Martha tackled the upstairs bath today, removing all the wall tile. Before & after shots below (unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of her standing in ankle-deep debris):
Unfortunately the before shot doesn’t capture the tub area’s very low ceiling and arch (although you can see where it was above Martha’s head). Getting rid of it really opened up the room. We are going to turn the existing tub into a tub/shower combination. This bath currently has a bidet which we are going to remove, replacing it with a toilet. The existing “loos” is in its own closet off the hall. And we’ll put a a stacking washer/dryer into that closet. There was a existing vent hole which we planned to use for the dryer, but we found that it just emptied into the cavity above the tub. So now we’ll have to put in a duct in the wall or ceiling, exhausting into the hollow sidewall, which vents up to the roof.
We also had an electrician walk through the house, identifying new outlets, lights, switches, etc. This is in addition to fixing the underlying system problems identified by him during a pre-purchase inspection. He is also a plumber, so he will also give us costs for installing new toilets, etc. We’ll also have both a mason and a door/window expert come in the next few days, so some time next day we should have a pretty good idea of where we are financially. We’re holding our collective breath that we don’t get budget-busting numbers.