“Can This Bathroom Be Saved?”
MacGuyvered PVC fix ain’t cuttin’ it
Christi has a problem that I think is fairly common: In her original 1950s bathroom, the tile only goes 5/8 of the way up the wall around the bathtub surround. Back in the day, it seems, folks took lots of baths and few showers. In addition, the tiles look like mud-set tiles — the big thick ones. And, there’s a window — if you stand up, well, neighbors get quite the show. Readers, Christi is looking for help, ideas. What should she do? Can this bathroom be saved? Read on…
Christi writes:
Pam
“Sadly, I am considering a whole rip-out of my pink bathroom tile. It’s in beautiful condition; even the 4×4 pink floor tile has held up over these 60+ years.
The problem is the tub surround. It’s tiled only up to about 4′ high. Another problem is the block glass window, placed conveniently where I have to stand in order to take a shower. It’s all plastered in, and while we’ve MacGuyvered a sort-of circular quasi-shower curtain rod out of HIS favorite, PVC, I just want something permanent and comfortable.
Is this the only home with the pink bathroom intact with this problem left? Somebody suggested I simply add tile above the elbow-shaped top tiles, but frankly it looks just as dorky as the PVC.
Any tried and true methods for preservation balanced with a dash of reality for those of us who need that 5-minute shower?
I have attached pics of the bathroom. The block glass tile window sill is about waist-high — and right next to my neighbor’s garden! Thanks for your consideration in helping find a solution to my problem.
Have a great day!
Christi
Christy, thank you for sharing. The PVC shower curtain — it’s just wonderful, absolutely made my day! 
Give the man a big hug for me.
I think this has come up before in emails I’ve received, but I’ve never put the question on the blog, as I can recall.
If it were my house, I think that the first potential solution I would explore would be to consult with a tiling professional to see if the top row of maroon bullnose around the tub could be carefully removed… making way to seamlessly continue the pink tile upward. If the removed maroon bullnose tile (what you call elbow-shaped) could be kept intact during removal, you could use it to finish the front edge of the new pink; that is, make an L-connection with the bullnose running horizontally through the rest of the room. I hope you can follow this… Perhaps you could get a match for your existing pink tile from B&W… or you could try World of Tile. The whole project would likely be ridiculously expensive as it would be “fussy”. On the other hand, gutting and replacing the entire bathroom also will be expensive — and as you say, you sure have a beautiful pink bathroom. There just ain’t nothin’ like mud-set tile.
Important update May 10 — A lot of readers suggested using enamel paint on the walls in the tub/shower surround above the tile, saying this would be waterproof. Another reader in particular said, essentially: “BEWARE painting those walls — water and water vapor can still get in them and behind them and lead to rot and mold and otherwise, destruction.” This last comment rang true to me — as water is DESTRUCTIVE to a house. To further explore the issue, I asked the folks at Rust-Oleum, who specialize in surface solutions, whether they had a paint or other type product to use on tub/shower walls like this. Here is what they said:
“We really don’t have a product that they would be able to use – and quite frankly I don’t know of one. It’s going to be very difficult to give drywall the type of water resistance that would be needed for this kind of exposure.”
Bottom line: Beware this idea, readers. My advice: Consult with a properly licensed professional regarding the wisdom, or not, in this idea.
Regarding the window… I am not sure. I bet readers will have suggestions.
I would consider installing FRP board above the maroon bullnose. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/Search?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&keyword=frp%20board&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL
FRP is not the nicest looking stuff, but it wouldn’t be too bad. There is a choice of styles – I’d go as plain/smooth as possible. It’s a cheap easy DIY solution and does not requiring tearing up your nice old tile -which appears to be in excellent shape.
We have a glass block window iover our tub, but it’s on the second floor, so there is no privacy issue. Can you mount a semi-transparent panel over the window? Or can you put up a rod above the window and make a curtain out of a shower curtain – kind of what you’ve done already but w/o the pvc.
Sorry about the typos.
Could you paint the untiled part with some high gloss oil-based paint? Or even a marine-grade paint, like for boats? The water shoots down into the tile area, so the untiled part will mostly get overspray. I would really try painting with one of the above before doing demolition!
Our new bathroom has tile that only goes up to head height. The painted area above, to the ceiling, is fine!
As for the window, what about a roller shade? They are cheap enough that you could just replace when it gets mildew-y. And what about those decal thingy-s that distort the view through the glass? Those could work.
Good luck to you! I know that everyone on here will have more and probably better ideas. Someone will have just the perfect solution so you can save your lovely bathroom!!!!!!!
I used Marine paint on my window trim and wall that is exposed to a shower and it’s been 5 years and no deterioration at all.
As for the window…a while ago I rented a house with a window in the shower. I sewed a custom curtain for the window out of a shower curtain. When it’s dry you can pull it back.
However, I like the look of the window without a treatment. My dad has glass block in his shower and you cannot see the person in the shower from the outside, is your glass block clear or distorted? I can’t tell from the picture.
Rollerblind with get mildewed too quickly
don’t tear out this tile, you will regret it
Marine paint and oil-based paint will both work above the tile. Use some decorative film (www.decorativefilm.com) for the window…they have special products for this application.
I’m all over the marine paint! We were worried about damaging the wall, but not anymore. The plastic adhesive for the glass block window will be perfect. I’m going to order some!
Maybe a contrasting upper section would be easier than a matching one. With burgundy and pink, a midtone not quite minty green would work. Or a lighter or darker pink. It gives a visual reason for the border. Find a canvas or duck cloth print with those colors in it and you have a curtain for your window. It will have to be washed frequently, but there are quite a few outdoor fabrics that would work for the situation. Revisions can be blended in, like Pam’s suggestion, and that’s usually best, but when that isn’t feasible, you might run with being obvious. It’s part of the history of the space.
My mother did a similar thing. Her bathroom was Teal with black bullnose. She filled out the top of her bathtub with white tile and black bullnose mimicking the same pattern.
In my father’s house the solution for the window at view heighth, was to put up a stain glass window (shrink wrapped to protect it) in the window alcove.
What about using an acrylic “glass block” window?
http://www.hy-lite.com/Hy-lite-US-Block-Windows-Welcome.cfm
I don’t see the shower in the tub. Would the existing tile have to be torn up to add the shower head? What about using Pam’s source for vintage tile? Maybe you could mix in just some of the pink tile with rows of white tile above the pink. I would take off the bullnose black tile row before I continued with the new tile. Maybe a black pencil piece of tile would work there. I really like the curved shower rods to give more space in the shower.
I would vote for replacing the window glass with glass blocks and using the marine paint for the area that is presently without tile. Your tiles look beautiful as they are.
PS our 1955 shower has pink tile only up to the showerhead, but with the heavy-duty paint above this has not been a problem…our tile man said: “Well, they made people shorter back then” LOL!
You might want to check out what I’m planning on using in my never ending bathroom project: Swanstone Solid Surface Panels.
They make sinks, countertops and bath surround kits as well as individual panels that can be cut pretty easily. The material is only about 1/4″ thick, so if you put it above the bullnose tile, I don’t think it would stick out too far. I think “Tahiti Rose” might be pink enough for your application, if you call Swanstone, they’ll send you a sample. “Tahiti Evergreen” was a pretty close match to the mint green tile in my 1956 green and black-tiled bathroom.
http://www.swanstone.com/index.php?prod=387
They also have offer some decorative wall panels with some interesting patterns:
http://www.swanstone.com/index.php?prod=197
Both Home Depot and Lowes sell Swanstone, but if you want the individual panels it’s a special order. If I remember correctly they only have the surround kits listed on their website and in their pricing books at the store.
ooooh, I like this idea. Do you thing the walls above the existing tile could be “carved out” to take these so that they tuck behind the tile???? Or if not, the edges could be trimmed neatly to meet up with the bullnose?
