Master Bathroom Details and Sources

Master Bathroom Details and Sources

I was so excited to FINALLY write the before/after post of the bathroom and I’m just as excited to divulge the details of it all!

Let’s start off with the statement piece in the room– the clawfoot tub!

clawfoot tub

My sister-in-law, Amanda, mentioned that her in-laws had an old clawfoot tub in their basement that’s been sitting there for years and years.  I’m pretty sure this tub is from the early 1900’s.  To my surprise, they offered to give us the tub for free!!!  So that was exciting and a great start to figuring out what exactly I wanted the bathroom to look like.

Here’s the tub the day we got it–

image

image_1

image_2

image_3

image_4

Who’s grateful for strong men in her life?  THIS GIRL!

I began calling around to get estimate on the bathtub resurfacing. I got 3 estimates and they were all $550-$600. That’s how much a new tub would be in that space anyways, including building/tiling the decking around it, so I wasn’t upset by that price tag at all (especially because we didn’t pay a dime for the tub).  Then I started browsing faucets and hardware for the tub.  I had been warned about going cheap on the hardware by my contractor because he said that it is common for them to leak if you go cheap, and given the fact that plumbing has been the major issue in our house since day 1, we didn’t want to take the chance.

It took a while to decide, but I ended up going with a telephone style faucet from VintageTub.com to the tune of $540.  Yep, that’s a lot of money!  It did include all of the necessary hardware (drains and drain cleaning, water shutoffs, etc.) and it had really good reviews.

In case that you would like to install hot water to your bathtub, we recommend you the services of hot water systems Melbourne they have a professional team that can help you out.

It arrived like this–

image_7

Anyone else shocked by the number of boxes? I was! Installing the plumbing is way more complicated than I ever would have thought.  Again, this is why we hired a residential plumber!

IMG_4052

I love the look and feel (it’s very heavy!) of the faucet and am glad that we spent the money on quality so we don’t have to worry about it breaking down the road.

Next up is the chandelier above the tub.

IMG_4111

Here’s a better picture of it from the Pottery Barn website–

Pottery Barn Dalila Beaded Crystal Chandelier

This light is priced at $249 on PotteryBarn.com.  I, however, snagged this beauty at the Pottery Barn Outlet in Dawsonville, GA for $40!   Seriously one of the best finds in quite a while.

While I was at the outlets I stopped by Restoration Hardware.  Everytime I go up there I have to go by both stores.  It helps that they’re right across from each other.

My estimate for a new vanity came in around $3000 including the countertop.  Ouch.  That did not set well with me at all.  It kind of disgusted me really that it would cost that much.

Enter Restoration Hardware Outlet bathroom vanities.

We found the Maison Double Vanity Sink Base that retails for $2250 on sale for $1100 (side note: it’s actually on clearance right now for $1125 online!).  I loved the look of it but was unsure how it would fit in the room because there would be gaps on either side of the vanity between the walls.  After drawing it out and getting some opinions I decided to go for it.

vanity

We gave ourselves an $2000 dollar budget for the vanity and countertop, so I was left with $900 for the top.  I could have done carrerra marble, but it actually didn’t match my tiles very well so I found a granite that meshed well with the room.

I went to several granite places based off of a google search and didn’t have a very good experience at any of them in terms of pricing or service.  The last place I visited from my google search won me over EASILY–Granite & Marble Solutions  in Alpharetta.

I toured the boneyard with Mike and he was so nice to me.  He didn’t dismiss me because I was a girl or because I wasn’t a contractor.  He heard my budget and only showed me what I could afford.  He listened to what I was looking for visually and guided me right to what I needed.  So a huge shoutout to Mike Gann for being so great to work with!

image_10

I ended up going with this slab of granite–it has a gray undertone with darker gray and purple speckling.  I was surprised that I liked any stone other than an expensive marble.  The woes of having expensive taste.

The total for the countertop including 2 sinks (which were free because of a special they were running) and instillation was $869.  I came in under budget by $131!

In case anyone is curious what you pay for when you get countertops, here’s the itemized estimate–

Est_10033_from_Gann_Corporation_dba_Granite_and_Marble_Solutions_10_2748 copyThe mirrors are from Z Gallerie.  You can find them here. They are $249 each, but I got them over Labor Day weekend and they were having a 20% off sale, so the mirrors came out to $400 plus tax.  Maybe I’m just cheap, but I was shocked by how expensive nice mirrors are.  I did find some cheaper ones but I quickly realized that the quality of the glass was poor and it wasn’t something you wanted to look at and do your make-up or hair.  Something about cheap mirror glass gives off a distorted reflection.

