Introducing the Third Floor Bath

Chronicling my adventures restoring and updating a quirky old Philadelphia rowhouse

Introducing the Third Floor Bath

So, here it is. A clawfoot tub! Pretty exciting.

Tub aside, it’s definitely the worst room in the house. What’s not to like? Well, to start, this shower faucet. Not sure exactly what’s going on here. Is this a sink faucet? Also, it leaks.

And then the shower head? EEK!

Where the tub crunched through the floor? EEK!

The paneling is rough sawn. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT IN A BATHROOM? It can’t be cleaned, it has water stains all over it, and there’s a little graffiti. Very woodsy public bathroom vibes. Great medicine cabinet though.

So, we were kind of eager to deal with that shower mess so at least this bathroom would work right. But I dragged my feet a lot at the start. Lots of questions bouncing around in my head like bumper cars:

  • Is the original tub filler too special to change?
  • Is there a way to add a shower without changing it?
  • Does it bother me that the finish is wearing off the fixtures?
  • How can we deal with the fact that the really cool tub drain doesn’t have an overflow?
  • The bathtub was reglazed in the past. Does reglazing it again make more sense than finding another one in better condition?
  • All these tubs in good condition were reglazed, too, weren’t they?
  • How much will it suck to get a bathtub up these stairs?
  • Should we let the plumber come out and at least discuss what fixtures to buy?
  • … plus all the other thoughts not related to the bathroom

Tito was having none of this hemming and hawing though. A shower conversion kit existed, it looked nice, and he said we’re buying it. Then we waited for my plumber. He said coming out would cost more than the installation, and since the home inspector gave us a list of small repairs to make, that sounded good to me. But Tito was having none of that either. Neither was his mother. She found a business card in a Colombian bakery, called him, and told me excitedly that the plumber was coming out.

I wasn’t thrilled with how this worked out. Tito laid down the law that we aren’t going to overwhelm our contractors with too much information, so forget the old gas valves, we’re only telling the plumber about the important stuff. And all the discussions happened in Spanish so I didn’t know what was going on. And, when they replaced it they created a new leak to replace the old one.

Also, it wasn’t nearly as cheap as I was expecting.

So, we’re back to waiting for my old plumber to come and fix it again. But also, I’m determined to make enough inexpensive changes that for what we spent on this tub faucet, most of the room won’t suck.

7 Responses

  1. Chris says:

    I’m thinking you don’t want to bring a new tub up to the third floor. I’m for reglazing the existing tub.

  2. Mary Elizabeth Lang says:

    Definitely reglaze the old tub, if it can be done on site. There are people who specialize in this. You still might have to move the tub to fix or replace the floor tile underneath, but that’s not as bad as moving it up and down stairs. Also, the brand new fixture for the shower makes sense, as they have period-appropriate ones. I sense that Tito is feeling overwhelmed and tried to get control of at least one small part of fixing up the house. When you were doing the old house, you weren’t in a relationship, so you made all the decisions. Until we’d been married for many years, most of the arguments Bruce and I had (which admittedly were very few) concerned a home repair project about which we had different ideas. You get over that.

  3. Architectural Observer says:

    I’m guessing that the bathroom was last updated in the 70’s… the popularity of the rough-sawn wood look did not last long, and for a reason! A marine varnish on the wainscot might help to protect and darken it (or it might make it look worse). Taking it off might open a new can of worms. The room has an appealing form and you’ll like it a lot better with a few tweaks. I also vote for reglazing the old tub. Wonderful medicine cabinet!

    • admin says:

      The cultured marble gave me more 80’s vibes but you were alive in the 70’s so you’d know better than I would

      • Architectural Observer says:

        It could very well be an 80’s update — the whole woodsy “shed” aesthetic didn’t really die until the early 80’s. Cultured marble has been around since the late 60’s so anything is possible. The tiled floor has a definite 80’s vibe to it and that radiator near the shower could serve as a very handy towel warmer!

  4. We had a tub like that in an earlier house. We had it refinished. Yeah, it was a pain to get it out of the house and to a shop, but it was so beautiful when it was done. I thought it was well worth it. Best of luck with your project and family.

  5. potvink says:

    It all looks sort of overwhelming, but you two are the men for this project! I have followed you since you started posting, so please please please POST MORE.

Leave a Reply