Torn Between Approaches. PART II
Previously, I posted about being 50/50 whether to restore the early 1950s Mouse Palace Motel bathroom in the basement, or to tear it out and create a modern and stylish powder room.
Y’all had a lot of opinions! I enjoyed reading them!
A deciding factor is the tub.
The front of the tub looks mint. Its inside bottom though looks like this. It is covered with hairline cracks everywhere, and the underlying cast-iron has caused rust stains. The tub could be painted with special paint, by a company who does this, but the finish will not last.
Another option, which I have had success in the past, is old-fashion naval jelly. You pour this on, leave it for a day or two, and then clean it off.
I poured the jelly on yesterday. Tomorrow I will remove it. If the stains are all gone, I might…might…lean 51/49 to restoring the bathroom.
So, the future of the sole remaining Mouse Palace Motel bathroom in the entire universe rests on…pink jelly.
I am breathless with anticipation.
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An enthusiastic but uninformed house cleaner went at a 100-year-old clawfoot in my house with chlorine bleach, causing iron rust bloom through the porcelain. A cream of tartar and hydrogen peroxide paste, and a good bit of elbow grease restored it as white as one can expect after a century of use.
Like you, I dislike modern coatings which fail, leaving an even worse mess. An honest and usable surface, even if showing decades of wear, is preferable.
If the porcelain has cracks and there is rust, I’d ditch it. It will only get worse. Send it to salvage and let someone else refinish it. Without the tub you and create a nice big modern half bath with all of the lovely tile and vintage photos of the Mouse Palace you like. Keep what you can, like the sink towel racks and toilet paper holder. Pay an homage with the new ceramic tile. Pick up a lovely mid-century mirror. Go wild with wall paper. What you save by abandoning the Mouse Palace bathroom you can put into making a fabulous new bathroom.
Too bad about the tub. I have a vintage tub from somewhat the same era. Mine is 1949 and it is much longer and deeper than the one in my parent’s 1960 house. I tried to use that one a year ago and it was basically a kiddie tub. I don’t remember it being that small, but for an adult it is basically useless. My Aunt in Germany had the the Rolls Royce’s of tubs. It was a clawfoot and it was like a swimming pool It was long and it was deep. I could completely stretch out and not touch the end and it came all the way up to my chin. Now *that* was a tub. The room was large too. Unfortunately they remodeled years after I visited and replaced the tub with a shower. Pity. I want a six foot soaker tub but I will likely never have one. Not like Aunt Putzi’s.
I grew up with a 1950s bathtub and as an avid bather I can say for sure it wasn’t any more enjoyable to use than a modern tub. It WAS substantially more turquoise than any modern tub I’ve seen, though. I daresay it was as turquoise as any bathtub could ever be.
We had the same tiles as the Mouse Palace bathroom, too, but ours were butter yellow and black. Yes, to go with the turquoise. Choices were made, and not by me. My father bought the house in 2001 and was its second owner. The original owners (lovely people) had it built in 1950 and it was a weird little time capsule of hideous renovations in various decades.
I think you should cut out a piece of tile, a piece of Lino even the sink fixture and mount it in a huge shadow box with photo and history. Then demolish and create a functional, well crafted and readily sourced bathroom. I understand preserving beautiful craftsmanship and Cross house 1894, and in some way preserving the narrative, but you have fixed a non supporting wall, created (are creating) a functional kitchen, replaced Victorian wallpapers with paint etc. I feel an ugly, cheaply made and non functional bathroom from the 1920s should be documented in a photo box and replaced! Of course you could maybe find pink tiles for your new bathroom…
What is this magic potion you call Naval Jelly? I’ve never heard of it. I have an OLDE cast iron / porcelain kitchen sink that we struggle to keep pretty. Because of it’s usage, it’s not possible to re-glaze. I’d love to try your magic stuff!
Waiting anxiously! 🙂