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March 29, 2009

New bathroom, warm floors, no more sponge baths

Posted by Nola Poirier

The first time my mother told me she was going to give me a sponge bath I’d excitedly thought she was going to dip me into a tub filled with colourful sponges. Instead she scrubbed me down with barely moistened paper towels and syrupy pink soap in a gas station bathroom.
 
Despite that initial disappointment, lately I am having frequent sponge baths in my kitchen sink. We removed our old bathtub and vanity two weeks ago, while we pulled up first the vinyl, then the fir from the bathroom floor.

We knew we were going to do a pretty big renovation on the bathroom because we wanted to use the wood flooring to repair the floors in the other rooms. But we hadn’t planned for quite how big the job was to become.

Ants in the wall, and other fun

Everyone always says that a renovation grows and grows, either because you decide to do more than you planned, or because you are forced to. But given our budget, limited time, and the fact that I’m trying to use as much salvaged and repurposed material as possible, I didn’t imagine our project would be able to grow. Until we moved the bath and heard a disconcerting sshheesshh-ing sound in the wall. Carpenter ants.

We were momentarily discouraged, but after having asbestos in our attic, rats in our kitchen, a flood in our basement, frozen pipes at Christmas, and Japanese Knotweed in the garden, we’re learning to act quickly, but take it all in stride.

What the ants taught usrotten, ant-infested wall

Carpenter ants like moist wood. For us they were a warning that the bathroom window was leaking into the walls. I’d wanted to remove the window eventually anyway, it was too big (and ugly) for the room.

In addition to Energy Star certification, features like low E coatings, and ensuring a good seal, the size and location of windows are key considerations for energy efficiency. Even the most efficient window will lose more heat than an insulated wall.

Our bathroom faces east, so our large translucent window didn’t provide a lot of natural heat in the winter. We replaced it with one I found secondhand that is 1/3 the size, and positioned it where it wouldn’t get sprayed with the shower.

We had to tear out a good part of one wall to remove the window, rotten wood, and the ant nest*. It’s an exterior wall and it’s right behind the bathtub. I read in a number of sources that Green Board, which is often used for interior walls in wet areas, is no longer being used in many European countries because of mold issues. Instead, I opted for cement board. It costs a little more, but it doesn’t rot, so I can feel confident it will last a long time and protect the structure of my wall behind it.

*Indoor carpenter ant nests are often satellites for a mother nest outside. If you find ants indoors, follow them out to the main nest. It can be up to 100m away, usually in old wood. As much as they can damage a house, carpenter ants are important decomposers in the forest. If you are able to take the satellite and mother nests over 100m into a forest that isn’t near another house or structure, they can serve the forest well and leave you alone. Ridding them from your home is essential, and can be tricky. Read up on proper removal, or hire a professional.

Old desk becomes a vanity

I built a new vanity out of an old desk I found upside down and neglected in one of our out buildings. I cleaned it, glued and nailed it back together, and took the top off to make drawers and cupboard doors. For a countertop, I got a factory remnant of Paperstone. Paperstone is made from recycled compressed paper, and is as hard as wood. I sanded it to reveal the colour imperfections underneath and now it looks almost like marble.

I’m making a toilet roll holder out of some copper and brass plumbing parts I found lying around. It isn’t finished yet, but the metals match the original tarnished brass taps on the antique claw foot tub I found on Craigslist.

I’m also covering the walls around the tub with wainscoting made from salvaged yellow cedar. Yellow cedar resists rot better than most woods, but I am painting it with VOC-free exterior paint to ensure it has protection if it ever gets wet.

Radiant floor heating

I haven’t figured out lighting for the bathroom yet. I keep hoping I’ll find some old wonderful fixture in the barn that I can rig up with CFLs, but so far, no luck. As for heating, we installed a programmable thermostat to run our radiant floor heating. Floor heating is efficient because it puts the heat where you want it, on the ground. The programmable thermostat makes it ever more efficient because you can set it to turn off during the day while you are out, and overnight, but have it come on again before you wake up on cold winter mornings.

Conserving water

And then, of course, there’s water. Conserving fresh water is essential, and conserving hot water means saving even more energy.

To try to reduce our water use, we are getting a dual-flush toilet that has a large flush of six litres and a small one of three. With each large flush, we will be using nine litres less water than our existing toilet.

Low-flush toilets have come a long way in recent years. If you want some help selecting one that will use little water, but still flush effectively, follow this link to compare them by brand and model. And, when we finally install our bath, we will be adding a low-flow showerhead with a shut-off valve. These showerheads still feel like a full shower, but can reduce water use by half.

But no amount of renovating can make up for bad habits. Some of the most important ways to save water and energy come from the little actions we all do each day. My husband has been working on turning lights out when he leaves a room (or he isn’t allowed to go rock climbing the next day).

It’s just as important to repair dripping and leaking faucets, insulate your hot water lines, turn your hot water heater down to 60 degrees, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, and take shorter showers or shallower baths. They are little changes that make a big difference.

We still have more to do to finish this job, but I am motivated to keep going by dreaming of one day, when this work is all done, having a shallow, candlelit bath filled with colourful sponges.

Nola Poirier is a freelance writer and a key contributor to bchydro.com's Green Guides.

Previous posts by Nola Poirier, who lives on the Sunshine Coast:

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Source: BC Hydro

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