Matching the old Bathroom fixtures

[cgutha]

Phil, if you look up "One hole faucet" there are many choices where both the hot and cold come up through the same hole. no mixing valve needed.
We cut the triangle tiles for the second bath today. I had to remember what I did last time. I call it a six inch tile because that is the height. However, the length is twelve inches.
I took a twelve by twenty-four tile and cut it in half giving me two twelve by twelve tiles. then I cut the corner to corner (diagonally) giving me four tiles out of each square, or eight triangles out of one tile. The factory edge shows up on the hypotonus of six out of eight tiles. Keep the factory edge up. then we apply a thick grout to the edge. I will try to get pictures on my site when we complete the second bath.

[phil]

looking forward to seeing the tile. Its one thing that scares me a bit especially the vertical surfaces. It seems there must be a few tricks to getting them all flat and even other than the spacers. I think of it and visualize my first attempt reflecting my abilities for years to come like whoever did it last.

Gina, I have the same issue , I only have one bath, and there is a toilet some former owner stuck in a really weird pace, in a closet.

I think I can obtain the cast iron bathtub. put it in a bedroom and connect it temporarily to the drain and taps with hoses. that should bide some time to do the tile etc. My only other option is to install a bathroom or at least a shower downstairs.
it might need to sit on blocks to get the drain height but Im ok with doing that. basically I can tee off the washing machine connections as a temporary workaround so I dont have to rush the shower stall or whatever should surround the tub. Maybe wainscot is enough, not sure. I do prefer to shower so the option seems to be a surrounding curtain. the old tubs are a big step and I'm anticipating getting older ( it's my best option) I like the style of the clawfoot tub more. I guess it's a trade off as I dont have room for a shower plus a tub. Im stable now so I dont use anything but if I do this I'll plan some grab handles to make it a bit safer.
i remember those things you stick in the tub from the 70's . I remember discovering that if I wet them with alcohol and set them on fire they come off I never seem to see them for sale and the plastic mats dont seem to last too well.

[GinaC]

Yes, Phil, this is why I ultimately decided against putting in a clawfoot tub. It has been my dream for many years, but after using one in a B&B in San Francisco, I realized that I didn't want to have to step up that high and I'm not getting any younger. I also do plan to put a grab bar in -- some of the ones they make nowadays blend with the towel bars and don't stick out like a sore thumb.

[phil]

It's easy to justify not needing them now but time sure flies.

[cgutha]

When working with large tiles like these. it is important to have the walls straight. In an old house this can be tricky. Our first walls were not straight so we used a lot of mastic to make the differences. Big learning curve. Somehow, in this third bath, the walls were bulged in a certain place. I do not know how we missed this. I cut the tiles at the bulge to make the bend. this happened behind where the toilet will be. might not be noticeable.
Obviously, if one uses smaller tiles say 4x4, where the seems lined up, this makes tiling easier.

[cgutha]

I have been busy with three projects: the second bath, not complete; Hanging the sheetrock, complete; and working the floors, in progress. I have updated my website I think this is a new door to get there: HistoricHotelBerry.com

[Gothichome]

I see you’re taking in guests. How many rooms are ready?

[cgutha]

Maybe three small rooms at the end of the month. So far all my deadlines are dead. After the floors, then the woodwork and the furniture. But my wife wants me to do the larger rooms. The small rooms are good for the 1906 standard: lone salesman traveling and staying overnight; meeting rooms for salesmen in basement. Dinner in dining room, first floor. My next job is to sell her the idea that today's people will be happy in a ten by ten room.
but she is right. the larger rooms are not far behind.

[Texas_Ranger]

There are inline thermostatic mixer valves that you can install underneath the sink to make sure the temperature from the hot tap is right.

The original bath I grew up with was worn right down to the cast iron and had a deep groove along the bottom where the finish was gone. My parents had it refinished in 1998 and while there are some small chips it's still perfectly usable! The first thing the refinishers did was sand the gritty bottom of the tub and fill the valley with some kind of polyester filler to bring it up to the level of the surrounding original finish. I'd definitely do it again but I'd leave the place for two days because of the smell! They ran a fan with a looong flexible duct through the hallway and a bedroom out of the nearest window but even then the smell was overpowering.

[phil]

sounds like they used epoxy. It'll offgass for a bit, warmth might speed things up.

you cna spray epoxy similar to other paints. Its a bit thick usually but not gritty so youmight eed a larger tip. You can evidently get spray bombs loaded with epoxy mixed to certain colors. You press a button or somethign and it mixes in the hardener so it's a one shot thing, then the can will harden up, but it would flow out better than a brush on job.

I was experimenting at work , I needed to make a whole bunch of jigs and silver solder or braise them together and clean them up after for painting.
I ended up going to a place that sells industrial metal cleaners and I got what is called "pickling paste"

I put some anodized parts int here and they actually got quite hot as it sat and bubbled. it removed the coating. It does clean the metal, it will remove rust and it will etch the metal. the thing I found with it is that it is then so clean that rust starts immediately. You can neutralize it with baking soda, warm the parts with a torch and get paint on right away, but it'll rust if you don't
anyway I think that Pickling paste is the way to get the rust out but it is a nasty chemical. I heard you can get it in jewlery making supplies in small quantities. I got a quart or so of the stuff. It's dangerous goods because it's that strong of an acid.

I started to wonder what would happen if I took an old sink or tub and heated it from the backside with a torch, maybe it's possible to do a repair by melting similar porcelain or glass into the repair area and that would be more permanent than epoxy. I dont know how well it would flow out. I thought maybe I could try the idea on some old piece of junk so there is nothing to loose. epoxy is much easier. the stink will fix itself.