The Bathroom

OK, time for the first big project on the Lutes. I had several hurtles: first, the bathroom is very small, roughly 36" x 36"; second, I want to install a flush toilet and every position gave me a problem; third, every style of flooring available is all new and boring; and fourth, there was damage to the wall (and pocket door behind it) to fit a previous trailer toilet.

The Floor and Toilet

Starting with the floor, I really liked the Armstrong vinyl tile used. Unfortunately, it was pretty badly scratched by the portable toilet that came with the trailer. This scratch was irreparable.

So, I scraped all the old tile off, which was extremely difficult until I wised up and began warming them up with my heat gun. I didn't have remove them, but I wanted to review what was underneath the boards anyway. Wanted to make sure I did not cut through any pipes.

I examined the running pipes underneath and saw that all was well. I then began exploring ways I could possibly install a flush-styled toilet. I could have easily installed an RV toilet, but I would have to explain how to use it to guests. Besides that, an RV toilet is really made to empty into a black tank and not use a sewage system. So, I shopped and shopped for a small-sized flush toilet. Guess what? They are all huge! I finally found a small one that might work. At least it had a narrow tank, and that was important. I was thankful to find a void of space behind the bathroom wall. I carefully removed the wood paneling to reveal what lay behind the sink and my possible toilet location.

Sink drain (left) travels down just next to the wheel well.

A perfect, square hole is right where the toilet can go. Unfortunately, the trailer wheel housing blocks the way for the toilet. The answer? Cut an opening, and remove one of the wheels. If it ever has to be moved again, I could just remove the toilet and remount the tire.

Floor Revisited

Back to the floor, I began shopping for replacement tile. Unfortunately, Armstrong stopped making much of their retro looking tile, and all modern tile looked hideous. The rare, vintage tile in the Lutes is a gray, streaked pattern. After much looking, I came across this Forbo Marmoleum plank at Home Depot.

It had the right colors we wanted, plus it had a streak-styled look. Unfortunately, the planks were in 12"x36" planks. However, I was clever enough to break out my table saw and cut them down into slightly smaller squares of 6"x6". Laying each tile down in an alternating pattern, the results are about as close to vintage as one can get. It also closely matches the pattern of the original tile of the trailer.

New bath tile (left), original trailer tile (right).

Toilet Placement

After brainstorming where to put the toilet flange, I proceeded to cut the hole for the sewer line. Tolerances were extremely tight, so I had to move the toilet forward an inch and a half to allow enough clearance to skirt a metal frame cross beam.

A bit cramped, but it still works. The tank of the toilet arrived broken, so after a bit of a wait, I was finally able to install it and figure out how to maintenance it when needed. The area was so tight, there was no place to even put the toilet roll dispenser. I solved this by reversing the sink door and putting it inside the door itself. It's economy of space at its best.

I rebuilt the wall and modified a slightly different shelf. At the top you will see a vintage, crystal knob. If you lift it, it flushes the toilet. Yes, my install was so tight, there was no room to get to the toilet handle.

A Victorian crystal knob is mounted atop a removable shelf for toilet maintenance. Lift it up to flush.

Up Against the Wall

To hide the damage to the wall, I ordered a couple sheet of faux copper ceiling tiles and adhered them as a sort of wainscoting.

Faux copper ceiling tiles act as a wainscoting to hide wall damage.

Julie selected the bathroom colors to be rust. The flooring worked perfectly with this and included a bit of green as would be verde copper. To accent this, Julie chose to decorate using Art Nouveau (one of my favorite styles, hated only by its difficulty to spell). With the color scheme chosen, Julie found this marvelous tile set for the wall.

Art Nouveau tiles grace the bathroom wall.

The Shower

There is a nice vent just above the shower which will be nice for several reasons. Unfortunately, the motor and fan blade assembly were not present. The only other motor and fan were in the kitchen. The motor was built by Studebaker. Doing quite a bit of research, I located an old Packard fan motor on eBay with the proper mounts. More research and I was able to find an aluminum fan blades unit. Though the fan position was backward, I was able to bend the blade the opposite direction (for exhaust).

Bathroom fan now exhausts air to the outside.

The shower did not need much work done to it, save reinforcing the tub so that it would not go "thunk" every time you stepped in it. However, there seemed to be no place to keep soap, rag, or various hair products. I purchased a nice shower caddy and mounted it to be as out-of-the-way as possible.

A sorely-needed shower caddy.

Coming Soon...

Still waiting to be done, getting hot water to the kitchen sink and shower as well as reinforcing that tub-thunk issue.