COMMENT OF THE DAY: TRYING TO CLEAN UP IN THOSE MONTROSE BUNGALOW BATHROOMS “I can’t tell you how many bungalows, Victorians, and other 1910-1940 houses I’ve looked at in Montrose in the past year where the remuddlers have totally destroyed the character of the bathroom with the ultra-trendy stone floor and walls with the disgustingly unsanitary jetted whirlpool tub.” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: The Heights of 2-2ness]
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*high five*
I hate that more than I can put into words. Tiny hexagonal floor tile for the win!
Thank you! Even the 50’s houses with the great original tile baths that people with their cookie-cutter, Home Depot tastes think NEED to be “updated.” updated = take out the quality stuff that gives it character and slap in some cheap crap from the big box store that will be out of date in 5 years anyway. Aspiring to look like every KB or Perry home is really nothing to aspire to at all. http://www.savethepinkbathrooms.com
Over the course of many years, I have lived in my share of Heights and Montrose bungalows and I can’t think of anything more ‘disgustingly unsanitary’ than those nasty, white, original hexagon tiles with blackened grout, moldy showers and grimy tubs with a permanent filth-film that can’t be cleaned away. I don’t necessarily want “character” when I bathe, just a nice clean space in which to do it.
MarketingWiz – try bleach. Or there is a great acid wash that takes off years of grime and makes the tile look like new. It’s a win win! Aesthetically appropriate hexagon tile that is clean enough to eat off!
Of course we tried bleach and every industrial/commercial cleaning product known to man including sprays and cleansers, all applied with good old-fashioned elbow grease. Heck, I grew up with hexagon-shaped tile, wall-mounted heaters, pedestal sinks and claw-foot tubs in a variety of pink and aqua bathrooms. At some point, the tile cracks and begins to disintegrate and discolor, the grout crumbles and the sinks, showers and tubs become encased in unremovable grime that all the cleaners and washes in the world can’t save.
I have to laugh at this thread. Do you actually think that the post war ceramic tile baths that lasted until the mid 60s were unique? Every ranch house and apartment builtin that era has the same bath in a not too wide variety of colors. Many times one only has a small sink mounted to a wall, a miniscule amount of storage space and faucets that have pitted etc……The Home Depot loook you despise today will be so charming in 40 years. The aqua and pink and gray and magenta tones of yesteryear were probably hailed as nouveau and tacky by those still enamored with their 1920’s-30’s white subway tiles and hex floors and pedestal sinks.
…but if we stick with ceramic tile, I can’t pretend that my bathroom is a spa!
I’m lucky enough to have not one, but two pink tiled bathrooms in my house.
Robert, thank you for the http://www.savethepinkbathooms.com link!
I like my grout blackened, it makes the cockroaches pause to nibble which makes them easier to catch.
Sounds like a great idea to save those cute octagonal tiles until you realize the subfloor underneath is rotten. Its really hard to find something not “tumbled stone” outside of a specialty store/catalog.
My biggest pet peeve are the house flippers who stole the 3rd bedroom to make a giant master bathroom. Personally, I’d prefer the functionality of 3 bedrooms any day over a soaking tub (wired for a flatscreen tv) that I might use a few times a year.