Our IKEA Cottage

Kevin and I both really hated the bathroom in this cottage but we didn’t really plan to gut the bathroom. It just sort of happened one day. The bathroom walls and ceiling were made of plastic paneling and we both really didn’t like it. So we decided to remove the plastic paneling and replace it with fiberglass sheetrock – made specifically for damp bathrooms. But then we realized that the bathroom pipes were outside of the wall. If we were going to have them removed so that we could put up the sheetrock, we realized that we might as well take them out and install new pipes that would go inside the walls. Plus, Kevin really didn’t like the little, tiny window in the bathroom. He wanted a larger window.

Then it occurred to him that we had an empty wall behind the toilet. He decided to add a second window on that wall. But with such a small space, we needed custom-built windows. But we didn’t want to wait for them. It usually takes about 3 or 4 weeks for custom windows to be built. Ha! There’s more than one way to skin a cat. We removed the small windows from over the sink in the kitchen and had them installed in the bathroom. We hired Matt Meeker of Madison, CT to remove the kitchen windows and install them in the bathroom. We’re now ordering bigger windows for over the kitchen sink.

Since this cottage is seasonal, Kevin has to hire a plumber to open and close the cottage. He turns the water on and off and drains the pipes. The plumber he used last fall is Jim Kleinkoff, also from Guilford, CT. I called Jim to inquire about removing the pipes and adding them back in behind the new sheetrock. He suggested Pex tubing. When he came to quote the job, he pointed out to me that the 2 x 4s in the bathroom ceiling were getting a bit mildew. With the slanted ceiling in the bathroom, there’s no room for a fan to vent out the damp bathroom air. Jim suggested that we drill holes in each bay in the ceiling and then add screens to the soffit so that fresh air will vent into the bathroom ceiling. I managed to drill the holes in each bay in the ceiling. But when I tried to install the screens in the soffit, I didn’t have anything behind the soffit to keep it in place. I couldn’t drill it. I showed Matt Meeker what I was trying to accomplish. He told me that he would replace the current soffit with a vented soffit. But when he attempted to replace the soffit, he discovered that the roof had rotted. So now we need to do some minor repairs to the roof!

We also needed Jim to remove the old shower and the old sink and to disconnect the toilet while the renovations are under way. The old pink shower was so big that it didn’t fit through the door. Jim had to saw the shower into four pieces in order to remove it. He removed the pink sink as well. We bought the IKEA Hollviken sink mentioned in a previous post and a new Sterling by Kohler shower at Supply New England on the Post Road in Guilford. We still need to have the shower installed. Once the walls have been sheetrocked, the new sink can be installed. Then we’ll paint the walls, install a new floor – maybe tile – we’re still thinking about that – and then up goes the trim. And then – finally – I can get to the decorating!

So… that’s how our little bathroom project started to get out of control… we didn’t plan to do any renovations to the bathroom just yet and then suddenly, we were replacing plastic paneling with sheetrock, replacing the pink shower with a new shower, replacing the shower head and the shower valve, replacing the pink sink with the IKEA sink, replacing the old sink faucet with an Apelskar faucet from IKEA. Then we needed a bathroom cabinet. Enter Vattern cabinet with Lillan doors. Then we added the windows and discovered that the ceiling is rotting. Next we need to add a floor. Then we trim and then we decorate. Wow! All that from one idea… to take down the plastic paneling.