diy bathroom remodel Archives - A Dabbled Dwelling

Easy Tile Install For a Gorgeous Bathroom Backsplash

July 30, 2024 by kelsey.mackall

A few weeks ago I tore my bathroom down to the studs. The bathroom was dated and old, because it was updated in the early 2000s. I finished the shower renovation using the Palisade click and lock tile system and it’s gorgeous. After finishing the shower I had a spot of trouble getting the bathtub in and then I tiled the floor. Once I got that done Hurricane Beryl came through and knocked out my power for a week. I put myself on a deadline with this bathroom and desperately needed to get the walls ready for the backsplash tile asap. So I worked in the dark to get the electrical done and the drywall up.

A Gorgeous Bathroom Backsplash With Peel and Stick Mussel Bound

I tore the bathroom down to the studs in order to move some outlets and light fixtures. There was also some plumbing to move, and a soffit to destroy. Thankfully the soffit didn’t hide any electric or plumbing so it was easy enough to remove. Hurricane Beryl did me no favors leaving me without power for a week, so I was stuck installing drywall in the dark. But I did it and go the backsplash area ready for tile! I have tiled several walls and floors, and I’ve used a few different methods of tiling.

Woman in pink shirt uses a drill to hang drywall in the dark

One of my favorite ways to tile backsplashes is to use MusselBound tile adhesive. MusselBound is a roll of super strong double sided sticky paper. I know it sounds sketchy, but it is really super strong. It’s so strong I actually stuck my baby to it once! I really love MusselBound for its ease of use and how fast the tiling goes.

Woman in pink shirt sits holding hands out to baby hanging on a wall in a box

Using MusselBound To Make Any Tile Peel and Stick

I start with a clean wall and work in sections. Spread the MusselBound in sheets in the section you’re working on. I usually start by peeling the back side and sticking it to the wall and then I peel the front side as I go. With the MusselBound on the wall, I stick the tiles on it. For this tile job I chose not to use spacers. The tile I used has slight variations that give it a more organic look and I wanted them to sit against one another.

Woman in blue top sticks musselbound to a wall

Woman in blue top hangs tiles on wall using musselbound

I continue tiling, exposing the sticky MusselBound when I am ready to put tile on it. When I get to spots that need a partial tile I use my sliding wet saw to cut the tiles to the size and shape I need. When using MusselBound the tiles need to be 100% dry so cutting them with a wet saw slows down the process a little. In some cases, cuts can be made ahead of time, allowing plenty of time for the tiles to dry before use. When I tiled my kitchen backsplash with MusselBound, I actually dried the tiles in my oven set to a super low temperature. Once all of the tile is up, it’s time for grout.

Finish It Off With Grout

Grouting is such a satisfying process. I use pre-mixed grout. You can use a tile float to get grout in the spaces, but I prefer to use my hands. After grouting all of the grout lines you use a wet sponge and go over the tiles to remove excess grout. Sometimes it takes a few passes to get all of the extra grout and haze off the tile. Once the grout is done, I always like to caulk the edges. Caulk finishes off the seams and seals the corners. Make sure to use silicone caulk made for bathrooms and kitchens.

The Most Gorgeous Bathroom Backsplash With MusselBound

I always love when I finish a project and this one feels even more sweet. This project has been a long time coming and I have really enjoyed planning it. The backsplash is beautiful and provides a perfect accent to my bathroom. I chose Zellige tiles in {} from Lowe’s and I couldn’t be more happy with how it all came together. The pros of using MusselBound are: ease of use, tiling speed, no waiting for mortar to dry before grout, and beginner friendly. There are few cons to using it. Once tile is on, it can be difficult to take it off and adjust. MusselBound is also a bit more expensive per square foot than using traditional mortar. I’ve loved using it for the projects that I have and will always recommend it as an option. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the bathroom shakes out. Follow along for the rest of my bathroom projects here!

How To Refinish Your Tub and Tile With Paint

January 19, 2024 by kelsey.mackall

We live in a 1970’s fixer upper and there is so much potential in this house. At some point the previous owners updated the finishes in the house but I think they did it in the late 90’s or early 2000’s. Cue a lot of dark and dingy looking tile and paint. When renovating spaces, it can get expensive very quickly, so I wanted to update the tub and tile surround as inexpensively as possible in my daughters’ bathroom.

An Inexpensive DIY Tub Update

I began the renovations on my daughters’ bathroom and initially was only going to renovate the vanity area. Well, when you give a mouse a cookie, Kelsey updates the tub and tile surround. Rustoleum makes a tub and tile refinishing kit that is about $50 instead of $$$ for new tile. This is a great way to refinish your tub and tile with paint, and I was so excited to try it!

It’s a good idea to clean the tile well before you paint to make sure that the paint adheres well. You can use a scrub brush or scouring pad with any bathroom cleaner to make sure to get all the gunk off the tile. Once that is done prep the area by covering and taping off anything that you don’t want to get painted. Then you’ll use a foam roller and a brush to paint the tile. The paint was runnier than I expected and I realized partway in that I needed a respirator or I was going to be high as a kite from paint fumes.

Another thing I realized partway through is that the paint eats the foam rollers! I made sure to change the foam roller often to avoid getting foam in the paint. After the first coat I was still a little skeptical, but once the second coat was on I was convinced!

The Finished Product

It’s done and I love the way it turned out! The tile looks so clean and the whole room looks and feels bigger. There is always a gamble when my projects snowball, but I am so happy I went with this one. The girls’ bathroom is finally done. Click here to see the whole thing.

DIY Shower Remodel- Plus What Went Wrong!