I like this idea, too – I bet that bottom edge of the Swanstone itself (the back/bottom edge against the wall) could be sliced off/coved so it will seat right down on top of the bullnose with no gap. I like the idea of a solid surface being mounted above the tile.
I think the tile looks great – I’d try to work w/it in place vs. trying to match it and/or rip out the bullnose. As for the glass block? Ugh – I have the same issue. I just give my neighbors a show in the morning. It’s not that bad (well, no one has complained yet!).
I’m a fan of this idea too, less mess and easy to clean. I’d like my shower to have this!
Clad above the tiling in a pink formica to act as a splash back or better still use an original matching wallpaper and clad with clear perspex.
For the window, frost with self adhesive etched glass.
You can also scan the wallpaper print and have it printed on to a sheet of clear perspex that you hand at the window by two hooks.
http://twitpic.com/9irant
Will Formica/laminate really be waterproof enough? I love the idea of printing onto perspex. What is perspex?
Perspex is an acrylic or lucite sheet. Possible a UK brand name? It comes in all sorts of thicknesses and is relatively inexpensive & easy to cut. Panels could be cut to size and mounted by drilling holes and using chrome mirror fixings to match the towel rails etc.
Formica is incredibly durable and if it can cope with being a kitchen counter surface, it would easily be ok as a splash-back.
PS. Any printer company that does car graphics can print vinyl and mount it on to an acrylic sheet. They would scan the wallpaper print and it would match exactly.
This is a Mondrian image I had printed & mounted on to glass to make a feature of the sliding door:
http://twitpic.com/9df9ae
Very cool!
Oh – my – God, Steven, that is gorgeous! I am so going to have to find somewhere in my house to do that.
I’m replacing the “Victorian” light in my front door this year, I wonder if that could be done to a sealed unit before it was installed? My house is a study in grey….grey stone and, shudder, grey brick so this could really step it up from the Eastern Block look.
It has to be said again, gorgeous!
O. M. G.!!! that is fantastic. Also could do a frosted effect with a Mondrian design or other 50′s illustrations for a more subtle look….
I can now kicked myself for being sooo short-sided and not buying a very similar credenza with only one sliding door that was slightly bashed. $50.
ARrrrrgh. And there was one on the curb a while back. broken leg and no doors [too many wild baby boomers knocking into them?]
Ok, lesson learned.
Using something like this in a kitchen as a backsplash would be really cool as well. boomerang motif? Thanks again for sharing!
Well, Steven, aren’t you just the media darling. Exciting ideas and taste will rise to the top, won’t they? In GB there’s a lot more up-scaling of mid-century furniture than in North America.
BBC Canada hasn’t picked up Auction Hunters….yet…I hope….but to be honest I’d watch Lawrence read the phone book so he would absolutely be the cherry on top.
Ha! My TV days were short lived! Maybe I should move to Canada and resurrect them?
If you are thinking of ever using the printed glass/acrylic idea, I should just mention that the printer reverses the image and mounts it on the inside of the glass, so the outside remains durable and protects the image.
The possibilities are endless and all you need is a good quality image that can be enlarged.
They look great when light filters through them.
This was a fully glazed cabinet that had a light inside of it.
The picture doesn’t illustrate it, but it looked twice as beautiful when it was lit from behind.
http://twitpic.com/9j12en
Oh, be still my heart…Lady from Orient! How very beautiful!
I picked up a huge Erica, Tretchikoff cruised through here in the ’60′s signing his little heart out, at a thrift shop but have taken down most of my walls so now she languishes since the Penny Whistlers usurped her spot. I could, blatantly and without shame (maybe a little), put her on the now to be replaced doors of the sideboard I just bought.
Thank you so much, Steven, I’ll be blaming…I mean crediting….you if I replace all my upper kitchen cupboard doors to make a gallery.
I love that. Think of the possibilities all over the house!
I am worrying that anything that is mounted that could get water/vapor behind it will lead to mold…
Edges are sealed with a clear silicone.
I had the same tile issue in my pink 50s bathroom. We had Formica installed on the walls about 12 years ago and have had no problems at all. We matched the paint on the walls so, visually, there is no change. The edge that meets the tile and the corners are sealed with silicon caulk, and have never needed to be redone.
We use a hand held shower head that connects at the spigot, and mounted the bracket at shower height. It’s all worked great.
Previous owners had redone our grey ’50′s bathroom to do this very thing. They had removed the grey bullnose around the top, and put in white and black above. Turned out pretty nice. The window, which was off to the side a bit because we have a corner tub, they had closed off with Glass block. They added glass block on the toilet side of the corner tub to create a block for water. The shower head is one of those hand helds with a hose running from the side of the tub faucet so they didn’t have to deal with the old plumbing. And they added a bath fan that vented out the soffit because now there was no option to open the window. We think it works just great and looks pretty nice. We just had to add a Neo Angle shower curtain rod and an extra long curtain.
Or they do also have window film that looks like crackled glass. That could look ’50′s. But the sill getting standing water on it will be an ongoing battle.
I think the people in the 50′s had way too much time on their hands to draw a bath every time they cleaned themselves! Ha.
I can send you a picture. Just let me know!
I’d love a picture. Would you be able to post a link perhaps? I really like the idea of adding more glass block at the edges of the tub, too!
We had this same problem (just with blue/black plastic tile) and our window was at the foot of the tub. We ended up tearing it all out, putting in real/new tile, putting the shower in… and the window is still an issue. We’re not using it now until we get the “L” shape curtain rod in there bc the window trim was getting water damaged…
I can’t speak for the tile, but If you still want light and ventilation, perhaps just a simple tension rod and curtain. That’s what we had in my house growing up, and it worked fine.
you guys are making this too hard! we have a 1948 Cape Cod w/ 2 bathrooms…very unusual for this modest little house….I wanted to keep the window….and that look…like one person said, GET AN EXTRA SHOWER CURTAIN ROD TENSION ROD, AN EXTRA PLASTIC SHOWER CURTAIN LINER….
PLACE ONE TENSION ROD W/ LINER JUST IN FRONT OF THE WINDOW FOR shower time, just pull it over to the side to let the gorgeous light come in AFTER SHOWER…did this in both bathrooms….so easy….does not change the look of the bathroom
now I need help…even tho we take very short showers and leave the door open, too much steam is created and the paint is falling off the wall….no place to put a vent, because of upstairs above…any ideas on this???? maybe better paint???? JUdy
I think that you’re problem indicates why the entire surround needs to be tiled.
Also: Add exhaust fan.
I grew up in a late 1950′s ranch in St. Louis. Our only bathroom had tile part-way up and a window (not glass block) over the tub. My mother just wouldn’t allow us to take a shower, ever! My father finally installed a bathroom with shower in the basement so he could take showers.
Mine is like this…in fact I’ve lived several places with exactly this same deal….the paint has never ever been a problem….
I wouldnt dream of touching that beautiful tile you have!
I had my bathroom repainted last summer and the painter used a type made specifically for bathrooms…..
as for the window…I once had an apartment with a window like that and I put up a pvc mini blind and just opened it to dry out after the shower …not exactly period correct to the house but not really seen unless you’re in the shower
Simple fixes: Waterproof paint for the walls, and etching on the window. I’ve lived in plenty of ancient houses to know it works and it lasts.
