Project Description
Our clients purchased a home with a less than desirable master bath. The shower did not function and the layout of the room was not ideal. They longed for a tranquil master bath to unwind in after a long hard day. The feeling of the new space was designed to be soothing, peaceful and welcoming, with luxury touches. And, of course, the new space had to function for their busy lifestyles, as well. We began by tearing out the layered wood flooring and an additional floor tile layer beneath it. Then we removed the large existing vanity cabinets and the furr down at the ceiling to open up the space. We combined the two new vanity sinks together on one long wall to free up the opposite wall. Next, we featured a frameless glass shower and a soaking tub on the wall facing the new vanity. Removing the old wall between the shower area and the rest of the bathroom made the space seem much larger! A new window with privacy glass was installed over the new soaking tub to obscure the view. Finally, the tranquil bathroom was finished with a custom colored mosaic backsplash, chrome wall mounted faucets, and sparkling chrome and crystal lighting fixtures. The pale watery wall color provides a soothing backdrop that perfectly complements the custom glass mosaic tile. This tranquil bathroom provides the perfect spot to relax at the end of a long day. Challenge #1: When the countertops arrived, the sink holes were cut 37” wide, instead of 27” wide, because the fabricator accidentally entered the wrong number into the computer program. The slab was a total waste and we had to wait four weeks to get another one because the countertop slabs were special order. Solution #1: We kept the project timeline on track by switching our focus to finishing the shower tile and tub installation instead of working on the vanity wall. When the countertops were installed correctly a month later, they looked beautiful and were worth the wait. Challenge #2: The shower floor tile was paper faced, meaning that it came with brown paper on the front side. The installer installed it, waited for it to dry and then peeled the brown paper off to grout it and we discovered that the tile vendor had made a mistake and sent us the totally wrong shower floor tile. We didn’t realize it until all the paper was pulled off and it was all installed. Solution #2: We had to rip out the wrong shower floor tile and refloat the shower floor. Then, we had to find a replacement tile that was in stock to match the rest of the bathroom because the tile that we originally selected was special order, custom color and would take six weeks to receive more. We were able to locate a coordinating marble hexagon tile and now no one knows that it was actually our second choice unless we tell them. Challenge #3: We added a soaking tub in front of the window that used to be a doorway to the pool. Since it had been a doorway previously, we only had 57” of width to work with to fit in a tub. We had a hard time sourcing a tub that short, but we eventually found and ordered one that was 55" wide, only to be told a few weeks later that it was backordered indefinitely. Solution #3: We looked at many places and finally located a 53” wide tub that was in stock and we ordered it. It’s a perfect fit for the space and for our petite client. Challenge #4: The tile installer laid the paper faced mosaic tile on the vanity wall running in the wrong direction and it was all installed and grouted when we saw the mistake. Solution #4: By this point, we were sure that this bathroom was cursed! Haha But, we reordered the special order, custom color tile and paid to rush it. It arrived in about 3 ½ weeks and we were able to install it correctly and finish the project at just two weeks over our initial estimate. The client actually ended up respecting us more because of the professional way that we handled the issues and for the fact that we refused to give up until they were solved.