New Bathroom - Simla

Here is video of my new bathroom.  Below are pictures and explanations.

Here it is.  I have been working since 2014 to get this new bathroom in my house.  I started working on it every night and almost every weekend since Sept. 2015 until now (03 Jan 2016).  It was just an ugly little non-functioning room in the back corner of my house where the old stairs used to be.  Now it is the most attractive feature in my house.

This ugly little porch is where you used to enter and exit the house before I put in the new bathroom.  Now it can be torn down.



In 2014 I put a new exterior door in the house knowing that some day I would put a new bathroom where the old door was. I built these wood steps this fall because this is one of the principal entrances to the house now.


I installed a new window because I knew that I wanted an operable window in the shower to let condensation out.


This is the new window from inside the shower.



I wanted soap dishes in my shower so now I have plenty of them.  I had dead space behind the shower since the room is wider than the shower pan so I capitalized on the extra space and framed soap shelves into the shower.  I had never tiled a shower before; only a few floors.


I had to frame the shower exactly to fit the shower door.  It was a very tight fit- almost too tight.  It was hard to know exact thicknesses of plywood, backer board, thin-set, and tile.  It is a good thing I leveled my shower pan in a bed of mortar or else the door would have never fit right.  The opening above is to let condensation out of the shower.



I wanted plenty of light in the shower so I put a recessed light up in the ceiling and tiled around it.  I won't get a moldy ceiling now with the shower completely tiled, the condesation escape opening, the new window, and the new exhaust fan I put in.



This job was a huge electrical endeavor for me.  I really only knew how to hook up outlets, lights, and ceiling fans before.  I had to add a new circuit for this bathroom with GFCI outlets for the bathroom.  I had to get into my electrical panel to hook up the new circuit on a tandem breaker.  I have been reading a lot about electrical work since I moved into the house.  I know one day I will have to move the panel.  For right now it is still in the bathroom.  I left plenty of extra wire on my home-run so when I move the panel I won't have to splice in a junction box or anything like that.




As with the electrical, I had never done so much rough-in plumbing before either.  I have also been reading quite a bit about drain systems and water lines since we moved into the house.  I have made many trips to the plumbing supply store over the past few months.  Those shark bite fittings I used are expensive but I love their quality and versatility.


When I was building this new window well last spring (2015) I also excavated for the new sewer line in order to tie my bathroom drain system in.  I excavated it all by hand.


I had to frame in a new pocket door since I wasn't going to have the door swinging in to my kitchen or swinging in to the bathroom.





I spent a lot of money on nice fixtures and I took my sweet time reading and following all the directions.  The experience I gained from this bathroom in monumental.  Now I am confident that I can build a brand new house and do EVERYTHING my self - If I feel like it.