Paint will really work longterm? I’ve put in an email to Rust-Oleum to get their team’s advice…
You are super!!!!
Kirsten, I will find out how to go about getting etching to the glass block done. Thanks!
Yep. A quick consult with a painter helps. Depending on the paint that exists, a combination of efforts works. You can use a marine paint or regular paint and overlay with a good sealer or acrylic waterproof sealer or poly. The best part is that you can pick your colors just as you would any indoor paint. The more more water-resistant the better of course. But the options are there. I’ve even had showers where the water hit the wall directly and it worked out just fine.
Also, never underestimate the need for primer.
Can you apply some of that glass frosting liquid to the glass blocks to make them more opaque? I believe Hobby Lobby carries it. Otherwise, the cling vinyl works really well. I have it in one of my bathrooms.
I like tear-downs idea if you want to do something that will prevent you from pulling down any existing tile. My suggestion will be if you want to make everything look as seamless and original as possible but it will be a bit of a chore. But like Pam said, so is ripping out all of the lath-set tile (that’s terrible!!!) Also like Pam suggested, you’ll need to somehow remove that maroon bullnose tile at the top of the tiled wall around the tub. You can save those and reuse them. Then, because your tile is set in the cement lath, you’ll need to put up another thin layer of either green rock or cement board above where your tile is now so that the depth will match the lath. I would suggest taking it all the way to the ceiling that way you’d only have to trim the sides and you’d have enough of the original bullnose for your project. If you had to trim out a top row too, you’d run out. A lot of people have had luck matching their pink tile through World of Tile, so there’s a good chance for you too. As for as your window, don’t the make an opaque (even some with designs) film that you can put up on your window? Somebody might know what I’m talking about.
If I lived there, I would paint the walls above the tile with a good exterior house paint. After all, houses get rained on all the time! Have a nice bead of caulk over the edge tile so no water gets behind it. And I’d hang a curtain (with brackets on the wall, not inset in the window) made out of a shower curtain fabric. You could buy two shower curtains and cut up the extra one for the window. I trimmed my window in my shower with a pvc product from lowes 1×4, and 1×6 white. Caulked all seams, made sure the sill had a pitch for water shed. Never needs painted and won’t rot.
We had he same situation but ours was basic powder blue tile, not the amazing pink! We had a regular window, so we covered the bottom half and tiled it and inserted glass block for the upper half. My husband did not embrace mid century design (plus the resources were not available locally) and won the “tile choice” battle. We selected an updated stone look tile but in the small squares. I still wish I had held out to keep the bathroom more original to our home, but we were having company and it is functional.
The paint idea that several people have mentioned is a good one. A glossy oil based exterior paint should be fine. A bead of silicone caulk on the edge of the bull nose, where it meets the wall would protect it. You could also use a hand-held shower head so less water got onto the walls above the tile.
We have the same bathroom set-up in our 1940 house. We used a mold and mildew resistant paint in the whole bathroom. As for the window, we put up a plastic roller shade almost seven years ago. The roller shade style matches with the rest of the house, and you cannot tell that it is plastic (instead of starched cloth) unless you are in the shower. We have not mold or mildew in that bathroom because we actually open the window:)
What about rose tinted mirror panels above the tiling? They’re in keeping with the period. They would make the bathroom appear lighter & more spacious. They can be mounted with adhesive and are completely water resistant.
http://www.mirrorimagehospitality.com/hospitality/colored_mirror.html
that sounds interesting….
For the walls, I like the ideas that people have of using a paint that holds up well against water. As for the window, can you do some sort of window coverage on the outside of the house? Perhaps erect a trellis set a couple of feet away from the house that rises up high enough to hide the window from the neighbor’s view? Then plant a climbing rose or vine of some sort to climb up the trellis. Or, put up one of those really cool hurricane shutters you see on houses in Key West. An exterior solution would mean you don’t have to deal with some kind of interior window covering getting wet and moldy.
Adding something to the outside of the window is an interesting idea. It would allow you to look out while taking a shower (even with the window open) without anyone being able to see in.
Another idea that didn’t even occur to me!
In some cases making things look seamless is more trouble than it’s worth and this is one of those times. The tile/concrete/concrete plaster/metal lath combo, from my experience, pretty much acts like solid concrete. We found this out installing a light switch in my light-switchless bathroom.
I like the solid-surface idea. I’ve seen Corian as a tub surround and it’s very clean-looking. I’d also consider tiling above the bullnose. Maybe a decorative row of tiles just above the bullnose (mosaic tiles?) to soften the transition. Rather than having an awkward right-angle new vertical bullnose to old horizontal bullnose intersection at the point about where your towel bars meet, I’d use an aluminum tile edge for the new tile.
Yes, I think you are likely correct: That mud-set tile is crazy difficult to remove….
This would be the easiest and cheapest idea. Use a shower rod that would let you cover all the walls when showering.
http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/product_detail.asp?item_no=RMD4854-CP
Like others said, use good paint for the walls. You could use nylon shower curtains that would dry quickly.
Genius! I love it! Add a clear curtain in back to solve the window issue.
We had a similar situation and installed a shower curtain ring…I’ll try to send a picture later. but it’s worked fine and allows the bathers to enjoy an occasional bath, but mostly we use the shower.
Suggestions also are coming in on the Facebook fan page: Marine Paint, Contact Paper, some kind of special rubberized paint from Duron…
I don’t have a suggestion for tiling issue, but I do have some experience with windows in bathtubs. Bad idea. Our last 1971 house had a window in tub enclosure. Unfortunately, water will find a way to get into the wall around a window if things aren’t sealed very, very well. We had to replace the wall all the way out to the siding. Yuck.
We went with a corian type stuff around the tub, it could be cut to fit and sealed around the window – a plastic framed, double paned window (yes, not period correct, but better sealing against water). We lived there a good ten years with no problem. We also made the window much smaller, about 5 feet off the ground rather than keep it the original size. That meant less water has the potential to rot the wall.
If I were to do it again, I’d use glass block and put in a fan if the room didn’t already have one.
Good luck.
I like tear-down townie’s suggestion the best. That Swanstone Product looks like a great soltuion to this “challenge”.
Christi’s 1950′s bath probably replaced an old-fashioned claw foot bathtub, which explains why the window is positioned right above the tub. I’ve often seen this sort of mid-century update in older homes, although it doesn’t explain why the former owners didn’t tile the shower walls to a higher level.
In what kind of shape is the plumbing for this bathroom?
If it’s not been updated in all these years that might be worth investigating. If it needs to be replaced, you’ll want to do that before doing any renovations anyway.
If you keep the existing window, you could cut and hem a matching nylon cloth shower curtain to fit. It’s easy enough to remove it regularly and throw it in the wash to keep it fresh looking. Heavy-duty waterproof paint should also do the trick for the upper walls.
Anita – plenty of 1950s bathrooms were tiled this way. They didn’t take showers, they took baths…
Newer tiles may be thinner than the bullnose –so it might butt up to it closerthan you think. Besides, you will be using grout.
Borrow some samples of various colors from the local tile store or big box store and see how it looks when you hold it next to what’s there.
We have a similar problem in our bathroom. It’s only tiled halfway up the walls. Our pink tile is plastic and due to the moisture from the shower/bathub, it’s literally falling off the walls. There is mold growing behind it. Our only solution is to rip it out when we can afford to do it. And the paint that is above the tiled walls gets mold spots, so I’m not sure how well paint would work as a longterm solution.
