Carpenter Nathan Gilbert helps a homeowner update her vintage tiled bathroom walls by removing her ceramic wall-mounted toothbrush and soap holder and replacing it with a wood shelf. After removing the fixtures, Nathan builds a custom shelf from quarter-sawn white oak, complete with gold accents to match the homeowner’s taste. The shelf is a DIY solution to hide the holes left from the tile accessories and gives the bathroom a much more modern look.
Next, we head to the shop where general contractors Tom Silva and Zack Dettmore, mason Mark McCullough, and host Kevin O’Connor play a game of “What is it?” with a small metal bar. After several guesses (one of which had some questionable hygienic choices), Tom shows the crew exactly what it is. Spoiler alert: No one was even close.
Finally, paint expert Mauro Henrique heads out on a house call to help a homeowner patch their textured ceiling. After opening the crack and priming, Mauro shows the homeowner how to perfectly recreate the existing pattern for a seamless finish.
How to Update a Wall-Mounted Soap Dish
Tiled bathrooms themselves never really go out of style, but older built-ins like ceramic soap dishes and towel bars can make the space feel dated. Instead of tearing out the tile, carpenter Nathan Gilbert removes the accessories and installs a custom wood shelf that neatly covers the opening while adding useful storage.
Where to find it?
Prep work area
Remove ceramic accessories
- Safety glasses
- Work gloves
- Scoring knife
- Pry bar
- Hammer
- Chisel scraper—to scrape remaining adhesive.
Layout shelf
Mount shelf to wall
- Drill/driver—Use slow speed on tile.
- Drill tile bit—Used to predrill. Refer to the wall anchor packing to find the correct drill size. Nathan used a ¼” tile bit.
- Toggler alligator AF6C ¼” All-purpose flanged wall anchors—Wall anchors are needed when you can’t fasten to a stud. These ones are ideal for tile over drywall.
- Solid brass screws, #10 x 2-½”, flat Phillips—Nathan used brass screws instead of the screws that came with the wall anchors to match the gold hardware on the shelf.
- Phillips bit—Used for brass screws
Shelf materials
Nathan custom-built a shelf for the homeowner using the following products:
- Quartered sawn white oak
- Warm satin polyurethane
- Solid brass decorative shelf brackets, 4-½” wall-mounted
- Wall jewelry organizer bar
Towel hooks
To completely cover the hole left of the towel bar, Nathan installed towel hooks with the following:
What Is It? | Small Metal Bar
General contractor Tom Silva always had a trick or two up his sleeve. When it was time to play “What is it?”, Tom showed host Kevin O’Connor, general contractor Zack Dettmore, and mason Mark McCullough a small metal bar with a hook on the end, and no one had a clue what it was for—especially Kevin.
Where to find it?
Product provided by: NoDamageHooks
The Original NoDamageHooks for fiber cement board siding
How to Patch a Swirl Textured Ceiling
Regardless of how you feel about textured ceilings, everyone agrees they’re not as easy to repair as a traditional flat ceiling. When a homeowner wanted to patch his water-damaged ceiling, he called paint expert Mauro Henrique for help hiding the old water stains and matching the texture, and Mauro did not disappoint.
Where to find it?
- Step ladder
- Painter’s multi-tool—used to open up the crack caused by water damage in the ceiling.
- Interior ceiling paint
- 4-inch flat paint brush—to create a swirl pattern.
- Mini roller—used to smooth out and continue to texture match.
- Joint compound—used to create a mud-like paste in order to fill in the crack in the ceiling.
