondering why we didn't just build a new house (Maybe you are, too, but that story is for another time). By process of elimination, we came down to one great contractor who seemed to buy into what we wanted to do for Keira and our family. He didn't promise speed, but he promised good work at the right price.
The goal of the remodel was to create an accessible bathroom for Keira with a big, jetted tub and a roll-in shower. In order to do that in our current home, we had to basically demolish the center of our home, about a third of the square footage. This included both existing bathrooms, the hallway, and the existing laundry room. They started the work at the beginning of August, purposefully coinciding with our family trip to the coast and my parents month-long overseas vacation. That way, they could get most of the plumbing work done while we were either out of town or could freely come and go from my parents' empty house across the street. Of course things did not quite go as planned, so we were using toilets and showers at my parents house until about Halloween. It wasn't so bad. Especially for the boys, who didn't mind "watering the lawn," but we were happy with every inch of progress.
Aside from the timeline, there weren't many big, unexpected obstacles like you usually hear about with big remodels. I suppose when you're already going down to the studs and digging up concrete and dirt INSIDE your house, there's not many more surprises to be had. At one point, it looked like they were digging graves in there.
Let me give you a tour...
This is the view through my kitchen into the old laundry room. We removed that door as well as the door from the old laundry room into Liam's room. The laundry room wall got pushed back a little bit and the old laundry room became the new guest bathroom.
This is the old laundry room turned new guest bath. Not quite through with the decorating yet, but I really like it.
Now down the hall, into the master bedroom, so you can see our new and improved master bathroom. As you can see, we took a big bite out of our bedroom and added a wider door. There is now room if we need to install a lift and/or track system in the future. Keira could also live in the master room eventually if needed, but for now Jeff and I will enjoy the proximity to the "fancy" bathroom.
Simple before and after of the master bathroom. You can see it's a real small shower. I don't have a picture, but the former guest bathroom was pretty basic. It had a tub/shower, but it was difficult to maneuver and too small for her shower chair.
More pictures of the new space. There's a theme. Can you see it? I could call it "echoes of a dancer" or something like that. The pink is truly the same pink as my first pink leather capezio ballet slippers. The tile above my sink is called "arabesque." The shower curtain has some sequin-like shimmery detail. And the framed pictures. Two of them are of beautiful naked dancer feet. One is of a ballerina in tutu taking a final bow. Lastly, (Thank you, Lisa!) is a picture of the staircase that leads up to the ballet studio where I grew up.
Now out the back door into the garage and you can see where we have built in a whole new laundry room. Our house has two garages and this one, that my dad build many moons ago is big enough to house my laundry room as well as Keira's van. We had the contractor build in a linear drain in the garage floor so that when it snows (not this year, I guess), we can get Keira in and out of the car inside the garage without flooding the garage with snow melt. (In the foreground is a project Ronin is working on. He's building a "skate park" out of scrap materials for his finger skateboards.)
I love, love, love my laundry room. I was able to put whatever I wanted in there because, truth be told, Jeff NEVER goes in there anyway. So, ha! I just love my wallpaper. I have never had such a functional laundry space. I'm convinced that with the lighting and the utility sink and the rack for hang drying, our clothes will be cleaner! Also, my friend Wade built me these great cabinets that MORE than make up for the loss of my linen closet earlier in this process.
And THIS is how happy we are about the remodel.
After years of planning, sketching, researching, calling, interviewing, etc, etc. we found a general contractor who was willing to take on this job! Turns out, most builders do not prefer remodels. They are even less likely to want to do an ADA compliant remodel and they may as well have laughed in my face at the prospect of doing major plumbing work on a house built on a concrete slab. I lost track of how many builders and contractors that I introduced the job to and never heard from again. I'm sure they were wondering why we didn't just build a new house (Maybe you are, too, but that story is for another time). By process of elimination, we came down to one great contractor who seemed to buy into what we wanted to do for Keira and our family. He didn't promise speed, but he promised good work at the right price.
The goal of the remodel was to create an accessible bathroom for Keira with a big, jetted tub and a roll-in shower. In order to do that in our current home, we had to basically demolish the center of our home, about a third of the square footage. This included both existing bathrooms, the hallway, and the existing laundry room. They started the work at the beginning of August, purposefully coinciding with our family trip to the coast and my parents month-long overseas vacation. That way, they could get most of the plumbing work done while we were either out of town or could freely come and go from my parents' empty house across the street. Of course things did not quite go as planned, so we were using toilets and showers at my parents house until about Halloween. It wasn't so bad. Especially for the boys, who didn't mind "watering the lawn," but we were happy with every inch of progress.
Aside from the timeline, there weren't many big, unexpected obstacles like you usually hear about with big remodels. I suppose when you're already going down to the studs and digging up concrete and dirt INSIDE your house, there's not many more surprises to be had. At one point, it looked like they were digging graves in there.
Let me give you a tour...
This is the view through my kitchen into the old laundry room. We removed that door as well as the door from the old laundry room into Liam's room. The laundry room wall got pushed back a little bit and the old laundry room became the new guest bathroom.
This is the old laundry room turned new guest bath. Not quite through with the decorating yet, but I really like it.
Now down the hall, into the master bedroom, so you can see our new and improved master bathroom. As you can see, we took a big bite out of our bedroom and added a wider door. There is now room if we need to install a lift and/or track system in the future. Keira could also live in the master room eventually if needed, but for now Jeff and I will enjoy the proximity to the "fancy" bathroom.
Simple before and after of the master bathroom. You can see it's a real small shower. I don't have a picture, but the former guest bathroom was pretty basic. It had a tub/shower, but it was difficult to maneuver and too small for her shower chair.
More pictures of the new space. There's a theme. Can you see it? I could call it "echoes of a dancer" or something like that. The pink is truly the same pink as my first pink leather capezio ballet slippers. The tile above my sink is called "arabesque." The shower curtain has some sequin-like shimmery detail. And the framed pictures. Two of them are of beautiful naked dancer feet. One is of a ballerina in tutu taking a final bow. Lastly, (Thank you, Lisa!) is a picture of the staircase that leads up to the ballet studio where I grew up.
Now out the back door into the garage and you can see where we have built in a whole new laundry room. Our house has two garages and this one, that my dad build many moons ago is big enough to house my laundry room as well as Keira's van. We had the contractor build in a linear drain in the garage floor so that when it snows (not this year, I guess), we can get Keira in and out of the car inside the garage without flooding the garage with snow melt. (In the foreground is a project Ronin is working on. He's building a "skate park" out of scrap materials for his finger skateboards.)
I love, love, love my laundry room. I was able to put whatever I wanted in there because, truth be told, Jeff NEVER goes in there anyway. So, ha! I just love my wallpaper. I have never had such a functional laundry space. I'm convinced that with the lighting and the utility sink and the rack for hang drying, our clothes will be cleaner! Also, my friend Wade built me these great cabinets that MORE than make up for the loss of my linen closet earlier in this process.
And THIS is how happy we are about the remodel.
Water is one of Keira's favorite things. Baths, showers, pools, you name it. It is now much easier to give Keira baths and showers. Easier because there is more space and she can be in her bath chair in the tub and the shower. Easier because it's less awkward boosting and contorting of MY body to maneuver her around and safely support her the too-small bathroom. Getting Keira ready for bed after that first soak with the jets and all, her limbs were so relaxed and loose. I mean, we'd probably only seen her that way one or two other times in her life. I texted Jeff, "We did a good thing. This was so worth it."
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