Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The New Shower


Our shower had its first birthday the other day.
I realized that I didn't feature it in a post of its own.
Happy Birthday to our shower!


This post is a long one but I hope it helps others out there that are facing a bathroom overhaul. 
Our bathroom remodel was born out of necessity. 
There were some tiles between the tub and shower in the master bath that were driving me crazy. 
They were loose. Bill was out of town so it was a good time to dry it out a little and make the repairs to the little half wall in-between the tub and the shower.


There was standing water underneath the tile. 
I was just sick about it. 
A wet/dry shop vac took care of the water but where there is water - there is mold. 
At this point  I texted my darling neighbor and she came over and talked me down from the ledges. 
"Keep calm and call the professionals."


Bill was greeted with the happy news when he returned from his trip. 
We pulled off the false front to my gorgeous jetted tub (insert sarcasm now) so we could inspect the damage.


There was mold and general deterioration of the wood from the water damage. 


We'd long suspected that our builder basic bathroom needed an update after 23 years but we weren't quite ready to take the plunge. Now we were forced to. 
I immediately wanted to take action and demo. 
A saner head prevailed (Bill's, of course) and we took our time. 
We had two options. 
Have a general contractor do it.
Call my designer friend and let her be the contractor but us do the scheduling of subs. 
We went with the second option. We have done a fair amount of DIY so we knew the procedure and what the work should look like and we saved a ton of money. 
For the price of a builder grade bathroom we were able to go with a more glammy version. 
"Keep calm and call the professionals"
What seemed like a monumental job isn't to the pros.

The plumber came and disconnected the water to the tub. 
I left and went to work and Bill commenced with demo. It was done by the time I got home.
Whoo hoo!


We ordered the shower fixtures, tub and other faucets from a kitchen and bathroom showroom.  
We went with classic, chrome faucets.

The knee wall was not coming back so we could gain precious inches in the shower. Even though we were only able to increase the size of the shower by a few inches, it made a huge difference. The old shower felt claustrophobic, this one feels so much bigger even though it isn't that much bigger.
We picked out tile.


We went with 4 different tiles for the shower and a tile for the bathroom floor.
A slate look for the shower pan. It has some texture to prevent slipping. We discussed getting a fiberglass shower pan but we wouldn't have been able to customize the size of the shower and a tile pan just looks better.
We went with a marble look for the walls and a contrast border tile. My tile guy found this for me because I was being super picky. I wasn't even sure I wanted a border but he talked me into it and I'm so glad he did. 
Marble pencil molding frames out the border. 




Once the decisions were made we waited for our fixtures to come in at the plumbing design center.
Once the fixtures were in the plumbers came back to plumb out the shower, tub and faucets.
They had to move the drain over a tad so it would be centered in the new shower. 
They were in and out in two days.
The tile guys tiled repaired the cement wall and built the shower pan in day one. (In my mind this seemed an impossible task. To the pros it was a piece of cake.)


We requested a niche for soap and shampoo. 
They forgot to build the niche when they did the dry wall but we caught the oversight and they built it the next day.



It's a good idea to be on the job site during a tile job to catch mistakes.
They tiled the shower and the pan on day two.
We requested that he make the shower taller to look a little more modern and in proportion to the room. 



Day 3 was the floor.
Day 4 was grout. Just when you think you are done with decisions they have you pick out grout colors. 
I don't like contrasting grout but even so, there were 5 whites. 



The border was on backorder which was fine. 
He left a space for it. 
The glass guy came and measured for the glass which was supposed to take 8 days. The hinges were on order so it took longer than that.
In the meantime the tile guy came and put in the border.



I love the bling. I also love the touch of black that matches the vanities.


We went with a frameless shower enclosure.
We didn't want to blog the view of the tub.



We love our new bathroom and the new shower.
It was worth all the stressful moments leading up to the remodel. The actually week or so of work wasn't stressful.
"Keep calm and call the professionals."
Sometimes you just have to.
Katie   
Linking with,
Savvy Southern Style

13 comments :

  1. Love, love, love! The glass tile in the shower is beautiful and works so well with the vanities, but the claw foot tub makes my heart sing.

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  2. Happy Birthday to your shower, the first one is always the biggest! Looking good, our bathroom so needs a makeover!

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  3. What a beautiful remodel.... My current bathroom is said to be 50 years old and I'm too afraid to pull up the squeaky tile floor and the squeaky bathtub to find out what mess lies underneath....

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  4. Happy Birthday to your bathroom! I love your clawfoot tub and clear shower surround. Mine needs updating, but we won't be able to do major renovations like that. Hoping to do some minor things some time this year.

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  5. Your bathroom is so beautiful.....I love the tile!!!!!
    ~Des

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  6. Happy Birthday to your bathroom!!!! It is gorgeous. Love the claw tub. I have always wanted one I hope to get one some day. Your bathroom is swoon worthy.
    Kris

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  7. Beautiful shower, Katie! I just love the border tiles you used!

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  8. The bathroom looks great! Good to know everything turned out exactly how you wanted. It looks very close to my dream bathroom too, since I've always wanted to get a frameless shower. Also, I'm glad you decided to get help from the professionals. Who knows what would've happened if you decided to do the work, including the plumbing, all by yourselves. Anyway, I hope you're enjoying your new bathroom. Take care! :)

    Wilson Horton @ Capital Care Plumbing

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  9. I stayed in the Asia for several months, and Shower Enclosure Philippines took care of my bathroom renovation. I like their works. Just like you, I now enjoy a relaxing bathroom. :)

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  10. Happy birthday to your bathroom! Haha! I think your bathroom looks great, from the tiles up to the niches. Speaking of the niche, it’s good to know that they were able to install it the day after. Cheers!


    Johnny Hernandez @ Ripple Systems

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  11. How shabby your old bathroom looked when pulled apart and how fantastic everything is now that the renovations have taken place. Calling in some professional help's a good idea, even for those who have DIY experience. I think your twin black sinks are wonderful, also your choice of tiles in the shower. Job well done!

    Wilfred Andrews @ LB Plumbing and Heating

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