Taylor, are you starting to feel better about your bathroom situation after reading all of these fabulous ideas? I sure am! Mold is my enemy and I want to avoid it at all costs!
p.s. I once lived in an apt with plastic tiles above the kitchen sink and counters. Someone had used an oil based paint on them at one point, which had peeled off a little bit when I moved in. I spent a whole summer carefully pulling paint off to reveal the cutest yellow color ever!
We’ve had our bathroom looked at, and the mold and water damage has penetrated the drywall. We have 2 toddlers and a new baby on the way, and it’s our only bathroom with a bathtub. So it will be a huge project. Pink tile just isn’t worth the mold. And besides, the tile is plastic, so it doesn’t even look all that great anyway. We’ll use this as an opportunity to update the bathroom and tile it properly. If only it didn’t cost so much money!
I gutted three bathrooms with plastic tile. Including a pink one. We now have fully tiled bathrooms on proper backing with proper vapor barriers or whatever they are called. We used a Pro.
I would proceed with caution on this one. In my experience, tile like this was not designed to get wet every day. After so many years the wall behind the tile will get mushy and it will be a huge mess and you’ll need to replace everything. Areas that get wet everyday need a greenboard backing behind the tile. Painting the wall is risky, too, as drywall and plaster aren’t indoor/outdoor materials, and they can’t handle moisture, no matter how you paint them.
Sorry to be such a downer, but I’ve had too much experience with moldy, mushy shower surrounds. The best solution I’ve seen for preserving these bathrooms is to add a shower somewhere else in the house.
Yes: I like this idea: Add a shower somewhere else in the house!
Can you plant something outside the window? It looks like you get a lovely bit of light coming in.
Bathroom windows in our neighborhood are similarly sized and often screened with a camellia, japanese maple, nandina, or bamboo.
I have to agree with Ann V. I’m dealing with the same issue in renovating my grandmothers house, and we made the decision to completely remove the blue tiles that went halfway up around the tub. When the house was built, they did not use water-resistant “green board” behind the tiles, so if you start spraying the existing tiled walls with water you WILL have a mold/moisture problem. A little splashing from a bathtub is one thing, direct spray from a showerhead is another. If you want a shower, you need to remove the tile, replace the drywall with greenboard, and start over.
Oh, and in response to the mud-set tile comment above, it’s not always installed this way. The tile I just removed was set on top of a second layer of 1/2″ drywall with the bullnose covering the top edge. Very easy to remove, as you tear away the entire layer of drywall along with the tile.
Yes, hear hear! I found this out with my pink and black master bath with the stall shower. It was falling apart. I suspect that’s why a previous owner came up with the brilliant idea to layer another layer of blue tile over the existing in the hall bath tub. Not a good idea!
Painting the exposed plaster area above the 1/2 wall of tile will not prevent shower water from damaging the existing tile job. Once water gets behind it, the wall will become degraded and the tile will fail.
Jay, I am going to second your concern: Christi, while several others are recommending paint — I would be very concerned about any build-up of moisture that still would get behind the walls. Water in the the wrong places in a house is always… expensive not to mention a potential health concern should mold take hold. It’s cool getting all these ideas but I think I’m gonna have to say: Consult with a properly licensed professional to get an opinion informed by the latest and greatest engineering has to offer. If it were me, I’d likely go talk to my town building inspectors, to start — they seem to have seen everything including everything that can go wrong.
Point well taken. We could absolutely have someone look at it and advise about the potential issues associated with paint. Frankly, our concern over moisture is why we have resisted doing anything at all.
If a simple coat of paint could waterproof the wall and block window area, it would be an easy fix. If there is no paint out there guaranteed to protect the existing wall, we will need to turn our consideration to the formica/corian/perspex/swanstone/fiberglass ideas, or the various tiling design ideas as well.
A professional tile setter said he sets newer tile right on top of the old. Can’t blame the previous homeowner for this. I suspect bad workmanship causes more problems than this method itself.
WTF?
Interjecting one small comment: “Greenboard” is not recommended in bathrooms anymore. It is water resistant, but that is not enough – it WILL fail eventually. For anyone retiling, use Durock on the floors and walls.
I don’t have the time to read all of the previous comments, so forgive me if I’m just repeating what others have said.
I have EXACTLY the same tub/shower in my bath, and here is what was done in ours:
1. As Pam suggested, remove the bullnose inside the shower. If it can be saved, run it vertically from the edge of the remaining bullnose at the edge of the tub enclosure to the ceiling, and tile everything inside the tub enclosure in. Include the inside of the window casing. We used bullnose to outline the window (on the shower wall, not inside the casing) as well.
2. I installed a cafe style tension rod in front of the glass block window. I cut a clear shower curtain to fit, and it gives us enough privacy, without blocking all of the wonderful light from the window. Install it low enough not to show from outside your shower when the other shower curtain is closed.
If you’re able to match the tile closely enough, it will look like it has always been that way.
Just read what JamieAbe said, and it reminded me that yes, we did replace the wall board.
This shot looks exactly like the bathroom in the house I grew up in, constructed in 1952. I can tell you what the original construction was in that case – and how it relates to some of the comments here:
- The house was, still at that time, lath and plaster, not drywall. It is the paper surface layer on drywall that does so poorly when exposed to moisture. I agree with those who have called for a coat of good paint (oil-based enamel would be best – it’s what they paint boats with).
- The window in our house, which was placed and sized the same, had frosted glass in it (held in the steel frame with glazing putty). Your local glass contractor could do this at fairly reasonable cost.
- Our tub was fitted with a shower, which was used fairly often. I don’t remember the height being a problem (but then, I was a kid too). 5/8 of the way up the wall is 5′ after all. With a good coat of paint, and the top of the tile well caulked, I wouldn’t worry about it if it’s just getting overspray.
MTCW
Hi Christi,
I haven’t read all of the comments so I am not sure if this has been addressed, but depending on if the tile was glued directly to the wall or not, you might have to rip out the tile (just in the shower area). We had this very same issue, (without the window), and we had plans to just remove the bullnose and add a few more feet of tile. After consulting with some folks at a contractor resource store, they brought up a good point: there may not be waterproof board underneath the existing tile, which I was told would compromise the vintage tile and would make them fall off after being subjected to constant exposure to water. Before I renovated, my tiles were glued directly to the wall. I am assuming that greater waterproofing care was not taken, because bathing doesn’t expose the wall tile to a constant stream of water like a shower would. So I had the choice of 1) glue new tiles to the wall to allow for an even surface and run risk of having tiles fall off, 2) add waterproof board to new tile area and have an uneven surface, or 3) replace the shower area tiles. I chose option three. I was able to find a new tile that matched my vintage baby blue tile almost perfectly (I have a pink and blue bathroom), and the job looks awesome.
For the window – I would get a new window with frosted glass/add a decal. I’ve lived in a few apartments with windows in the bath area and in one apartment, they put up a second shower curtain on the inside wall, and in the other apartment, the window had been replaced with vinyl and the sill and trim were a plastic-ish material also. Maybe not the favorite choice but one that might make the most sense for a shower window. Good luck!!
Dana
Dana, were you able to find matching tiles at the local big box hardware store or did you have to special order your tiles? If we have to tile, I’d use of the above ideas and run the bull nose up, around, and back down. I have had a Dickens of a time trying to find tile that matches the pink. And the burgundy bull nose has been outright impossible in my searches.
