Major Project #1 - Master Bathroom

The title of this post is misleading. Our first "major" project was to replace the inefficient/old/loud/huge furnace and air conditioner with super efficient/new/quiet/compact models.This seemed like a wise thing to do upfront in order to take advantage of the federal tax credits.

With the guts of the house taken care of we moved onto fixing the major problem problem with the house, a shower that leaks profusely into the basement. After some exploratory surgery with a hammer and chisel, we discovered the culprit, a crack in the mortar bed from the wall to the drain.

The solution, DEMOLITION! After a long weekend of demo involving sledgehammers, chisels, and two mangled claw hammers we completely gutted the room. Then we had to move on to the larger issue of putting the room back together. For some background, neither of us have any formal training in a construction trade or experience in home improvement beyond replacing the occasional light fixture or faucet. Armed with a laptop, a few hundred hours of watching HGTV, and more unskilled labor from Matt's brother Jon we (very slowly) began the process of waterproofing the shower, tiling, painting, and accessorizing the room taking it from this:

Before

To this:

After

After

Matt & Jon

And in the end we have a bathroom that doesn't leak (thanks to cement board, Schluter, and tile) and doesn't look like it belongs in an institution.  While its not 100% perfect, its ours.