I live in a 1200 sq ft town home built in 1918 in a suburb of Youngstown. While any modern home needs modern functionality, as I remodel I have always tried to stay true to the era of the home. I have restored and added bead board into my décor, removed carpeting back to the hardwood floors, and tried to choose light fixtures with the home's age in mind as well.
One of the most coveted original aspects of the home has always been the claw foot tub. For many years, I did not even have a shower.... I lavished in soaking in the deep tub nightly and the lack of a shower never crossed my mind. One thing that did cross my mind though was that that tub was showing its age. It was dingy and needed some love.
I decided to undertake this major DIY home renovation to sand down the tub and refinish it, as well as add a shower extension. The products I used can be found at the links above. If you have never sanded anything down... wood, tub, doesn't matter... be forwarded, it makes a mess of dust!
You can see above the difference and just how dingy my tub was... but let's give some love that the poor thing is stamped as made in 1917 underneath... Once sanded the next step was to follow the multistep directions
refinish kit that I found at Lowe's. (Side Note: Follow the directions exactly including time frames.... I got distracted in the process and let the one step harden longer than it should've which resulted in having to re-sand and buy another kit to redo this step.) Once completed though it definitely made a notable difference and brought new life back into my 100 yr old tub.
Another side note: yes it is better to remove all the existing hardware prior to this process to prevent rust even if not replacing it. However, since I was already committed to this project, I was also replacing the hardware to add the
shower extension. Another side note: I knew someone who was able to help me with the plumbing portion- if you do not this could add to the expense. I also added a
massaging shower head after the fact and found that an expander adaptor was also required. Granted this little piece found at Ace was under $1, had I not known this, I would've spent hundreds trying to figure it out. (Apparently older plumbing fixtures do not equate to modern by 1/4"- who knew!?!)
Once all of the hard work and mathematical plumbing issues were solved, I focused on the functionality and bought a
pretty shower curtain and caddy that also looked true to the era.
Now while I have absolutely come to love and appreciate the efficiency of having a shower and finally moving into that aspect of the 21st century, I still relish a good soak in the tub. So while I have adapted showering most days, I have held true to my Sunday evening ritual. On any given Sunday night you will most likely to find me preparing for the week ahead soaking in my claw foot tub with an
Avo Bath Balm from Lush and a glass of wine with a sheet mask on my face.
