It was a big week in the bathroom progress and, not surprisingly, we ran into more than a few hurdles in the process. This is no surprise: This old house is anything but square and level. This caused a rather significant issue when the contractor was setting the shower pan because they had to futz around with it for quite some time. We went with a low-profile plain shower pan. There is only about an inch difference in height between it and the finished floor so it’s very unobtrusive and I didn’t feel like fussing with a custom mudded and tiled shower pan.
Then it came time to level the floor, which was out a full two inches from one end of the bathroom to the other, just 9 feet away. Our poor tile guy (the husband of one of my best friends, who has done all of the tile work in our house) spent seven hours just leveling the floor and incorporating the heated floor cables (an add-on that I couldn’t have cared less about but Mr. Much More Patient really wanted). He was here until 11:30 one night!
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| To accommodate the amount we had to bring the floor up to level it, we fashioned a ramp to meet up with the hallway. |
Leveling the floor meant we had a decision to make about how to make the transition to the hallway, because of course the “high” side of the floor was the end by the hallway. We decided to create a mini ramp with two pieces of tile.
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| The floor in progress. It took much longer to level it than it did to tile it. |
And then the floor tile went in. Bestill my heart. I was very selective about how the pieces should be laid out (although a couple snuck in places I wouldn’t have chosen, but it’s fine). Originally I was planning a herring bone layout in this room, but I was afraid that the striped marble tiles in the small room would be way too busy in a traditional herringbone layout. So I decided to have them set in the same pattern but perpendicular and parallel to the walls, rather than angled to the walls. Somehow it calmed the design to me.
I sealed all the tiles ahead of time with the sealer our tile guy recommends and I’ll give the entire floor another coat after the grout is completely dry.
I can’t tell you how much I love this floor. When I found the tile I knew right away that I’d do whatever it took to have it and although I’ve had a little pushback on it from some people, I think it’s fabulous.
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| Yes, I love it. |
What is most amazing thus far in this renovation is the difference that pulling out the shower insert made. I thought this was a small bathroom. Suddenly with a full height ceiling in the shower and the additional 6 inches we gained width wise (enough to accommodate a 66-inch by 36-inch shower base), the room looks huge. Even without anything on the walls in the shower, it looks so much bigger. I never expected that.
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| The room looks so much bigger with the shower insert removed. |
We’ll see what surprises the coming week brings.
Check out the official One Room Challenge featured designers here and all of my fellow guest participants here.
35 Responses
I thought I had decided on a patterned tile for my bathroom remodel but when I saw your floor I loved it and have been searching frantically to find it in a porcelain. Marazzi VitaElegante looks very similar. Thank you for the inspiration!
Also found StonePeak Zebrino series which is also porcelain and comes in 12 x 24, 6 x 24, 12 x 12 and various mosaics. I can’t wati!
Gorgeous! That tile, oh my goodness! This is going to be one snazzy bathroom!
An amazing floor!! Inspired to lay it in that pattern in the small space. cannot wait to see more!
oh yea, pinned it! The floor is beautiful! I really want to see how the tile in the shower is installed with the floor-pan you have. I could not find something like that when we did our bathroom before selling the house so we had to use small square tiles.
Wow that floor omy I need that in my life. I literally said wow out loud reading the post. I can not wait to see this transformation, bathrooms and kitchens are one of my favorite designs.
Goodluck!!
Lauren | Lovely Décor
xx
That floor! So amazing. Great choice and can't wait to see the final space!
Erin I adore the direction that your room is headed towards! You did SO much better than I did in my room this week.
I would love for you to share this post at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. I think our readers would really enjoy it!
Good luck in the upcoming week!
Thank you, Laura. I'll check it out!
I'm with you…those tiles are gorgeous! Our house was built in a cookie-cutter neighborhood back in '69 so we don't have a single level/square spot in the house. (Just today we had a plumber here to give an estimate on replacing our water heater and he was tsk-ing about the size pipe that was used *smh*) It sounds like you came up with a good solution to deal with the flooring difference, too. Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the space turns out. So far it looks like it's off to a beautiful start!
Thanks, Leslie!
Handsome tile job – sort of a contemporary Art Deco look to it. Kudos to your tile man for persevering and getting such a perfect installation.
Thanks Merlyn. We've had our share of issues with contractors but our tile guy is the best.
I feel your pain! When we did board and batten in my daughter's room, we found out just how hard it is to work with walls and flooring that is not square and level! Your tile is gorgeous, though, so worth the effort! Can't wait to see how the rest of the room takes shape!
I can't imagine trying to do board and batten in a room that was badly out of square. It gives me a headache just thinking about it.
OMG! that tile is AMAZING!!!! I love how the marble striping works in the herringbone pattern. Fantastic job, Erin!
Thank you so much Heather!
Wow!! That title is beautiful!!!
Thanks, Tammy!
That floor is amazing!! Really, it looks so great. So impressed at your bathroom progress so far! 🙂
Thanks for the nice comments, Brit.
What a stunning floor, I have never seen anything like that! (And I have seen a LOT of different floors in my career!) Can't wait to see it with everything else in place! Kristin @ Postbox Designs
Thanks Kristin! I can't wait to see how all comes together as well.
The tile looks absolutely gorgeous! You got alot done this week!!! Looking good!
Yes, I'm very happy with how things are progressing. I hope it keeps moving like this! Thanks for the nice comments on the tile.
That tile is awesome. Love, love it!
Thank you, Tiffany!
That floor is stunning! What a phenomenal choice!
Thanks, Brenna! I may start sleeping in there just to be closer to it.
Looks great and a big start to the project. In our former house you could roll a marble downhill in any room due to age (1899). This house is not as bad but has lots of quirks due to homeowner doing a fair amount of substandard work. We've fixed the worst looking or most dangerous things but there's still more we could do.
Isn't it frustrating when people before you cheap out and take shortcuts that you'd never dream of doing? We've found more than a few (like that damn wall texture).
ditto on loving the tile! please let us know manufacturer & source.
you are giving me the courage to think more what I need to do for my home!!!
Here's a link to the floor tile: http://www.anatoliatile.com/fluid_marble.html
I found it at a local tile showroom. Generically it's marmara marble and I know that Ann Sacks sells a very similar tile but I bet there are others out there as well. I'm using a 6×18 size.
Personally, I LOVE the tile! So fun and so pretty and not something everyone else will have! I can't wait to see what else you do with your bathroom!
Thanks, Tilisa!