Hi Christi,
We visited a local contract furnishings store called Contract Furnishings Mart. I am not sure where you are located so I will post their link: (http://www.cfmfloors.com/default.aspx). But where ever you do live, I am sure there is a contractor’s store where you can visit and check out the options. The only problem that you might run into is when you make the purchase, you’ll need to list a contractor as a source. My dad is a contractor so we just used his name. It helps to know someone. If visiting a contractor’s store isn’t possible, pay a visit to some tile showrooms in your area.
I will check out the tile manufacturer and get back to you so you can look them up directly.
Good luck!
Get a chrome circular shower rod that is freestanding, designed for claw foot tubs or make something similar to what you have with metal pipe.
I had the same thought, Megan, creative nylon shower curtains.
On the other hand, how about a simple or complicated mosaic repeating some of the same colours as well as introducing new ones?
I gutted my bathroom because the concrete set tiles on the floor were cracking as the concrete broke down, the beige tub et al were just awful and the 80′s vanity couldn’t be improved enough to be equally awful. It’s such a big job and very expensive. Though I’m glad I did it if I’d had a bathroom as gorgeous as this I’d have done anything to keep it.
I would stay away from oil paint for there. Benjamin moore carries a kitchen and bath paint that will hold up. It has an anti moldice in it and wears well with poorly vented bathrooms. If you need that added trust factor there are also two specialized. Paints you could consider. One is a high humidty paint designed for walls in swiMming pool areas and another that is used for high wear commercial applications is a latex epoxy. Benjamin moore carries both and you may want to check sheen availabilities for either product.
As for the window. There are several choices of film to do windows in that would give privacy. I’m not sure what is available for a retro feel hover most box stores carry various choices as well as glass shops might have access to greater selection
While they’re a challenge, I love having a window in a shower/tub. For years we lived with a curtain fashioned from a shower curtain, but I hated it, so we eventually (somewhat reluctantly) replaced the window with a double hung vinyl frosted window, so we can have the window open from the top and still have privacy. Honestly, I was a little sick about taking out the original wood window, but it was in really bad shape and now that we have the new one, I’m pretty happy. We had a slightly sloped sill installed to prevent the water from pooling and then used an oil based on the existing and new trim, so the water from the shower beads off. We do, however, wipe down the trim after the shower as an added precaution, which takes less than 30 seconds and is worth it to me NOT to have to cover the window up.
As for the walls, why not start with the least invasive and cheapest solution, which is a good oil based or exterior paint, making sure the tile is well caulked. That may be all you need to do to save your lovely pink bathroom.
Is it bad that I have never lived in a house with tile above that level in the shower and I have never thought it was a big deal?
As has been said again and again above… if it is a plaster wall then all it needs is a good coat of serious paint. When I say serious paint I mean an oil based gloss/enamel. After the paint is totally dry recaulk around the top of the tile and you should be set for at least a decade (that’s how long mine lasted until I moved).
When I had a window like that I just hung a light cotton curtain on a tension rod. When it cot wet it was no big deal because it just hung dry.
Seriously, this is not a big deal. Not a big deal at all.
Is there available space in the room opposite where the toilet sits? Bang down a door (lead check first) and make a built-in shower there…
I gave up my linen closet to do that, Pam, and turned things around, when I rebuilt the room without the wall between the tub and the toilet. It’s not like the new ones where you can entertain up to 6 guests with seating but larger than showers were back in the day.
As a housing inspector I see this way too often. The windows that were put in have problems with rot/decay on the sill from getting wet when showering. I suggest removing the window and placing the retro glass blocks and make sure they are flush with the wall. That way the water can run straight down the wall instead of gathering in the sill.
I have a similar situation in a house I have lived in for 23 years. The whole bathroom is tiled 4 feet up and a little taller just under the shower head. I use high gloss bathroom paint on the walls which has worked well for the last 10 years. before that I had formica panels but they were kind of ugly. I hung a stained glass window panel over the tub window which is double hung with pebble glass on the bottom and clear glass on the top. That way I can open the window and still block the view. The light shining thru the stained glass is nice.
I’ve lived in four houses (built in 1960, 1962, 1900, and 1954) where the bath-area tile was at this height. In one of those houses there was paint above the tile; in two there was wallpaper; in the current one there was wallpaper which I just replaced with paint. There has never been a mold problem.
I just renovated my current house’s bathroom, prying off the old tile (plastic! and the bullnose plastic tile had been painted!). There wasn’t any mold underneath the old tile. I’m sure the makers of ceramic tile would be amused to hear that it was never intended to get wet every day. If people have had mold, the problem is the caulking and grouting, not the tile or the paint! And yes, if you neglect your grout for decades at a stretch, water will get behind the tile and foster mold; then the mold will spread to your paint. But it’s not the paint’s fault!
The height of the tile isn’t some signal that people never took showers in the 50s; it’s more likely to be a side effect of the prevalence of oil-based paint back then. Even interior-grade oil-based paint is tough. I’m having a hard time understanding the expectation that a painted wall, above the direct line of shower spray, is guaranteed to mold. The age-old answer of paint is perfectly fine in this instance — our ancestors got survived without putting up laminates or contact paper on the bathroom walls. Paint designed for bathrooms/kitchens (even latex paint) will tell you it’s not designed to have water puddling on it, but condensation is not going to make it peel off in sheets. If you have an exhaust fan, use it, but don’t make this renovation an ordeal when you could finish it for less than $30.
In my house, the height of the tile *was* indicative of the fact that no showers were taken. That, and the absence of a shower head….
I’m not going to go through and read everything but here’s my 2 cents. We have this exact same bathroom. We re-grouted the tiles, and used oil-based paint (which I understand is less common in the US than up here in Canada, where people still regularly use it in kitchens and baths). After 20 years and 3 showers a day. no deterioration at all. The trick is to wipe down and dry off the wall and the tiles after your shower. I keep an old towel in the bath strictly for this purpose. It takes one minute, and the result is no mould, and no buckling of tiles.
I have to agree with the other posts that have said the tub area was just not meant for shower taking. We had the same situation when I was kid. We sure didn’t have the $$ or the inclination for a bathroom re-do. Dad painted the top using the best paint he could find. Mom put the frosty paper on the window, (which we tried to keep open as much as we could) at one point she fashioned a drape cutting up a vinyl shower curtain. NOTHING WORKED FOR VERY LONG. Dad would scrape and repaint, re-caulk the window and the top edge of the tile, mom would replace the now moldy contact paper. The window rotted, water slowly permeated the tile from the top and through the grout lines, everything started to mold and smell. It was a hot mess. We wound up having to tear out the ENTIRE bathroom, not just the tub area because over time the water damage had wicked all the way into the room. Now there was so much damage, it cost MORE to renovate the bathroom that if we had just torn out the tub area in the first place. My advice is to make the tub area the way you want and need it to be now and don’t try to jury rig it.
Christi,
I had a similar “problem” in attempting to convert my 1950 pink tile tub and bath into a shower. After countless attempts to find matching 4×4 pink tile, I came upon a simple solution (with the help of my awesome tile guy). He suggested that we simply install one inch glass tile right on top of the bullnose (it comes in 12 inch sheets). I chose an almost iridescent tile that had a pink and gray sheen. (My bullnose tile is gray.) It goes straight up to the ceiling and looks absolutely awesome. No demolition needed. The glass tile gives a more modern spa feel but retains the retro”ness” of the pink. Coupled with your glass block window, I think it would work great.
My beloved tile guy also installed a curved shower rod to give me more space. As for the shower conversion, he hid the pipes in a glass block wall. However, I also looked at using an exposed pipe faucet (like those used for antique clawfoot tub showers). It was another option. Good luck and know that there’s “always a way.”
