WAUNA TILE & STONEWORKS
MCCORMICK WOODS 1
Here is a complete remodel that drastically changed the look and feel of this bathroom. First, it involved a full tearout, from the vanity/countertop/sinks to the corner shower and floor to ceiling wall cabinetry straight out of the 90s. And not a second too late because upon tearout I discovered that the shower was built wrong, big surprize, and ecentually was just a bunch of wet sand sitting under the tile. This is one of the biggest problems I see when showers fail, the drain flange weep holes are clogged up, something that is easily avoided for free, you just have to go outside dig up a little bit of dirt, sift it out til you get small rocks and place them around the drain before packing in the sand mix, or you can buy some pea gravel for 8 bucks and that would last hundreds of shower pan installations, but for this missed step, it will cost the homeowner thousands to fix in the near future. Another issue with this pan was that the liner was directly nailed to the lumber for the curb and throughout the liner, which completely defeats the purpose of having a waterproof liner, the minute the liner is punctured its no longer waterproof, not sure how people dont understand that, but my job is to correct these issues and guarantee that no problems will ever arise with my workmanship and installations so with the tearout complete it was time to focus my attention on getting the area ready to be prepped for tile, this started with dropping half of the bathrooms subfloor and getting the drains placed where I needed them for a freestanding bathtub and a shower linear drain. Along with the drain placement, I framed in a small "kickout" and installed a balanced 2way shower valve rough-in and got the rough-in supply lines for the tubs freestanding faucet securely in place.
Now that the rough-in plumbing was done and the "wet area" had its subfloor properly dropped with added blocking for extra structural integrity to hold the weight of the tile prep materials, the tile installation and the freestanding tub when completely filled, Then I attached dimensional lumber to both sides of the transition from main floor to wet area which will later become mounts for glass panels. The glass panels that will get incorporated are actually 3/8" glass slider doors that I had installed in the hallway bathroom a few month prior when remodeling it, and the homeowner decided that he didnt want the glass in there so I came up with this idea to incorporate them into the master remodel so they didnt become wasted money for my clients. moving forward it was time to get the main floor area to finish prep elevation so I would have my height to screed off of for a curbless entry wet area. The main floor area perimeter was dammed off and all nail holes, subfloor plywood joints feather finished for running infloor heat, once the wire was properly ran and strapped down, the floor got primer and a 8 bag self-leveling compound encased the heat wire and gave me my screed elevation. Then came the wall prep and additional moisture barrier on the wet areas subfloor, metal lath for strength of the "pan" and a drypack mud deck in the tub area and sloping down to the shower side linear drain. The entire area got multiple coats of liquid waterproofing membrane that stretched out beyond the threshold of the sloped in wet area and up to ceiling height.
Now it was time for the fun part, The part that I still love doing after 15 straight years, Tile Installation!!! And thankfully these clients let me run with my creative side and they put thier trust in my artistic abilities. The "wet area" got a carrera marble hex installed after it was presealed. I then took the 12"x24" porcelain tile that was picked out for the main floor and cut them up and began installing a one of a kind versailles-like pattern but I wanted to bring the floor a step above and beyond so when it came to the transition of main floor to wet area, I cut the hex tile into the main floor porcelain and made the hex fade out by cutting random grouped and individual tiles, yet properly placed exactly where they would be if set in full sheets, into the main floor tiles. This sets the floor apart as the majority of installers would not take the time for this detain and just make the transition a straight grout joint with hex on one side floor tile on the other. Sure that look has its place but not in this bathroom. Needless to say, the homeowners loved the finished look and with matching grout it comes out being a subtle detail and doesn't take away from the rest of the bathroom, yet shows craftmanship and a next level to detail when noticed A 10"x30" ceramic "wave" wall tile got installed on a straight horizontal set, and once the wall tile layout was established, the inset niches' got cut out on both sides of the back wall, prepped and waterproof bonded to the surrounding waterproofing, then the marble hex was installed on the niches' back walls and I used the floor tile for the inside walls , top and bottom and to fabricate a shelf in both, the upper and lower mounts for the glass install got the wall "wave" tile on the inside and outide and the tops along with the inside face were tiled with the marble hex. Incorporating all the tile together, I installed the floor tile versailles-like pattern up the face of the wall "kick out" holding the shower valve. The wall tile continued the entire far outside wall from floor to ceiling and wrapped around behind the toilet at a wainscot height which mirrored the opposite side of the wet area as wainscot continued out to the doorway. All tile edges got a white schluter metal tile edge trim detail..
Now that the "wet area" was all completely done with tile, And the walls and floor grouted, I focused my attention to finishing details. A new white shaker style solid wood vanity got installed with marble countertop, double undermount sinks and waterfall faucets. Then more tile, a carrera marble hex backsplash from countertop to ceiling got installed and grouted, New vanity lighting went in place of the previous outdated light. The toilet re-installed, and the freestanding tub and faucet were set in place and hooked up to the rough-in drain and supply lines. Shower faucet trim and overhead and hand held faucets installed, along with sliding the 2 glass panels into the perfectly fabricated and precisely built upper and lower mounts. Holes were drilled into the backsplash marble hex and mirrors got hung. The homeowner didn't want curtains or blinds so the window got a deco rice paper covering film. After a few minor adjustments and watertesting, the bathroom was handed over to the clients fo utilize for a lifetime of spa-like enjoyment
