Just as I was tightening down the last bolt on the toilet, my wife greeted our first guest at the door. Sunday family group, church friends, BBQ, potluck — about 20 people in total. Six weeks into owning this property. The bathroom had been a disaster when we bought it. It needed to be a welcoming space by 10am Sunday morning.
We made it. Barely.
What we were starting with
I cannot fully express how bad the mud, sand, and paint work was throughout this entire house. The previous owner ran the roller into the floor, dripped everywhere, and apparently never used a drop cloth in their life. Every joint throughout the house will need two full skim coats and proper feathering before this place looks right. The bathroom was a good example of all of that — plus peel-and-stick floor tile that had seen better days, significant cracking around the exhaust fan, and a general feeling that nothing had been done carefully or with any pride.
My wife had been at the property all week while I was in town working. She installed corner beads, sanded the first skim coat of mud, and got a coat of primer on the walls before I arrived Friday evening. That head start mattered more than she probably knew.
Friday night
I arrived after work, looked at what she had done, and jumped straight in. More mudding. Touch-ups on the joints. Nothing dramatic, just laying the groundwork for what needed to happen over the next 36 hours.
Saturday morning
Up early, breakfast together with my wife, kids, and father-in-law — one of those quiet mornings that makes the whole thing feel worth it — and then straight back to the bathroom. Light sanding, a bit more mud where it needed it, and then a three-hour trip to town to pick up more food supplies and collect the new lawn tractor from Riderz in Edson. That will be its own article.
When we got back, the mud still wasn't fully dry. I set up a fan with the window open to get some air moving, and while I waited I went upstairs to work on the framing for the bedroom addition on the second floor. More on that soon as well.
Saturday evening
Dinner with everyone, then back to work. Sanded out all the mud properly, repatched the cracks around the exhaust fan that I had missed earlier. It was 9pm but still bright and sunny outside — one of those long Alberta evenings that tricks you into thinking you have more time than you do.
I was not ready to stop. So I grabbed the scraper and pulled up all the old peel-and-stick floor tile. Every piece. Then I grabbed the four boxes of birch luxury vinyl plank — leftovers from another job, click-together, straightforward to install — and laid the new floor up to the toilet. That got me to 11pm. I was spent. Shower, then sleep.
Sunday, 5am
Work clothes on before I was fully awake. Guests on the way. No time to ease into it.
First thing: another full coat of primer on the walls. While that dried, I pulled the toilet completely out of the bathroom and finished the flooring in the toilet area — the section I couldn't reach the night before. Floor done. Primer dry. Cut in and rolled a full first coat of paint. Things were finally starting to look like a room someone would want to use.
Paint drying. Time to make a call. I had the new vanity and the toilet both waiting to go in. There was no way to do both before people arrived. The kitchen sink was close enough for hand-washing in a pinch. The vanity went into place — positioned, not hooked up. A few guests asked why it wasn't working. That was fine.
The toilet
We went with the Glacier Bay Pemberton — one-piece, single flush, 4.8L, comfort height with a soft-close seat. The reason: ease of cleaning. No exposed P-trap on the sides, no joints to collect grime, everything closed in cleanly. Good price. I have installed hundreds of toilets. This one went in fast — water line, wax ring, seat, anchor bolts, cover plates. Skipped the silicone for now since I didn't want it still wet with people walking in.
Water line connected. Bolts tightened. My wife's voice from the front door saying hello to our first guest.
What still needs doing
The vanity needs to be hooked up properly. The flooring still needs to go under the washer and dryer — that will happen next weekend when I do the full plumbing hookup on those. The silicone around the toilet base. A second coat of paint. Eventually the whole house gets the full skim coat treatment, but that is a winter project.
For a bathroom that needed to be functional and presentable for 20 guests, six weeks after taking possession of a property that needed significant work — it got there. That is enough for now.
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