I turned 48 years old this year and I have never done a proper home renovations. Sure, we have painted, redecorated and replaced a toilet (just the actual toilet) but I have never done a renovation that involved knocking a wall down or removing walls (and walls) of tiles. Until now!
The plan is to redo 2 bathrooms, one toilet, the kitchen and our outside braai area.
We started with the kids bathroom because it needed the most work – the pipes all needed to be replaced which is sort of what prompted this whole project. The old set up was a separate toilet, bathroom and shower – resulting in 3 pokey little rooms. We knocked down the wall between the bathroom and the shower – took out the shower and bath and created a larger room with just a nice big shower.
They started with the bathroom while we were still on holiday and I am so glad I got them to do that. It meant the house was empty while they knocked out the wall and tiles. By the time we got back they had already started plastering the walls.
It still took them a total of 3 weeks to finish the bathroom but we absolutely love it. It is open and spacious and so sunny compared to the old space. It was definitely worth the chaos and dust.
I have learnt a lot through this process – a lot of these things I was warned about
- There is so much dust. Doesn’t matter what you do or how much you protect everything – the dust finds a way.
- You never buy enough – despite measuring things a million times, I still needed extra tiles, and a lot more plaster and a few other little things.
- Go to the hardware store with a precise list. The male assistants will still try to make you feel like you are clueless by questioning random things, but don’t back down – get what’s on the list.
- Color tiles look different in store, on your wall and at different times of the day. (The wall tiles we got look blue, then green, then gray).
- Embrace the chaos. And by chaos I mean having people in your house, needing things at random times and nothing where it should be. It won’t be forever.
The next stage involves the kitchen and other 2 bathrooms at the same time. In theory the downstairs toilet and our bathroom should be easier, we are not knocking out walls, just upgrading everything and the 2 walls in the kitchen have already been knocked out.
Wish us luck!
