Jessica lives with her family in western Idaho. She loves home remodeling projects; the fantasizing, the planning, the shopping, the lists, crossing tasks off as they are completed and of course, the final project. Her husband? Meh, not so much. In fact, he truly hates DIY projects. One thing they both like, however, is the lower cost of doing the labor themselves, so you might say they’ve become serial remodelers.

DIY Bathroom Project

Five years ago, Jessica was coping with a difficult pregnancy when the fiberglass tub in the hall bathroom cracked. At the time, this was the only functioning bathroom in the house because the master bath was “under construction.” Thus, there was a rush to replace the old tub QUICKLY! Back then, Jessica and her husband were far less experienced with remodeling and they made a few mistakes with this DIY bathroom project.

Removing the old fiberglass tub destroyed most of the drywall, and the replacement/patching process unleashed its own set of problems. In a fit of desperation, they opted to install bead board over the drywall – this resulted in even more problems!

Challenges from the first DIY bathroom project

• Used MDF bead board (not meant for bathrooms)
• Experienced trials cutting the bead board to size
• Used finish nails to affix the bead board to the wall
• Installers left a gap between the new tub and the tile floor
• Rested the bead board on the molding
• Didn’t use waterproof caulk

In the next five years, Jessica and her husband finished remodeling their master bathroom as well as several other projects. With their growing experience and knowledge, the faults of the poor, overused and disrespected hall bathroom became even more apparent. While her husband was still basking in the success of the master remodel, Jessica suggested some improvements for the hall bathroom and, much to her delight, he readily agreed.

The Second DIY Bathroom Project

They took the knowledge they’d accumulated and started fixing all the problems from the first renovation.

• Removed the soggy bead board
• Removed the waterlogged countertop
• Shimmed the vanity to level it and to prevent water from pooling on the counter
• Properly installed new bathroom-friendly bead board
• Installed waterproof PVC baseboard
• Installed a new counter and tile backsplash
• Filled the gap at the base of the tub with a cement compound topped with a water barrier (allowing ample drying time for everything) and
• finished it with a PVC quarter round molding.

They were thrilled with the results of the second renovation.

Jessica and her husband recently sold that house and are now renting while they search for a new, smaller home. They are focusing their search on fixer-uppers with lots of land. She and her husband have dreams of owning a small, self-sufficient hobby farm.

JessicaI works from home as a full time web designer & illustrator while her husband homeschools their four children and does a better job at keeping up on laundry than she ever did. They are wanna-be farmers raising chickens and goats, and hope to someday realize our dream of owning a small, self-sufficient hobby farm..  You can read her blog at www.balancingeverything.com or follow her on twitter @VeryMom.