I need bathroom remodeling ideas for our primary bathroom. It has a full size shower separate from a large bath tub that sits in the corner in front of the corner windows. It’s all builders grade beige plastic/fiberglass. Double vanity and a toilet closet.
The obvious things to do are to replace the shower with a proper floor to ceiling tile shower, maybe some fancy extra shower heads or something, get one of those freestanding tubs for the corner, and a new vanity. So mostly just upgrade all the existing stuff and replace the existing tile. A lot of this seems like it is chasing the latest trend, especially with the freestanding bath tub. Any interesting ideas out there for alternatives to that?
I strongly dislike freestanding bathtubs. They look great, so if you just want something to fill the space and look nice in order to help you sell your place, great.
But if you want to actually, you know, take a bath… you want places to put your soap, bubble bath, Epsom salts, candles, shampoo, conditioner, sponge, wine glass… where does all of that go with the freestanding tub? On the floor? Then you can reach over and get the floor super wet while getting cold in the process? Then you have a nice cold wet floor to step on when the bath is over?
No… get a nice built-in IMO. Jetted vs not jetted is another decision. Jets are noisy and a PITA to keep clean (your cleaning lady isn’t going to do this most likely). I prefer not jetted. Jetted is nice to refresh bubble bath but… not worth the hassle. There’s an argument to be made though… who is going to be mostly using the tub and does that person understand what is involved in cleaning the jets? Also you have to clean them whether you use the tub or not so keep that in mind.
We had (IMO) pretty decent luck googling for pics of bathrooms and figuring out what we were going for. We wanted a craftsman bathroom, but maybe you want more mid century, or contemporary.
Here are the pics I found for inspiration for ours.
We solved this with niche storage (see prior pics, I took those before the glass shelves went in but you get the idea) and my wife has one of those tray things that sits on top of the tub. She seems content.
This is my general thought, but I have never used the existing tub which seems more practical than a freestanding one.
So I guess my question is if there is a new/emerging trend that is more interesting than what everyone else has done for the last 5-10 years or whatever.
Definitely more practical, our last house had a giant garden tub thing with a huge flat area around it. This time around, we were obviously putting a little more weight on aesthetics. I know, that’s a bad actuary!
Small update, although mounting things on masonry walls is harder than it might seem. Plus the first type of anchor kept fighting me, including two trips to Ace it took me five hours to mount the sign and mailbox. These bricks are amazingly hard, ten minutes with the hammer drill per hole.
They knew how to make bricks back then.
There was an article posted around here on cement/concrete of Roman Times, and why those edifices are still standing.
Well, until the Sears and Spiegel catalogues arrive on the same day. A once every 27 years occurrence when both marketing strategies are in the same equinox.
So I learned a little more about electricity. About 10 years ago added a subpanel next to main panel to have room for more circuits (split a circuit that previously did the few plugs in my unfinished basement and 1 outside plug that had GFCI to dedicated fridge/freezer circuit and all the rest). 3 years ago added the 50A car charger line to that subpanel. Both panels use GE style circuit breakers.
Son lets me know basement plugs that run video game console and TV aren’t working. Quick check of GFCI is “not tripped”. Fridge/freezer circuit dead also (quickly found another source to plug them in). The basement lights (which also run thru subpanel) are working. The car charger is not working. I reason the odds of two and possibly three circuit breakers residing on the subpanel simultaneously failing independently is terribly small, so call a pro to figure it out.
Turns out one half of the 60A double breaker feeding the subpanel failed. The alternating nature of the mounting bar in the subpanel meant some 120V circuits got the power they needed, but the others didn’t. The car charger needed both, so that was the story there.
Electrician also gave some new to me info. The high and extended load a car charger requires can result in stronger heating/cooling expansion/contraction cycles that can loosen connections over time, so tighten those connections especially well, maybe checking every few years. No wire nuts on those circuits, screw-type connectors only. Check the temperature of the circuit breaker (and wire if possible) after a long charging session. It can get warm, but shouldn’t be hot.
So my electric utility is rolling out a pilot program for in-home battery backup. Here’s the deal. It’s a 16kWh battery, I pay $0, but they control it for two years. I have no say in when it charges or discharges. They claim that it will discharge, for example, during peak summer heat, and recharge overnight. The only cost to me is $10/mo, and I think I can save that by charging overnight at rock bottom rates of like $0.07 per kWh and discharging when rates are triple that.
At the end of two years, I can buy it at ‘a depreciated cost’ (not yet determined!), or they will come remove it for free.
The other benefit is if the power goes out, I’ve got juice. Because it’s a smaller battery, I’m told I can only have it feed six single-pole breakers. So no AC. 16kWh is too small to power the AC very long anyway, this keeps my fridge going, some lights, and outlets in a few rooms. It’ll do.
This costs $3000. (Pretty cheap… too cheap, maybe.)
Can’t tell whether it can be charged up with regular power or if it must be used with solar.
Anywho, 15-year lifespan. That’s $200/year, a little more than your payment.
I’m a little confused, though: who gets the power that gets put into it? You? Or do they simply charge it up at night then suck it all out in the day, allowing them to fulfill grid needs as needed? If so, why don’t they just do all that themselves in a field somewhere? Why does it have to be attached to your house where you pay THEM to use your home? Seems similar to leasing solar panels, wherein you pay them to borrow YOUR roof.
