Projects / handyman

Bathroom remodel.

Full gut and rebuild: walls re-plumbed, Schluter Kerdi backer and waterproofing, Ditra-Heat heated floor, large-format porcelain tile, new tub, glass shower door, vanity, and toilet.

A complete gut of the existing bathroom. The walls came down to the studs, the floor down to the subfloor, the supply lines back to copper, the DWV back to ABS. Every fixture got replaced and every connection got rebuilt.

The wet walls use Schluter's Kerdi-Board over the studs with Kerdi-Band over every seam and Kerdi-Fix around every penetration. The niche is a two-compartment cut-in with a marble shelf splitting it, lined with stacked stone tile on the back wall and a Schluter Jolly profile around the opening. The tub surround is large-format porcelain, leveled with clips, broken horizontally by a thin marble accent stripe near the ceiling.

The floor sits on Schluter Ditra-Heat: an uncoupling membrane with the heating cable serpentined into it before the floor tile goes on. The thermostat is wired to its own circuit at the wall. The vanity is a Mission-style cherry cabinet with a quartz top, two undermount sinks, and matte black plumbing fixtures.

Materials: copper supply (re-plumbed), ABS DWV (re-plumbed), Schluter Kerdi-Board backer, Schluter Kerdi-Band + Kerdi-Fix waterproofing, Schluter Ditra-Heat membrane + heating cable, Schluter Jolly profiles at tile edges, large-format porcelain wall and floor tile, marble accent stripe and niche shelf, alcove tub with sliding glass door, Mission-style vanity with quartz top, undermount sinks and matte black fixtures, torched-wood window casing
Completed: 2026-05-23

Finished double-sink vanity: Mission-style cherry cabinet, gray quartz top with two rectangular undermount sinks, matte black faucets, torched-wood mirror frame above.

Gallery

The original bathroom before work began: small cream wall tile, beige built-in tub, patterned shower curtain, oak-framed mirror, baseboard heater along the wall. — Before.

Floor pulled down to plywood subfloor; one wall stripped to studs with insulation and rough plumbing visible. — Floor down to the subfloor.

Looking into the bathroom from the doorway during demo: walls stripped, old vinyl pulled, exposed adhesive on the subfloor. — Looking in from the door. Adhesive scraped off the subfloor next.

Vanity removed: drain stub and supply lines sticking up from the floor where the cabinet sat, drywall cut back around the old footprint. — Vanity out. Supply lines + drain stub waiting on the new layout.

Mid-demo: wall behind the tub stripped to studs, fiberglass insulation exposed, old ABS waste pipe visible, some tile still clinging to the tub surround. — Mid-demo. The bones.

Vanity wall stripped: fiberglass insulation around the window opening, level leaning against the studs, Milwaukee Packout containers on the floor. — Vanity wall stripped. Window stays.

Tub area framed to studs with pink fiberglass insulation in the cavities, an additional 2x stud added for blocking. — New blocking added where the niche and grab bars will land.

Re-plumbed shower wall: new copper supply lines running up to a brass mixing valve mounted between studs, ABS DWV roughed to the right, a red laser level line across the studs. — Re-plumb. Fresh copper to the valve, ABS to the drain, laser to the level.

New alcove tub installed in the rough opening, walls still open to studs, plumbing rough-in visible behind. — New tub set.

Alternate angle of the same alcove tub install, shower valve rough visible at left, no surround yet. — Same tub, other angle.

Tub apron protected with painter's tape and cardboard, new wood blocking added in the studs for the niche and grab bars, orange Schluter Kerdi-Board starting to go up on the right wall. — Blocking in, Kerdi-Board starting on the right wall.

Schluter Kerdi-Board fully installed across the tub surround with cutouts for the shower valve and a recessed niche in the back wall. — Kerdi-Board across the wet walls. Niche cut into the back wall.

Schluter Kerdi-Band waterproofing strip applied over the seam between adjacent Kerdi-Board panels at the corner above the tub. — Kerdi-Band over every seam.

Kerdi-Board wall with white Kerdi-Fix waterproofing patches applied around every screw and at every penetration including the niche opening. — Every fastener and penetration patched. Whole surround now waterproof.

Test-fitting the Jolly profile around the niche opening.

Two-compartment niche tiled out: stacked light-gray tile on the back wall, marble shelf splitting top and bottom, surrounded by un-tiled Kerdi-Board. — Niche tiled. Marble shelf splits it into two compartments.

Profile pinned in place while the mortar grabs.

Large-format dark gray porcelain tile going up around the niche with yellow leveling clips on every joint. — Wall tile going up. Yellow clips keep adjacent tiles flush across joints.

Close-up of a dark gray tile with a clean circular cutout around the brass mixing valve, leveling clips visible along the bottom edge. — Valve hole cut through a single large-format tile.

Matte black shower valve trim seated against the same dark gray tile, leveling clips still visible at the joints below. — Black valve trim. Reads flush with the tile.

Three walls of tub surround tiled, top row of leveling clips still in place near the ceiling, niche visible center-back. — Almost there. Clips come off once the thinset has fully set.

Finished tub surround: three walls of dark gray porcelain with a thin marble accent stripe near the ceiling, niche visible center-back, black shower valve trim, integrated apron tub below. — Tile done. Marble stripe ties the surround back to the niche shelf.

Dry walls re-finished with knockdown texture, freshly sprayed and drying; plastic sheeting and painter's tape masking the tile and tub area to protect them. — Drywall textured. Tile masked off so it stays clean.

Schluter Ditra-Heat uncoupling membrane installed on the subfloor: orange waffle-textured sheet covering the bathroom floor, viewed from the hallway through the doorway. — Ditra-Heat down. The dimples receive the heating cable next.

Heated-floor cable run in a tight serpentine across the Ditra-Heat membrane on the bathroom floor, with a thermostat sensor terminating in a marked area. — Cable serpentined across the floor. Sensor in its own pocket near the door.

Floor tile laid: dark gray porcelain plank-format running across the room, toilet flange visible center, glass shower door installed on the tub. — Floor tiled over the heated cable. Glass door on the tub.

Toilet in.

Close-up of the new window casing: torched-wood (shou sugi ban) finish with grain raised and darkened, joining the textured wall. — Torched-wood window casing. Pulls the same dark cues as the floor.

Mission-style cherry vanity cabinet installed: multiple drawers and double-door cabinets, one drawer pulled out showing dovetail joinery, top still open for the countertop. — Vanity cabinet set. Waiting on the top.

Top-down view of the same vanity cabinet from inside, showing the open top, drawer carcasses, and matte-black hardware. — Top-down before the countertop drops in.

Vanity with gray quartz countertop installed: two rectangular undermount sinks, matte-black faucets, light fixture being wired at the right. — Quartz top in, faucets set. Light still being wired.