Older houses had smaller bathrooms and when they were built with framed walls around the shower this made the space seem even smaller.
As you can see in the picture above, the space looks much larger after the renovation (‘after’ picture) when in reality, we did not change the footprint of the bathroom at all.
To start, we addressed any old water leakage issues by removing everything back to the studs. We then used the Schluter kerdi membrane system to waterproof the shower walls.
The shower is actually the same size as it was before but as you can see, without the wall and by installing frameless shower glass, the space appears larger.
An in-wall niche (made of polystyrene) was added to provide a place to house toiletries. This niche was tiled to match the walls.
The toilet remained in the same place but was updated. To provide better storage, we also updated the vanity, complete with a quartz countertop (client preference) and undermount sink.
Additional storage by means of a cabinet above the toilet, was added later.
To ensure proper venting of moist air – key in a bathroom – we upgraded the exhaust fan to a
110 cfm quieter model. Note that exhaust fans should run during the shower/bath process and for an additional 20 to 30 minutes after completion in order to prevent moisture-related problems.
When remodelling your bathroom, there are options available that allow for an updated look without having to alter the size of the space itself.