PHOTO PLEASE!!! Sounds beautiful!
I agree. I’d love to see a photo if you have one!
This is another good solution. At all costs do not mess with that old tile. It’s been there 60 years and will be there another 60+ if you’ll leave it alone. Paint above, tile above, use the various tub surround products, etc. but do not mess with that tile. Do not remove the bull nose – you may damage the top row of pink tiles, then you’ll have problems removing those and finding matching tile.
I would love to see a pic of that. Those iridescent 1 inch glass tiles are so pretty. I have them in my shower, floor to ceiling. They would look awesome with the pink and burgundy.
I would get a ceiling-mounted oval shower curtain rod made for clawfoot tubs, like this: http://www.clawfoottubs.com/clawfoot-tub-fixtures/clawfoot-tub-shower-enclosures/sunriseoval58inchshowercurtainring.cfm. When I had one I put an opaque vinyl shower curtain on the window side that gave privacy and let in light. Then on the outside I put whatever cute shower curtain I wanted. I pulled the curtains out of the way the rest of the time so we could enjoy window. This would be cheap and easy (and way more attractive than the jury rigged PVC) and you could always redo the bathroom later.
What I did was to install a spring loaded rod on the window side of the tub and hung a full-sized white polyester shower curtain liner over the window. Total cost around $20 for the rod and curtain, and not a single 1944 tile (mine happen to be yellow) was molested.
But I think they need coverage on three sides since one concern is the tile not coming high enough up the wall.
I have a similar problem, minus the widow issue. I would use glass block/brick for privacy on the window. Then I would find a complimentary color tile for the top. I have white with blue veined tile about 2 feet up the wall with white bullnose. I have thought about using white 4×4 the rest of the way up. You might consider finding a 4×4 that matches the bullnose color or a regular tile as wide as the bullnose. Remove the bullnose in the shower area and where it was place a border of the same color. Then, use a coordinating tile above and finish with the same bullnose. Pam has featured B&W tile (I think that’s the name). They have great vintage colored tiles. Good luck!!
Thanks Pam and EVERYBODY for such excellent ideas! Now, the pink tile will definitely be left intact. We will have to carefully consider these ideas, but I’ll definitely email a set of “after” pics when the job is complete.
The shower head was not in any of these pics. My mistake! It’s another PVC-wonder frame with my hand held dog washing rinse attachment, the bottom of which slips over the tub faucet. Fancy, I know. We will definitely have to knock a hole in the wall in order to install a shower head, but that’s okay, as long as the wall is made to be waterproof.
Next, there were suggestions about simply getting a “D” curtain rod. That is still on the table, but since we will have to do work on the wall in order to install a permanent shower head, it made sense to tackle the entire issue of walls that are not waterproof. I do like those styles though. They do look wonderful with a claw foot tub.
Thanks again for the suggestions. We will investigate each one and you have our very sincere thanks, each and every wonderful member of this great community!
Ok. We have 2 bathrooms that had similar problems. One of them had the blue with bullnose tile 1/2 way up. The previous owners just took white square tile up farther. It is not perfect but it is pretty good. The other bathroom has pink 1/2 way with black accents. We purchased black & white hexagon tile from Home Depot, which is 1/2 the thickness of the original tile (like yours I’m certain). It looks awesome above the original tile because it is so much thinner, it doesn’t look funny at all.
As for the window. My sister just fixed that problem with the spray can of window frosting. While it allows light in, you absolutely cannot see through it. I was surprised how much I liked how it turned out! (I’m sure someone else has already mentioned that idea!)
Some things to think about, and perhaps be grateful for– As late as 1950, about 1/3 of all homes did not have full indoor plumbing, as in both running water and an indoor toilet. In rural areas, it was closer to 50 percent that did not have indoor plumbing. Take for example, a home owner who was 25 years old old in 1955. Born in 1930, they more than likely spent most of their childhood either without an indoor toilet, if they lived in a rural or small town community, or sharing one with at least one other family if they lived in the city. A typical family consisted of five or more siblings, one or both parents, and usually at least one grandparent and often some extented family members such as cousins, aunts or uncles. During most of their childhood, only one family in four owned their own home, while the rest were renters. So for the that 25 year in 1955, just owning thier own home was a big deal, often a first in the family. In the 1950s, most homes did not have dishwashers or clothes dryers. If you were lucky enough to have a washing machine, it still involved manually filling the tub and was almost as much work as a tub and washboard. Everything had to be ironed, nothing was permanent press. Every member of the family wore some type of button down shirt or dress, almost every day, and even knits needed some ironing. Meals required cloth napkins, tablecloths or placemats, which all needed ironing. Even bed linens were ironed. In the 1950s, a housewife might easily have burned 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day, without going to the gym. In rural areas, she would have burned closer to 3,000 calories. Most homemakers today probably burn closer to 1400 calories, without additional excercise. Individuals also had more outside civic and social comittments than we do today, in terms of formal commitees and leagues and fraternal organizations.
So the typical 1950s home owner would wash hands and face and privates every day with a washcloth. Once or twice a week, at most, hair would be shampooed, more than likely in the sink, much like they had done before having indoor plumbing. The bath tub was primarily for the children, and while they had fewer than their parents, they had about twice today’s average. It’s not that they had a simpler life and more time on their hands and took nice leasurely baths, so much as the fact that bathing every day was a luxury for the idle rich! Or upper middle class, at least….
Yup yup and yup again. I’ve written several times about outhouses — a fascination of mine. Yup: Just to have a bathroom — not to mention a HOUSE — was a big deal.
I spent the weekend with my sister-in-law, and found that she still irons her bed linens. They were very wonderful to sleep on. I might have to start ironing my sheets and pillowcases, too!
hmmmm, I might try this too!
I had a similar problem in a former home. I put up one of those oval shower rings made for a clawfoot tub. It solved the problem and help show off the tile in the tub area. It also made the job of cleaning the tiles and grout easier!
I agree with a rod that goes all the way around. It seems like an inexpensive and attractive option.
http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/product_detail.asp?item_no=RMD450-CP
I too have the same bathroom setup and have been researching the possibilities for some “improvements” I really wish the tile work in our bath was half as nice as yours seems to be and worth salvaging. We, however, have some obvious grout and water damage issues behind our yellow tile. First question that I know has already been asked is how are you planning on plumbing in a shower? I’ve looked into getting an exposed riser to plumb one in http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/product_detail.asp?item_no=P0117C and if the only heat vent in our bathroom wasn’t very conveniently placed right above the tub next to where your soap dish is, I’d definitely consider the clawfoot shower inclosure http://www.vintagetub.com/asp/product_detail.asp?item_no=RMD4854-CP as an alternative to tearing out any tile or having to alter your window in any way.
If you choose to expose your window to the shower, I would not count on your window standing up to much water splashing into it from above. From experience, even if the shower is not directly hitting the window or window sill, A LOT will get on it from bouncing off the person taking the shower and will often settle into just the places you don’t want it anywhere near. The damage done can be extensive, so unless a contractor or someone with some know-how tells you otherwise, I wouldn’t trust that it’ll be safe for your house in the long-term.
Whether you are letting water hit the paint in your bathroom directly or not, it’d probably be worth your money to make sure it’s painted with something made for bathrooms, especially if you’re without an exhaust fan like we are. If you choose to paint and expose it to the shower, one of those little squeegees would be helpful to remove as much of the water as possible between showers.
