Project Overview

While the primary focus for this project was the remodel of the master bathroom, we did replace the flooring in about 3/4 of the entire home using a porcelain tile with the appearance of a wood plank floor through the entryway, kitchen, family room, hallway, laundry room, and hall bathroom. With the exception of the living room and bedrooms, all of the common areas in the 1st floor were all changed to the porcelain tile flooring. Additionally, we also tore out the existing tile countertop in the kitchen and installed a granite countertop.

For the master bathroom remodel, we began with very minor structural work. Initially, the shower area was in a typical builder shower and toilet room closed off from the sink and tub, a very cramped space and little light passage. To open it up, we removed the wall while leaving a single header post for necessary structural support (which you can see in the photos) and wrapped it with tile. We also took out an adjoining 30” doorway that previously separated the shower and toilet from the rest of the bathroom, effectively adding it to one larger bathroom. In doing so, we managed to open up the shower and allow light from the rest of the room come through that previously would have been blocked by the wall and doorway in the original floor plan.

Due to the small size of the shower area, there was no way to prevent water from splashing out without making use of a shower door. You’ll see in many of our other projects where we have a larger shower area that we can account for the water splashing that comes with normal use without requiring a door, but a shower area of this size did require one. There is, however, no glass between the shower and the tub area. Because of the height of the dividing wall and the water-ready bathing station on the other side, we didn’t need to install a second glass barrier. A lot of people would have put glass there as well, but doing so would only (unnecessarily) prevent minimal water splashing while creating more work in regard to cleaning and maintenance.

This bathroom also meets the criteria of what we call a functional bath. It has all of our functional bath elements in it: an in-wall heater on a timer switch to warm the room prior to taking a shower, a vent that also operates on a timer switch, 36” countertops, and wall cabinets on either side of the sinks that have outlets inside of them. Like all of our other functional bath solutions, you can leave the the cabinet doors open while you use your electric-powered and personal care implements —hair dryer, toothbrush, etc. —and easily place them back in their storage space and close the cabinet doors, keeping everything clean and organized with minimal effort.

The vent and on-demand heater in this bath, if used diligently, should greatly increase the longevity of the mirrors, cabinets, grout and all other materials in this room.

The cabinets are Bisque color thermofoil doors and parts with a caramel glaze. Most people don’t know about it, but there’s a lot of glazing options available in thermofoil doors.

Like the majority of my clients who originally requested this white painted look, as you will see in my portfolio, when I showed them samples of white raised panel thermofoil doors and explained how easy they are to keep clean, how they last many years longer than a painted door, and how much less expensive they are, they selected the thermofoil. Unlike most other cabinet fabricators, I do not limit the molding options for a thermofoil cabinet project like this to only thermofoil light valence or crown moldings, since they are very limited in size, shape, and color. When I say these doors look like painted doors, I am not exaggerating. What I have always done with solid color thermofoil’s like this is offer all the same molding that we use on real wood projects, and simply paint the wood to match the thermofoil. This has always given my thermofoil projects much greater depth and detail than other manufactures, who do not seem as capable of thinking outside the box and mixing materials to create unique and stunning detailed overall looks that can be shaped to any style, by the use of appropriate detailed moldings. Classic, Mission, Craftsmen, Art Deco, and most other styles are not defined as much by the actual door style used as they are by the choice of how to accent the doors with accompanying crown, casing, or light valence molding that create the overall style.

The only thing I would have like to have done for this client is gotten her a better price on her therapy tub. She unfortunately had already bought it from a local retailer prior meeting me. If she had gotten the tub through my wholesaler, I could have saved her enough money to pay for most of the other plumbing fixtures she would up buying through my supplier. In the end she was happy and I am sure will call me first if she decides to do more work. She was a pleasure to work with.