BATHROOM 1: BEFORE & AFTER

The bathroom was the first room that needed immediate attention. There was a hole in the floor which had been poorly patched. The shower walls were covered in unsealed plastic panels that had started to bow due to water damage, a sign of mold and weakened drywall. It was also evident that the ceiling had been lowered several feet, making the room only 7 feet tall. The standard ceiling height for most homes is 8 feet, while the other rooms in this particular home were 13 feet. With these things in mind, I deduced a plan of essential first steps.

• The bathroom needed a new subfloor.
• The drywall surrounding the shower needed to be removed, and the interior structure treated for mold.
• The ceiling needed to be raised to its original height.

While tearing out the drywall and busting out the ceiling, I discovered a few things about the original home. The ceiling had in fact been lowered from 13 feet to 7 feet in order to run a HVAC duct into the back addition. This meant we couldn't raise the ceiling all the way to its original height. A bummer, but only a minor set back. I settled for raising it to 10 feet.