I think this is a situation where the pink bathroom cannot/should not be saved. I went through this with two former houses – one with a giant window in the middle of the wall over the tub, the other with tiles only halfway up. For the window bathroom, I ended up removing the window. I lost outdoor light, but it was just not a good situation and the bathroom had a fan to compensate. Unless you want to spend the rest of your life in a bathtub, you have to bite the bullet on this. The clawfoot shower surround is a possible solution, but kind of kludgy. You want a decent bathroom to take a shower in.
I’ve lived with exactly this situation. My solution was:
Marine Paint for both the window and the walls.
A careful grouting touch-up, and silicone caulk wherever it’s needed, especially around the window. Eventually, the caulk will get mildewed no matter what you do, and you will need to remove it and re-do it. It’s just part of life.
A second, inside shower curtain hung from a tension rod. It doesn’t even have to be full-length; you can cut it so it hangs just below the level of the window and the water can fall on your carefully waterproofed side wall.
Even with all the waterproofing, this still isn’t like showering in a plastic room. You have to pay attention to ventilation and do a bit of squeegie-ing post-shower. But it works very well, saves you a lot of design time and expense and preserves your cute bathroom!
Wow, this looks exactly like my bathroom! (Except my tiles are blue with black trim.) I refuse to lose my cool tiles, not least because they were grouted with that old grey stuff that never mildews or needs to be re-sealed (unlike the crap now being sold at DIY stores). I’ve had pretty good luck with Benjamin Moore kitchen/bathroom paint — it was recommended to me by 3 different professional painters. I also have it in my kitchen where there is a similar situation. But I’m still resigned to repainting every 5 years or so — in the bathroom, anyway, the kitchen is still doing fine after 8 years.
Important update to these comments and to the main post — A lot of readers suggested using enamel paint on the walls in the tub/shower surround above the tile, saying this would be waterproof. Another reader in particular said, essentially: “BEWARE painting those walls — water and water vapor can still get in them and behind them and lead to rot and mold and otherwise, destruction.” This last comment rang true to me — as water is DESTRUCTIVE to a house. To further explore the issue, I asked the folks at Rust-Oleum, who specialize in surface solutions, whether they had a paint or other type product to use on tub/shower walls like this. Here is what they said:
“We really don’t have a product that they would be able to use – and quite frankly I don’t know of one. It’s going to be very difficult to give drywall the type of water resistance that would be needed for this kind of exposure.”
Bottom line: Beware this idea, readers. My advice: Consult with a properly licensed professional regarding the wisdom, or not, in this idea.
I have a friend who is an absolute tile professional. She always uses a product called Red Gard. I’m not sure if it would work here, but found a page where a person gives installation tips:
http://floorelf.com/installing-redgard-on-shower-walls-for-tile
PROFESSIONAL. Find a professional.
yes!! it CAN be saved!!!
You can get waterproof paneling at your local Lowes or Home depot. Theres several different patterns. One type is a painted laminate, but I prefer the more permanent all plastic paneling. Theres also corner and edge strip seals for them. Simply grab a tube of liquid nails and slap them puppies up to make a water proof shower enclosure. Save the pink tile in your bathroom and just finish it half way up. You can leave the window and just put the paneling up over it to completely cover it, or maybe leave it partially exposed.
Consult with a PRO.
We have a bathroom with yellow tiles that only go about 1/4 of the way up the wall, as it is not plumbed for a shower. Since there is a hand shower in there the previous owner put up shower wall panels above the tiles and it works fine.
We did not want to change tile, so we installed an adjustable and removable hand shower unit. I can take it out when I want to wash my hair, but when it’s in the top position, which is just at the top of the tiles, it hits my shoulders and not my head. This turned out better than I could have possibly imagined. I get a great hot water massage on my shoulders, and when I don’t want to wash my hair I can shower without messing up my hair, makeup, or the bathroom walls. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I find normal showers to be a pain now.
Frankly Adding the tile to the complete the run is a good idea. A professional would tell you that the “bullnose” that is the elbow shape tile you describe will need to come down. But thats all. If it’s on plaster it might require some re-plastering, fixing any divots or chunks that come off with the tile. this should not present a huge worry, and consider that the next layer will cover it up. Taking off the 2″ bullnose, and then putting another 4 inch in its place, should not be a problem especially for a pro. My experience, with my 1959 ranch, leads me to believe the glue (mastic) types used for the period, while strong, are more brittle. Modern (wall mastics) utilize more flexible ingredients and indeed make for more collateral damage when attempting such tasks. Again, I peeled around 90 sq feet off one of my baths. The 4″ gold flake ceramic came off cleanly most of the time with just a tap of the mallet on a 3″ putty knife. The tiles occasionally broke but the wall board stayed in tact. Trick is to try and gently drive it all the way through the adhesive. A pro will know exactly what to do. Please consider that when plumbing needs to accessed, tile inevitably has to come down and be replaced. I have another bath where the pipes below shower head was worked on. The only way one would know…they put white tile below the original blue where it was necessary to remove it. Definitely not my idea of right, but definitely doable.
From the photo it appears you”ll need to pull that bullnose off the edge of the window and infill with more pink. You can’t really put bullnose on both sides of a corner, it looks wrong and you never put grout on a corner. But because it was originally lain on the outside you cant use the 4″ pink on the inside either. It will create a few short tile cuts inorder to maintain the interlock pattern. I good tile guy will think this through and know how to minimize the incongruence. Again, I would chose to lay new bull nose on the inside of the window enclosure and continue the pink on the wall right up to the window. Assuredly, finding that maroon to match may prove to be difficult. You might have to remove the next run of pink and the accent line too. But in terms of expense labor, its way cheaper than gutting. Pink and Black is always a nifty combo, and I know black ceramic is available in every piece you’ll need.
Yet as an avid reader of this blog, I know there are many resources that have been featured in past posts by Pam, so with some leg work, matching either tile may be attainable. Pink is making a big comeback, you’ll find it.
Your bigger issue is that window and ledge. I think the glass blocks are cool. Usually they aren’t transparent enough or optically clear enough to see through. If you must, why not try something like these groovy plastic panels framed and attached to the exterior to provide the level of privacy you desire. That would eliminate the removal of the blocks and give it a nice tinted glow too. …………….http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fretrorenovation.com%2F2012%2F05%2F07%2F170-new-old-stock-plastic-decorator-panels-in-19-patterns-discovered-and-for-sale%2F&h=DAQEnDPkp
You can always get a newer opaque or etched window made to fit and just replace the blocks. This is going to make that enclosure way less drafty. Granted, its not quite vintage but, sometimes, we need to sacrifice the sacrosanct to fit our needs today.
But yes you should absolutely do something about that window ledge. Water damage from showering is not just a possibility but an eventuality. Regardless of the widow remedy, You want to tile the window enclosure water tight if you intend to use the shower. If you are already pulling tile you may look into a flashing material as an underlay, like use on exterior windows. This is just an idea, but if done right, might be godsend to have under the sill tile if or when the grout fails. Again, use a bullnose on the inside perimeter, set proud to over-lap the pink wall tile and more 4″ tile inside the window enclosure if space allows. Make sure your tile pro puts an adequate slant to the tile on the horizontal sill. Water needs to run off of that. Despite the glare in the the pic, it looks like there is some bullnose on that ledge. I am curious as to how they originally treated that ledge, and naturally it could change the entire game plan. Moreover, please know that this is not the only bath I have seen with similar issues. It really can all be easily addressed.