IMG_4104

I don’t regret spending the money on nice mirrors one bit.  They really give the polished look to the vanity area that I was going for.

Now for my absolute FAVORITE part of the entire room——HERRINGBONE FLOORS!!!

IMG_4110

Here’s the deal: never in a million years did I think I could fit a herringbone pattern in to the budget for this room.  It is very time consuming to lay, there’s a lot more grout to buy, and a lot more tile cutting to do.  More time=more moolah.

image

image_2

image_4

So how did I afford this you ask?

Hello Craigslist. I love you madly.

I happened to stumble upon an ad for tile on Craigslist.  It was some random company that was going out of business and had tile that they were practically giving away.

The tile I purchased is a ceramic tile and is about 2×12 inches.  It’s beigy-gray in color and when I looked at it in person I was sold.  Well, as long as the price was right, of course.

“How much for this tile?” I asked sticking my preggo belly out there hoping it would save me some sympathy dollars.

He replied with “Sixty cents a square foot”.  That was it….sold!

My budget was $3/sqft and I knew I was pushing it with that tight of a budget.

He told me to come back with my SUV and a truck.  I was shocked that I couldn’t fit the tile in my SUV alone.  I was only buying 250 square feet, but he insisted I would need both cars.  He took me back in to the warehouse and showed me the pallot and a half of tile.  “Are you sure that’s only 250 square feet?”  He ensure me it was and that was all he had left of it.  I’ve never tile a thing in my life and this guy was the salesman, so I trusted his words.  Alex and I came back a couple days later, paid the man $169 after tax, loaded down both cars and went on our way.

When we got home and unloaded everything Alex and I both kept saying that there was no way this was only 250 sqft!  Alex got to counting and calculating and what do you know….it was definitely NOT 250 sqft.

We had close to 600 SQUARE FEET of tile in our garage!!!

That means we paid $0.30/sqft for the tile!!!

Yup. We were both cracking up at the situation, but needless to say that’s how we were able to afford the extra labor cost of doing the herringbone pattern.  We also decided to take advantage of the excess and use it for the shower and for our guest bathroom shower (that room’s not finished…but I hope to start back up with it soon). This tile is going to look great with our new shower doors.

image_1

IMG_4060

So there you have it.  That’s the majority of the cost breakdown.

Here’s the itemized list done as best as possible:

Demolition (this also includes demo of our guest bath so it’s high) — $1800

Framing (changing the half-wall by the toilet to a full wall) — $570

Electrical & Electrician from services like jlkelectrical.ie (moving/installing new vanity lights, chandelier, shower light, shower vent, new light switches in toilet area) — $475

Plumbing (installing vanity, sinks, clawfoot tub, shower, toilet) — $665

Sheetrock — $875

Tile Labor — $4100

Trim (material & labor) — $670

Electrical Material — $200

Shower Glass Door. — source unknown — $650

Paint (labor & supplies) — $650

Trash/Disposa — $385

Vanity base — Restoration Hardware$1100

Vanity countertop — Granite & Marble Solutions$869

Shower hardware — source unknown — $100

Shower floor tile — Floor & Decor Outlet$80

Chandelier — Pottery Barn $40

Tub Hardware — Vintage Tub & Bath$540

Tub Restoration —  Unique Refinishers$550

Vanity Lights — Home Depot — $50/each — $150


8 responses to “Master Bathroom Details and Sources”

  1. Gosh, Emily, everything looks great. You got some amazing deals, even though it was an expensive project. You can tell you have high-quality everything. I am in shock that you got the PB chandy for 40$!! Love it over the claw-foot tub. How’s your precious baby girl doing, btw?

  2. I’m so glad you are back to blogging. I agree with Sherri, you got some amazing deals and everything is gorgeous! Maybe that tile guy was going out of business because he didn’t know what he is doing. Well his mistake was a big bonus for you guys.

  3. Do you recall the brand name and color of your floor tile. I love it and it is exactly what I am looking for for our bathroom. I am sure we won’t be able to score I deal like yours, but I have to have that tile. Feel free to email me the details 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.