Tuesday, February 20, 2007

80 Year Old "New" Powder Room

The funny thing with this bath was this would be larger and better than the main bath at the old house - and this will be just the smaller bath in this house. The object of this bath was to use all original items (except plumbing) no later than the 1920's to make a "new" old bathroom. And the ultimate addition will be an original pull chain toilet which I've always wanted to have. The walls will be wainscoted like the kitchen and the ceiling will be tin.

my new favorite tool - the drywall lift

The outside hose was moved from the dining room bowed wall to this wall, so first I had to run this line. Then I installed the vent outlet and duct work for the exhaust fan. Next was wiring for the light/fan, a sconce for the sink and a GFCI outlet. The final item was adding a return in the wall for the future AC system. I was now ready to start the wall installation. The ceiling had to be done first, and instead of drywall, I hung the same 7/16" plywood I used for the wainscoting nailer - this will be for installing the tin ceiling. Then a cutout was made for the combo exhaust fan/light. I really liked this piece cause it fits in with the room and I won't have to have a grill taking away from the looks of the ceiling.


Next was the bottom half plywood and the top half greenboard. Everything was in place then to start roughing in the sink, toilet and tub. I previously talked about the tub I restored for the room. I also rounded up an original American Standard pedestal sink (1926) from a local consignment store for $75 - like the rest of the pieces the porcelain is very clean. I bought new faucets for this from Vintage Bath, same place as the tub items.



Finally the highlight piece for me - an original pull chain toilet. The tank was another EBAY find, I think it was $135, with all internals still present and in good shape. I did have to find a pull for it. After some EBAY searching for a few months with no luck, I bought an original American Standard toilet from DEA Bath. It's stamped 1924. Another fine piece complete with a new rear spud, the $300 with shipping was a splurge but I was happy with it.




Next step, plumbing and a tin ceiling....

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