June 11, 2021 by kelsey.mackall

newly remodeled shower with seamless glass and black hardware. Styled with black and white Turkish towels

Phew! This DIY shower remodel was my biggest and longest project yet! Why I decided 3 weeks postpartum was a good time to rip out a shower, I’ll never know, but DIYers have to have a little bit of crazy in them, right?

So here we are, 7 weeks later, and the shower is DONE! I never thought I’d get emotional over a corner of plumbing and tile but after all that work (LITERAL blood, sweat, and tears) I’m definitely having all the feelings. Theres just something about seeing a vision in your head come to life and using your OWN HANDS to achieve it.

Any big project is essentially just a bunch of small projects and steps, so lets talk about what went into making it happen. You can view the whole detailed process in my Instagram highlights but as usual, I don’t claim to be a professional and I urge you to do you own research before beginning any major project.

The DIY Shower Demo

My husband and I tackled ripping out our existing shower and a wall in just a few hours using only a hammer and pry bar (this is where that little bit of necessary crazy comes in). The wall between our shower and tub was a huge eyesore and the main source of our shower feeling small and dark.

Dark walled in shower BEFORE photo for DIY shower — I’m notorious for diving into a project without a proper BEFORE photo but you get the idea- its ugly.

Woman hammers holes in drywall during diy shower remodel — First order of business… This wall has got to GO!

man pulls tile and drywall away from wall studs during diy shower remodel

woman pulls tile and drywall away to reveal wall studs during diy shower remodel

plastic shower pan lifted to reveal subfloor and shower drain during diy shower remodel — Shower Pan Removal

shower down to the studs with plumbing and recently removed wall during diy shower remodel

The Preparation

One of the only things we hired out (aside from glass) was the shower pan. We paid a local plumber $350 to frame it, line in, install the drain, and pour concrete with appropriate sloping. We did run into an issue where our bathtub plumbing stuck out but rather than losing much needed space, we framed it in to create a small shaving foot ledge.

Next came framing out the shampoo niches with 2x4s, walling the shower with cement board, taping and mudding the cement board seams, and finally waterproofing with a paint-on membrane. I did lots of research to determine these to be the appropriate steps for building out a shower and preparing for tile.

newly installed shower pan with concrete and liner

cement board installed in new shower area during diy shower remodel

woman tapes cement board seams in shower during diy shower remodel

light blue waterproof membrane painted on top of cement board during diy shower remodel

The DIY Tiling

I had tiled before, but never at this scale. It took me about a week to tackle it all by myself and it was a pretty messy job. I find tiling to be simple. It’s less about skill and more about attention to detail. I feel without the distraction of my kids, I could have done an even better job on this DIY shower remodel but it was a huge accomplishment despite some minor imperfections.

I used an inexpensive wet saw and these large format porcelain marble tiles. One thing I wish I had taken the time to do was use a leveling system to get my tiles flush with one another where the walls were wonky. There was only a few spots this was an issue but its one of those things that can make a DIY look more professional. Continue reading to find out where things went majorly wrong…

woman uses wet tile saw with wet arms and large white tile

woman spreads thin set on wall to do DIY tiling during diy shower remodel

woman holding baby smiles at camera with half wall tiled behind her

woman tiles near ceiling and stands on tip toes during

different toned subway tiles create a shampoo niche in half way tiled shower during diy shower remodel — I used leftover tile from my bathroom surround to coordinate with the shower design

progress photo of shower tile with large white marble tiles and smiling DIYer during diy shower remodel

tile progress of half wall, shaving niche and shaving ledge. Unfinished shower floor — We used a manufactured stone for the ledge and shower curbing

woman adds white grout to marbled shower tile during diy shower remodel — Grouting

woman poses with matte black penny tile on new shower floor — Matte black penny tiles for my shower floor

So What Went Wrong?

It’s never truly a DIY without some drama right? Problem solving can be part of the fun! This however, was NOT fun. I had decided to use a pre-mixed thin set mortar because I thought it would be more convenient while tiling with kids and all the stopping and starting. The product came highly recommended and I didn’t think that I needed to research it further. Well because of the nature of pre-mixed mortars, my tiles weren’t drying. I gave it a day… then 2 days… then 5 and they were still sagging when spacers were removed. I knew something wasn’t right, my previous tile jobs dried within the hour, so I started reading reviews where I discovered hundreds of people having a similar problem.

Pre-mixed doesn’t work well with waterproof membranes, large format tiles, or porcelain because of its need for air flow. All 3 of those factors were not allowing enough air to get to my tiles. Traditional mix-yourself mortar has cement properties so it only needs to CURE rather than DRY. I realized I had no other choice but to pull down all the tiles, scrape off the thin set, and start over with the correct kind. Luckily I had only tiles 1.25 walls when I realized my mistake but I was out a day of work and $50. Still, with a DIY shower remodel like this, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen. It was messy and humbling but it was fixable.

bottom 2 rows of tile pulled away from wall — Row by row I scraped off the bad thin set and replaced

middle 3 rows of tile pulled away from wall with mortar remnants during diy shower remodel mishap

woman wipes face wearing oversized minion t-shirt and no pants, covered in mortar and water during diy shower remodel — I had given up on clothes (and pants) during this mess haha

The DIY Shower Reveal

In the end it was all worth it. This had been a project I was itching to do since the day we moved in. I felt silly getting a bit teary eyed over a shower but it felt so good to have accomplished this and to finally have the bathroom I always wanted. This was my most expensive project but some saving and the insurance claim from the pipe burst helped. Glass was by far the most expensive part. Keep reading for the budget break down.