Has anyone suggested cementitious paint? It works best on pourous surfaces, and is what you use to waterproof basement walls or exterior stucco, etc. I would think as long as you properly caulked the seam where tile meets wall, it should work fine.
consult with a PRO
We kinda/sorta have the same situation with one bathroom. It is a bathtub only with the tile only go up about 12 inches with a bullnose trim…no window in the tub area. There is just a hand held shower head attached to the faucet…which is helpful to shower two young kids that can’t do it themselves.
It looks like next year we are just going to re-do this bathroom and lose the vintage tiles…they aren’t in the greatest shape or color and the chrome soap dish is so disgusting anyway – can’t wait to get rid of that. We just had our other bathroom with just a shower redone in B&W tiles, so I might choose them again in a vintage-y color to keep the integrity, but more wall space to cover will be $$$.
I’m also just not sure what to do about adding a built in shower…there is no wall at the end of the tub, and having a hanging shower curtain from the ceiling with a special needs kid who will no doubt yank it right out of the wall/ceiling…ugh…and I like the open-ness of the bath now with no curtain, less claustrophic…just need to figure it out.
i didn’t read through the comments so forgive me if this has already been said. what if you tore out the tiles and drywall only in the shower/bath area? and replaced it with the common white all in one bathtub shower unit things? yes, it wouldn’t be as cool as keeping the tile or having it tiled in but i think it’s a good compromise between the two. that way you still get the tile on the walls and floor of the rest of the bathroom. (and i have to admit, i have fantasized about putting one of those in so I’d never have to scrub mildew-y grout again!)
as far as the window goes, personally i would just put a curtain over it but i guess you could cover it up if you put in the shower/bath unit. not sure how that works..you’d still have the hole in the side of the house…
I was going to say to have a mini shower curtain or maybe even a full sized one in front of the window, along with the shower curtain in front. If you want to show the bathroom, simply remove the curtain in front of the window but meanwhile the window is protected. To install a shower, you or your plumber might be able to access the wall in the room behind the shower – it would be easier to repair a wall in a bedroom that is just drywall.
The faucet may well have to be replaced with a single knob faucet – at least in our area, the kind you have now are illegal.
My first suggestion would be to install glass blocks in the window. They’re not 100% private as people may still be able to tell that someone is in the shower but at least they won’t be able to see your naughty bits.
Another idea, depending on your craft / sewing skills, would be to sew a small shower curtain and use that to cover the window – granted there is enough space to install a rod. One could take a shower curtain and cut it to size, but many of the big box craft / sewing stores also sell vinyl fabric.
I have an identical situation with a house built in 1947. I retiled in the same original design with no problems.
so what about back-painted glass??? this tip just came in from a reader who emailed as a general tip — but it might work? contact the company to find out for sure — http://www.sodaglassusa.com/
How beautiful, Pam!
Adore the lime and black, apparently you are curing me of my black and white all the time obsession, thank you?….but wish I’d seen it when I was doing my reno. I’d have gone that route in the bathroom even if green does us no visual favors in the bathroom unless you’re a member of the Adam’s family. snap snap ;o)
Ok, I know I’m late to the party here but I have some suggestions and corrections as there are a lot of suggestions from folks who aren’t professionals or are talking about plastic tile which isn’t the same animal.
That tile with the coved piece at the top is set in a base of mudset over plaster. Mudset is a bed of mortar embedded in metal lath which is stapled or nailed to the wall through the plaster. The field tile beneath the cove is regular thickness.
If the grout is in good shape and you seal it once or twice a year, whatever moisture the grout absorbs will not affect the wall. If you don’t have a ventilation fan, install one.
The tile beneath the window needs positive slope away from the window. I think glass block is your only long term choice not relying solely on caulk. Caulk should never be your only line of defense.
The wall above the tile is another story. This wall is plaster, not drywall, and is way more resistant to moisture than paper-faced gypsum wallboard. Marine paint is not necessary and is actually more brittle than latex. A semi-gloss latex is a great choice and in a room with proper ventilation, you might get away with it. However, of this were my house, I would install cubicle track in a big “O” shape along the ceiling and just have a big circle of shower curtain that sits to the side when not in use. Cubicle track is that stuff on hospital ceilings that the curtains hang from. It’s an excellent, subtle way of having one long curtain that can be moved completely aside (can’t do that with the big rods for clawfoot tubs, because the hangers interfere with travel of the curtain).
Anyway keep the tile for sure. You’ll never find a match for the pink, and you’ll break the maroon cove tiles getting them off, and mess up the mudset too.
Good luck!
We have the exact same thing in our 1948 home. We installed a shower curtain rod, on the one side. On the other, we took a frosted shower curtain and cut it down smaller to create a small curtain. We put in a curtain rod over the window (one of those that curves in the ends and extends). The water stays out of the window well that way. We never have a problem with water above the tiles. Also, installing one of the new Panasonic ceiling fans helps with condensation. So, no need to year it out or use special paint.
I like this idea, too, kind of, less invasive “the easy way” and elegant, too — I looked real quick and here’s a place with hospital curtain track aka cubicle track that makes it look pretty easy to order: http://www.covoc.com/type-2-cubicle-track/
Pam,
Here is another source for cubicle track and carriers at a fair price.
http://www.interiormall.com/cat/nsample.asp?ID=75034&t=142
We will be gutting and remodeling our own bathroom and installing a refurbished corner tub. We struggled with the same choices. If you are doing a major remodel that includes drywall, cubicle track can be installed flush with the ceiling surface at the time the ceiling drywall is done. When all is said and done, all you see is a slot in the ceiling–no shower curtain rod at all. Slick!
Thanks, Chris!!
If you decided to take down the tile, did any survive? I am looking for the exact tile you have! Any help from readers appreciated.
I have a similer bathroom with tiles(plastic) half way up the walls and I had bought a surround shower curtin rod and conversion shower head to try and keep the water off of the tiles as much as possible. Problem is all the moisture without a good exhaust fan and the ceiling and walls peal/flake! If I had to do it all over again I’d have just put a shower stall in the basement and left the bathroom as “baths” only!!!
Ya live and learn with old houses!
The glass….
Could you just not change the glass? Surely a professional would be able to change clear glass to a frosted or ‘bubbly’ glass that would not be so see through?
If not, in Aus, there are films you can buy to have installed, they just roll down over the glass like contact. They come in different colours and textures. It would be a shame to take the window out, I love good natural light in a bathroom.
Christi,
The window can be dealt with by putting a coat of clear polyeurythane over the paint and using a Solyx brand privacy film (super high quality and durable) on the glass panes. We have the same scenario in our bathroom. We want to keep the pink tiles and black trim, but can’t find any more to go the rest of the way up the walls… so we’re not sure how we will deal with that. If you decide to get rid of the tile, we might be interested in buying them from you. If you keep them, consider coating them with several coats of turtle wax to keep water from penetrating and rotting them.
Good luck!
PS: The privacy film can only be used if the surface of the glass is smooth. If it is textured, you may need to find a different solution.
I don’t know what the big deal is. Do you take showers with the water blasting? Every bathroom I have ever had, had tile like this. Including my own house today. I have never had a problem using the shower. It rarely gets wet more than halfway up. But then I have always used low flow diverters in all my faucets. If it’s a block window, nobody cans see through. All they will see is a flesh colored blur.
Now if someone whould like to help me with my lemon yellow bathtub and tile surround!
You’re welcome to send us your design dilemma, Ken! Instructions here: http://retrorenovation.com/2012/07/17/do-you-have-a-retro-design-dilemma-ask-us/