Spectacular Spa Bathroom Remodel
One of my favourite customers asked me if I would like to renovate a bathroom for them. I had done several small projects for them and was excited to take on a bigger project. Little did I know just what I was getting into and how many “first time” things I would be experiencing.
When I first called and asked when they would like to get together and discuss it, they said that they had a meeting with the interior designer first. I had never worked with an interior designer and thankfully it was a wonderful lady named Alicia from AR Interiors here in Mission. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had a great deal to learn about working with an interior designer and Alicia took on the task of teaching me. My first lesson was just how much interior designers do and how important the details are to them. Thankfully, I am a very detail-oriented person, so it worked well for me. Alicia gave me a complete list of all the materials and finishes that would be going into this project and it was such a treat, until I found out I had to order everything on the list myself. This was all very high-end stuff, so I had never dealt with any of the suppliers. Thankfully, Alicia also had links on each item to the suppliers that carried them.
Once the actual construction started, I was once again in my element. This bathroom had lots of interesting challenges. It was to have a large curbless walk-in shower, which can be challenging as you must set the shower pan into the floor, not on it. I do all my showers with Schluter products and thankfully they have absolutely everything you could need for every conceivable situation, including custom-sized curbless showers.
So, the first thing to do was demo the existing bathroom down to the studs, remove one wall and add others. I even had to tear up all the floor sheathing, which is no easy task, and frame the floor joists to allow the shower pan to end up flush with the rest of the floor. Once the framing was all completed, I had an electrician come in and rough in the wiring as well as a plumber to rough in the plumbing. One of the advantages of working with a contractor like me is that you get excellent subtrades that have taken me years to find the very best. I expect the very best of myself and of my subtrades.
Once things were framed and roughed in, my drywaller came in and took care of all the drywall in the bathroom. I had him finish the drywall to level 5, which gives an amazing finish to the painted walls. I then took care of all the waterproofing needed for the shower. Again, all waterproofing was done with Schluter products, which provide a 100% waterproof and vapor-proof finish. It's very important because tile and grout are not waterproof, so what you put the tile on must be.
The next step was to install the Ditra Heat. The floor of the bathroom is heated, the shower floor is heated, and the shower bench is heated. This gives the bathroom a wonderful spa-like feel when you walk in and feel the warmth on your feet, and if you have ever sat on a cold shower bench, you know that being heated is wonderful. The beauty of Ditra Heat is that its wires clip directly into the decoupling membrane that goes under the tiles, so it does not require expensive extra steps or materials.
Time to start installing tiles. All the tiles in the bathroom are marble and working with natural stone tiles is much different than working with ceramic or porcelain. The floor, as you can see in the pics, is a mosaic that nearly drove my OCD over a cliff. I spent a great deal of time laying out and selecting just the right pieces. Layout is very critical as it really does decide how the finished product will look. Natural stone has many shades and characteristics that can work together or stand out in a bad way. Even where the tile meets the drain is important and I nailed that. In the end, I believe the extra time and effort was absolutely worth it. My customer agrees.
When it came to tiling the shower walls, I was overwhelmed; it was detailed beyond anything I had ever done. It required that every tile be cut, and the layout again was critical so that the veins lined up and the different shades all complemented each other. This was the first real problem we hit. When I started laying out the tile, I discovered that the color lots were completely different and would have looked horrible. I immediately got a hold of the designer, and she sourced a better lot of tiles. Then it was just up to me to repackage all the first lot and arrange pick up and delivery of the new stuff. If you have ever worked with marble, you know it’s heavy so changing it was a big job, but again it’s the details that matter and once you put tile up, you can’t just change it. The new tile was gorgeous. It had the most beautiful colors and shades and even subtle gold veins in spots. Again, I discovered a huge advantage working with a quality interior designer. They provided me with the exact layout and cuts for the walls and as you can see from the pictures, it was complex. The bullnose was again something I had never worked with, but I quickly learned.
After the tile was complete, it was just a matter of having the painter do his thing. I normally paint myself, but black is a very challenging color to put on walls and ceilings and I opted to go with a professional painter. Then the cabinetry guys installed the custom vanity as well as the hidden medicine cabinet (do you know where it is?) and a custom floating shelf over the toilet. Next, the electrician installed all the necessary plugs, switches, and towel warmer—you got to have a towel warmer—and the floor heat control, which is WiFi-enabled and has an app to control it so that the floor is nice and warm when you get home and need that calming soak in the soaker tub.
When it came time to have the quartz countertops, backsplash, and the massive tub backsplash installed, we were all excited. Unfortunately, the supplier made several mistakes, which did not look good enough, so it all had to be removed and redone. Quartz backsplashes are not easy to remove so it caused some damage to my finished walls, and that while unfortunate, is something that must be dealt with in renovations. After much back and forth with the supplier, an agreement was reached, and the exact right stuff was installed. It turned out spectacular. It's all about the details.
My plumber came in and installed the soaker tub, taps, sinks, and crazy technological toilet that lights up, opens itself when it senses you and warms the seat up, with remote of course. I won't go into the story of me testing the bidet other than to say it sprays quite a ways. Many finishing details including hanging a beautiful chandelier, putting up the wallpaper mural (which I hired someone to do as I have never hung wallpaper and that was not the place to learn), and just like that some really wonderful people have a spectacular one-of-a-kind sanctuary for when the day’s stresses need to be soaked away.
So, if you are thinking of investing in a bathroom renovation and your budget allows, I would highly recommend consulting with an interior designer. They do an amazing amount of work and really can make the transformation stunning. Find a contractor like me that really does care and that can listen to the designer and follow their directions. That part is hard for a lot of guys, but I definitely liked working with someone that wanted to help me produce something wonderful. Ok, maybe it was hard for me to listen sometimes, but in the end, I am glad I did. If you would like to transform your space, please feel free to reach out to me and we can see what is possible.
