Bathroom Remodel

Bathroom BEFORE starting the remodel

Our home like most in the neighborhood was built around 1980 so some of the interior decor was starting to show its age.
Since moving into our home in 1998, we have wanted to remodel the walk-thru master bathroom but the project seemed daunting and the cost was another unknown factor.

Going into the project, there were several features we wanted to include:
- double sink vanity
- heated floors (eventually ruled out)
- skylight or solar tube
- all tile floor

We found the vanity on sale at Costco which jumpstarted the whole process. We knew we had 60" of space for the vanity which limited our double sink vanity choices since most are 72" long. When a 60" long double sink vanity and granite top that we liked went on sale, we immediately began researching the other choices and costs.

Some of the decision points:
- Tile the entire bathroom walls? We decided on only the shower surround and the floor due to cost and thought tiling the walls may make the bathroom more echo'y and also more harsh/hard feeling
- tile all the way to the ceiling in the shower -- we decided to do this and are very glad we did

- Replace the tub also? We left the original tub based mainly on our contractor's recommendation. It was in decent shape and was a cast iron Kohler tub so it was a quality tub.
- What color tile? We made several trips to Home Depot, Lowes, Menard's and the Ceramic Tile Shop on Zachary Lane in Maple Grove (one of our favorite tile shops). We also brought our remodeler, Jerry LeMire out one evening to help us decide on tile color, accent tiles and bullnose tile (the tile that goes along the edge of the shower and also along the baseboard). We eventually decided on a lighter tile to help with bathroom lighting and a matching grout.

It was difficult to find tile we liked that was affordable and that had matching bullnose. We purchased the tile from Home Depot and learned all Home Depots are not the same - the store in Fridley just north of I694 is a larger store and has a larger selection.

- Grout color - match the tile (per Jerry's advice)
- Replace the exhaust fan? We decided not to against Jerry's recommendation and of course the exhaust fan failed not long after we were done so I replaced it but it wasn't a fun job for a novice -- nothing ever fits or lines up like you think it should!

- build a shelf into the shower wall for shampoo bottles - we followed Jerry's recommendation and are VERY glad we had him install this and the tile shelf/ledge on the wall (see picture)

The project took around 2 weeks and the major steps were:
1. Called Jerry to get on his schedule
2. Purchase the long lead item, the vanity
3. Begin shopping for flooring, lights, faucets, toilet - I think we made a dozen trips to the home stores to finalize these details
4. Demo the bathroom (saved us some $$$) and took around 8-10 hours. Probably should have ordered a small dumpster as it was challenging to get rid of the demo'd materials and building scrap.

Sources:
- floor tile, mirrors and odds and ends - Home Depot
- accent tiles - Ceramic Tileworks (Zachary Lane in Maple Grove)
- tub and sink faucets - Delta from Lowe's

- carpet expert to finish the carpet where it meets the tile - John Thibodeau
- toilet - Kohler from Lowe's
- solar tube - Lowe's

- custom cabinet doors on the walls (linen closets) - custom made to match the vanity - Rich Hipp, Hipp Cabinetry and Contruction - did a great job matching the doors, everyone asks how we got them to match exactly
Contractor/Remodeler - Jerry LeMire. Jerry did a GREAT job and was very devoted to completing the job as efficiently as possible. His final bill came in right at what he estimated at the beginning of the project and his expertise and honest answers to our questions was refreshing.

Total cost for the project -- around $5900

Finished Product