It all started with a little leak.

One day we noticed that the carpet around the shower was soaked with water. I ripped open the area and discovered that water has been coming out of the corners of the basin. Good thing the leaks didn't damage the floor nor the ceiling underneath.

The house is just a little more than 10 years old now, so it's probably not out of the question to have this happen.

We first re-grouted the tiles but the leaks continued. So for a cheap fix, we just corked all over the inside to plug the leaks.

We were going to replace the carpet with vinyl flooring. We didn't want to go tile thinking it would be cold and too expensive. But after getting quotes from a few places, we were shocked to learn that vinyl would cost almost as much as tile. So after looking at the options, we decided on tiling the floor.

The original bathroom was not too dated. It had standard white tiles and framed plastic shower enclosure. The walls were painted white also, so it was a very "generic" bathroom.

The tub enclosure had a fairly large surface area, and we used it for our plants and other nick-naks. With the remodel, I wanted a sitting area inside the shower, so we decided to extend the new shower onto the tub enclosure also.

We also decided to upgrade to a frameless glass enclosure to match the new tile work.

The crew turned out to be the owner's sons and their friends. They did a good job building the base of the shower. That was probably the most important part of the project.

They completely took out the tub, which is the right way of re-tiling around it. They replaced the wall boards with the moisture resistent type, which is something that should have been there when the original builder constructed the house.

In general, the crew did a good job. However, since there were so many individuals working on this project (we saw a different person everyday coming to the job), and the fact that they didn't communicate with each other very well, we ended up with many instances of re-work because information was not passed on from one crew member to the next person working on the same task. They were responsive in fixing the mistakes, just wished we didn't have to go there.

Another goof-up was re-installing the tub. Somehow, it went in crooked. It also made this noise when you stepped inside. Apparently, the foundation was not quite right. One of the faucets was also misaligned. When we showed it to Dave, he had the crew completely remove the tub and re-set it again. They did it right the second time and everything is correctly installed.

It was frustrating to have these goof-ups, but they quickly fixed them to our satisfaction. So overall, we were pleased with how the remod turned out.

The project took almost 2 months to complete. We really love the new look. It's amazing how much difference a little more room in the shower makes. The new tile floor is not as cold as expected, and certainly a better value than laying down plastic.

The glass shower enclosure added a more modern look, and better quality than the old plastic one. We also love the travertine basin and trims. They really complimented the entire design very well.

It's a great bathroom...and it all started out with just a little leak. We hope this will be the last home improvement project we'll do for a while.

Here is a link that might be useful: The New Bath