Plumbing, Electrical, Floor Prep - An Update on Bathroom Progress

If it feels like we have 12 projects happening at the same time, that's not true. It's probably closer to 15. JK it's not that bad, but it sure feels like a whirlwind at times! And while things have been progressing in the playroom, homework room, and exterior, major happenings have been... uh... happening, I guess, in our home's main bathroom. Here's where we landed last:

Demo done, ready for anything! Particularly, all this:

Lots of changes, but let's first notice the light. Look at how much natural light is pouring in through the new 6ft wide window, and the three (3!!!) new 5 foot tall windows along the left side of the room. So much light! Here's a reminder of what we had originally:

Not dark, by any means. But the windows were all blocked by something - not a window you could look out or enjoy. We're so happy to be adding so much natural light and bringing some of the beautiful trees outside within view.

And for the times the sun isn't out, we rearranged and added electrical to support the new layout. Cans, sconces, and a fixture TBD above where the tub will be, centered with the back window. Layers of lighting, which is exactly how we like it.

The plumbing took a bit to figure out. It always does when you rearrange the layout in a bathroom. Making sure you have drains where they need to be, with ventilation close by for each one. Calculating the demand your fixtures will create for water flow and pressure, and ensuring you have enough supply coming directly from the manifold (your home's main water supply hub) so you don't get a slow trickle in the shower whenever someone decides to wash their hands.

As with our last bathroom, we're going 100% Kohler on the fixtures in here (they're just the best, best, best) and we needed to make sure they would have enough pressure to function at their peak. Fortunately for us, our bathroom already had two supply lines coming directly from our manifold, which means great pressure so long as we split it wisely. We used one supply line for our shower fixtures - a shower head, a hand shower, and 4 body sprays - and the other for everything else. That way the shower pressure isn't affected by anything else happening in the bathroom (hand/face washing, filling the tub, flushing the toilet), and everything else isn't likely to overlap in a way that will impact water pressure much.

We also added urethane insulation to the outside walls, and under the floor where our bathroom overhangs the front porch. This room hangs over about 3 feet (where the big window is), and has never had any insulation under it! All through the winter, walking into what was then our closet was torture. A thin layer of carpet and subfloor was all that stood between our feet and the icy Idaho winter. Miserable, and something we're so happy we have the opportunity to make right.

The floor is prepped for tile, the shower pan has been poured, and we're ready for sheetrock to start hanging tomorrow (fingers crossed)! Hang on tight, because this project is about to kick into gear!