This project was an update to a backyard rental house turned Austin-style stand alone tiny home. The structure started out as a detached garage built in the 1960s when this particular Austin neighborhood was not even technically inside the Austin city limits, and was converted into a ‘mother-in-law’ -type backyard living space around 1980 or so. In subsequent decades as home values along the West … Continue reading Space-Age Tub Surround
This full bath reno was in the neat old Tarrytown hood west of downtown — just up the road from the Deep Eddy pool, the original Magnolia Cafe diner, and on a street full of repeatedly renovated 1930s homes with more character than an oscar-winning supporting actor. A three bed two bath split-level stone bungalow, its last makeover was sometime in the 1990s when bought … Continue reading Yes, GO to the Light!
This is the second part of a detailed spa shower creation description. If you’d like to read about all the design, demo, plumbing, carpentry, and other prep steps then just click on this “Super Shower ONE” link for the gory deets. But if you’d instead like just the tasty dessert description first, then read on! FINISH STEP ONE: Sloping the Shower Floor With the plumbing … Continue reading Super Shower TWO: making the shower
This post describes the demo and prep steps for transforming a terrible bathroom space into a groovy vintage-modern spa shower space. It took a lot of work, and so the description is pretty long. If you’d like to skip ahead to the actual tile install and finish steps, then just click this “Super Shower TWO: making the actual shower!” link. But, if you’re interested to … Continue reading Super Shower ONE: demo and framing
Some folks in the neighborhood had an early ’70s vintage house with a pretty seriously failing tub surround. The house had been flipped and re-sold sometime around 2005 or so, and the tub surround had been redone in the least expensive way possible: Aesthetics aside, a basic 4×4 white ceramic tile tub surround is fine so long as it’s installed with proper waterproofing. Unfortunately, tile … Continue reading A “Very Brady” Tub Surround Redo
