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Photography

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Bo Zarts

(26,457 posts)
Sat May 16, 2026, 03:17 PM May 16

Before/After 2nd-floor bathroom in our 121 year old house (5-month project) [View all]

Before:


After:


It was a mess!
*Plaster walls and ceilings
*Layers of paint and wall paper
*Layers of old tile
*Hundreds of pounds of hand-poured concrete between floor joists
*Active knob-and-tube wiring
*Asbestos
*Incredibly old plumbing
*All the demolition had to be carried down narrow stairs in 5-gal. plastic buckets.

The second floor is my study/studio and storage, so this is my "executive wash room." I plan to use the second floor for my work as long as I can climb the stairs. Since I can still do fire lookout towers, that should be a while.

Our contractor specializes in old houses, and he has been doing work on our house for over 20 years. This was the last big project that we are planning on, and we finally have the house ready for our old age. When the time comes that we can't do stairs, everything we need is on the first level.

The house was built in 1905, before the street existed. It was a caretaker's or guest house behind a much larger house which has been long gone.

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Lovely! SheltieLover May 16 #1
Beautiful! Wow, whatta job. MiHale May 16 #2
Tons of work but not razing the house is respecting the past and you've done it very well Deuxcents May 16 #3
That's beautiful! sheshe2 May 16 #4
Good job SuzyandPuffpuff May 16 #5
Good job. Old Crank May 16 #6
It's absolutely gorgeous! 10 Turtle Day May 16 #7
Very well done! Pucks mom May 16 #8
'Tis a thing of beauty! niyad May 16 #9
Nice. I am really glad you maintained the overall aesthetic of the old house with this hlthe2b May 16 #10
Grab bar by shower head? irisblue May 16 #11
Show us more hurple May 16 #12
Great job, enjoy. Main floor laundry is a must for seniors. multigraincracker May 16 #13
Very nice! Must feel great to have all of your big home KPN May 16 #14
Lovely transformation! highplainsdem May 16 #15
Beautiful Job ms.pamela May 16 #16
Great job!!! paleotn May 16 #17
Gorgeous !!! Karadeniz May 16 #18
Is it the camera lens, or is the end result actually a bigger bathroom? Beartracks May 16 #19
Very nice! calimary May 16 #20
Curious... ultralite001 May 16 #21
That's fantastic 👍👍 TommieMommy May 16 #22
Wow, thanks for sharing! PatSeg May 16 #23
Wow, thanks for sharing! PatSeg May 16 #24
As a contractor who's done a ton of kitchen & bath remodels, that looks great! CaptainTruth May 16 #25
It looks great. greatauntoftriplets May 16 #26
Every time I see the stairs you climb on the fire towers, my knees ache. erronis May 16 #27
That is wonderful. I love the walk in shower. 1WorldHope May 16 #28
LOVE... GiqueCee May 16 #29
Loved that shower floor also. KS Toronado May 16 #32
Grab bars? Onlyserious May 16 #30
Nice! I love that shower. LoisB May 16 #31
I really like the lattice tile Bristlecone May 16 #33
Hard work paid off, it's beatiful. Figarosmom May 16 #34
An admirable job! Aussie105 May 17 #35
Amazing renovation gademocrat7 May 17 #36
Well done! democrank May 17 #37
Walk in showers are the bomb.... Historic NY May 17 #38
That is a bathroom I can get behind. Susan Calvin May 17 #39
Superb. Well done. twodogsbarking May 17 #40
Beautiful! evolves May 17 #41
Dude! Be The Light May 17 #42
Nice! Richluu May 18 #43
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