Bathroom dating and renovation

We have a 1925 Mediterranean Revival home in Florida. We have two bathroons that seem to be original in some aspects (tub and wall heater) but the wall tile in both bathrooms is made up of 4" tiles, green in one and blue in the other with black tile edging. Is this something that would have been used in the 20s or are we looking at 50s tile? From reading Old House Journal, it seems that a 1925 bathroom would have been sterile white. Is that correct? Any help is appreciated, we are considering how to renovate and want to keep it somewhat period.

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Permalink Reply by John Rodgers on October 5, 2009 at 10:26pm

I would say 50s or 60s hands down...

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Permalink Reply by Phil on October 6, 2009 at 8:58am

While still around, by 1925, bathrooms were moving away from the late victorian white look. I grew up in a house that was built in 1925, a large Dutch Colonial revival. The original bathroom was a deep pink. It had (well, still has) a pink cast iron built in tub and a matching iron sink and a matching pink porcelain toilet. I am thinking that the tiles were actually pressed metal, and those had been painted, so that I don't know the original color and/or pattern. I believe that the original floor was linoleum, although my parents switched that to vinyl 35 years ago, so I can't exactly recall the pattern, but again it was not white or close to it, I am thinking a pink and black swirl.

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Permalink Reply by jane on October 7, 2009 at 1:04pm

just for fun I looked up 'vintage ads for bathtubs' and found a series of ads from the 1920's and early '30's. Only the ones from the 30's were in color: white with a blue border! not what I expected The earlier ones were quite glamorous even in black and white - didn't feel sterile white.

I was looking for some ads for tubs that showed mothers helping children. couldn't find those. I thought they were Jessie Wilcox Smith's illustrations which would have been the right period. But I can't find them.

In any case., I think dating your bathroom tile depends on the shade of the green and blue tile - the 1920's colors are not those of the 1950's and '60's.

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Permalink Reply by Diane Hager on October 14, 2009 at 11:52am

White???? I don't know about Florida, but most 1920s bathrooms I have seen have lots of color. My grandpa's was tiled green with black trim; it was a huge bathroom and we all loved it. Check these baths out:
http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/inside/bathrooms/1920s/gallery/inde...
Diane

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Permalink Reply by David MacNamee on October 15, 2009 at 9:35pm

Thanks so much for the pictures, they are great - reproducing one of those bathrooms would certainly give our house the wow factor! I have attached two photos of our bathrooms - identical except one upstairs and one down. We thought the tile was 50s at first but now I think it is original.
David

Attachments:

Bath 053.jpg, 642 KB
Bath 049.jpg, 949 KB

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Permalink Reply by jane on October 16, 2009 at 7:29pm

those bathrooms were much better than what I found! what fun! thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Foxglove on October 14, 2009 at 6:37pm

Our house is from 1886 and of our many bathrooms, one is what I think of from the '20s. It's got yellow tile with black trim. You can see the tile in the background of my post (above yours) about "bathroom sink".

We have another bathroom that is also very old and in that one the tile has been painted over, but it appears to be that flat sort of subway tile, which is most often white. I think of the colored tiles as being laid one over the other whereas that subway tile is laid like bricks- where the seams don't line up. Perhaps that is why you associate it with white.

Note: I could be wrong on our bathrooms, they could just as easily be from the '50's since hardware in the one bathroom looks sort of art deco-ish.

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Permalink Reply by Randall Marder on October 15, 2009 at 10:43pm

Hi,
your bathrooms looks original. One bathroom has black tiles around what appears to be a replacement sink. The black tiles seem to be a patch. The other bathroom tile looks undisturbed with the original soap dish and cup toothbrush holder. The colors look perfect for that style. White was used in earlier eras, they thought white was clean and germ free. Your era is art deco. Your very lucky.

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Permalink Reply by David MacNamee on October 16, 2009 at 7:43pm

Thanks for the comments - we really need to cut into the wall to replace leaking shower stems; now that I know it is original I will look for some replacement tiles to repair where we have to remove tile. The black replacements are a little to obvious.

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Permalink Reply by Randall Marder on October 16, 2009 at 8:27pm

Replacement tiles maybe hard to fine. Can the repair be completed on the other side so you do not have to disturb the tile?
The tile would has been installed on a 1'' thick masonry based with a wire mess backing.
If you have to do the repair on the tiled wall, make sure you do not use a hammer, cut the wall will a grinder and smooth diamond blade. No sawall, minimum vibration!!!!! Hammering the wall will crack the other tiles.
I have save tile when demoing a masonry wall, it can be done. I had to demo one tile which allowed me to carefully get behind the other tiles, After I demoed the one tile I than drilled into the masonry wall using a masonry bit. I drilled multiple holes to weaken the masonry wall. I carefully removed the grout with an utility knife, be careful you can chip the next tile. Than I had to cut the wire backing. Every tile I removed (sometime with the masonry and wire) the next tile will be easier to remove. It is time consuming. This may sound nuts, but listen to the wall, watch the wall and adjust your technique. Soak the save tiled in hot water to weaken the masonry backing, scrape clean with a putty knife.

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Permalink Reply by David MacNamee on October 17, 2009 at 3:43pm

Thanks so much for the recommendation. The tile guys that looked at it said "no hope in saving tile, just demo the whole thing" Our problem is that the plumbing (which has to be replaced) has 5 stems that come through the tile, hot and cold for the shower and hot and cold for the tub plus the drain control. We are thinking that we may open the area - carefully - where the stems are, replace the plumbing with new and then retile using a contrasting color so it looks like it was meant to be that way.Thanks again for the suggestion, we can try to save as much of the tile as possible. The comments from everyone stopped us from demo-ing the original tile and spending a bunch of money to make it look old!