posted by Allyson Scott

It was just another grey day in the city of Toronto, but inside this house, things were starting to look a bit brighter!

The house has been a work in progress and a labour of love since we bought it, which is only fair at 82 years young. We’ve tried to alternate the “must-have” repairs with the “nice to have” renovations, but our main floor bathroom remained neglected. The previous owner did an update sometime in the ’80s (this explains many of the décor choices!), but the issues were growing…along with the mildew. We tried every natural and chemical solution, but the tile and grout would not cooperate.

What do you do when you can’t bear to caulk the tub or paint the grout even once more, houseguests are coming, and you’re out of time? Bath Fitter to the rescue!

There are a number of reasons to choose this route, and avoid a full-scale renovation. Tearing out a bathroom is expensive, messy, time-consuming, and puts a lot of materials into landfill. It also requires you to have a plan, which we truly don’t yet! Do we take down a wall and add some space? Take out the tub and go the shower-only route? We just weren’t ready to commit.

Bath Fitter begins by sending out an estimator to measure your space, discuss the options, and provide you with a cost down to the penny (you can preview the available designs on their website). Our only disappointment was discovering our tub could not be covered with their insert, as it’s a non-standard size and shape. Our options were to tear out the tub entirely, at further expense and time, or just do the surround/ceiling. We chose the latter!

Bryan did a great job and was extremely respectful of our home. He worked quickly, let us choose the precise placement for extras like shelving and a soap dish, and cleaned up thoroughly when he was done.

The acrylic wall we chose actually has a bamboo texture, so it’s not quite as flat and boring-looking as we expected. The smell of the adhesive and caulking was pretty intense, and has taken a few days to dissipate, but we are thrilled with the result.

The colour isn’t a perfect match between the new wall and our old tub (they did have a range of shades available for the wall, but this was the closest), but we’ve always called this “The Good Enough House”. And this is by far the best this bathroom has looked since we moved in!