Sunday, April 17, 2016

Small improvement to the Ensuite bathroom

A few years ago when we remodeled the main bathroom we tried one of those new Comfort height also called Right height toilet.
What is the difference? Our standard toilets have the rim of the bowl at a height of 14-1/2 in, the comfort ones stand at 16-1/2 inches height.
By the time you add the toilet seat, you are now seating at a comfortable chair's height.

That 2 inches makes a big difference in ease of seating and getting up after.
Once you get used to it, it feel like the regular ones are much lower...

With Heather mobility getting restricted more and more, it was time to put one in the Ensuite bathroom to help her out.

So guess what I did this Week-End?....

The original toilet.

Out with the old...

In with the new...

From start to finish it only took me half an hour. And that included chasing Rudy to get some parts back. He was banned from the room after :-)
I was pleasantly surprised by the completeness and quality of the components includes in this "All in one" toilet kit from American Standard, nothing else to buy. The instructions even says no tools required... Yes, that is true because they furnish a special plastic nut driver for the tank to bowl connections and also the toilet seat bolts, clever. Everything else is easy to grip for a snug finger tight connections. No leaks on first try, bonus :-)

This is what the Ensuite looked like at purchase time...

As bought. Behind the curtain is a space for the plumbing and storage 
since the shower enclosure is pushed far to the left.

The place was totally gutted to the studs, removed traces of mildew and made the room water and mildew proof by using cement boards for the walls.

The floor redone

The window replaced

New sink and mirror, light fixture

New shower enclosure and relocated to the right


The only thing I was worried when I remodeled this space was the space between the shower enclosure and the toilet. This is a rather small space and it had to fit. I went with a neo shaped enclosure and the door open to the left, and I re-used the original toilet which had a round bowl. I prefer elongated bowl (like in the main bathroom) but was worried about space.

Found a round bowl comfort height toilet so that is what I put in, good thing I did not used an elongated one because I still managed to loose about 1-1/2 in of space, would have been a few more inches if elongated.

The plan at the time was to remodeled this Ensuite bathroom before tackling the main bathroom. 

Original main bathroom

Entry door was relocated to the left. I would have never been able to 
contortioned the big soaker bath into this space if I did not do that first. 
And now it is a lot easier to wheel her in and out of the bathroom also. 

The new one. 61 in walnut vanity, granite counter top with two under mount sinks. New soaker tub, shower fixtures etc. in a tiled enclosure.

New hi efficiency comfort height toilet with electronic bidet, 
its remote is on the countertop.

The floor has a Ditra membrane  and Kerdi membrane on the tiled walls. Everything is sealed and waterproofed, meaning I don't ever expect mold down the road...
Once both were done, I then remodeled the one downstairs in my man cave.

Original man cave bathroom

Remodeled man cave bathroom.
The oval medicine cabinet/mirror in the wall was recycled 
from the Ensuite bathroom


All three bathrooms in the house have been brought into the 21st century, one at a time. Similarly the kitchen was also remodeled extensively. We are pretty well done with all the renovations we had planned into this house. We had contemplated moving one more time, but it is obviously not going to happened anytime soon. And I don't foresee moving after she is gone :-(

Bob, trying to make it easier for Heather.

10 comments:

  1. Nice job on all three but I didn't see a magazine holder anywhere?????

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  2. Well done, Bob. That's a lot of work. I remember once trying to lift a new toilet in a tight space - and I was a lot younger - and it was really tough. I couldn't do it. That kind of work can be really challenging in tight spaces.

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  3. Bob,

    Good on you, remodel of any room isn't one of my favorite things and baths suck hind tit of all.

    Hoping Heather can be comfortable with her new bath. BTW, now you can blame Rudy for your senior moments when you 'er Rudy misplace things.

    ken

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  4. Hey Bob, that is some fantastic work. I should have put an en suite in the chicken palace! Perhaps I could have trained the birds and saved my self some time shoveling chicken sh!t...

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  5. Hi Ralph
    Surprise, there is a magazine rack in the main bathroom :-)
    Always stuffed withwoodworking magazines, catalogs and my Legion magazine...

    Bob, the bathroom reader

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  6. Hi Matt
    Yes It was surprisingly heavy, 90 pounds... It got loaded in my car by young guys at the store and I had to wait overnite to get help to bring it in the bedroom. It was easier to put in since the bowl goes first, then the tank and the rest assembled in place.
    The old one came out as one piece, that was fun...not!
    Bob

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  7. Hi Ken
    Good idea, I could have used Rudy as an excuse when I remodeled the Ensuite bathroom. All work screeched to a halt when i could not locate the parts to finish assembling the shower enclosure. Had to get new parts kit from manufacturer. And yes found the missing bag later, months after I finished the job...
    Oh well I got spare parts :-)

    Heather try it last nite, work great, easier for her to get up after. Highly reccomend these new comfort heigth toilets.

    Bob, who should trained Rudy to use, will save me trips outside ;-)

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  8. Hi Jonathan
    Thanks for the laugh, Heather had a chuckle when i told her. She saw your Taj Mahal of chicks and new chicks magnet car :-)

    Yes, im surprised you did put one in, but you could always retrofit one :-)
    Bob, running and ducking the eggs

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  9. Hey Bob,
    well done! Remodeling is somehow exhausting. Done our bed room a few weeks ago and man, I didn't went to the gym for two weeks.

    Stefan, recovered from muscle soreness

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