Master Bathroom Renovation Story & Reveal

You might remember me mentioning a couple months ago that I was helping my parent's with their master bathroom remodel. Well, after MONTHS of living in a construction zone because of a very unfortunate contractor (more on this below), they finally have a finished, beautiful bathroom! Before we get to the reveal, first you have to check out the BEFORE:

 The main reason for the reno was because the shower was leaking, which would require it to be ripped up and a new shower pan installed. The second reason was that it's clearly dated and we wanted to give it a facelift! You will notice lots of problems with the grout, uneven tiles, the countertop was tiles which is always hard to keep clean, not a lot of space to put bottles in the shower, etc.

The AFTER took a lot of time to get to because while we were in Hawaii with my parents back in April, we thought it'd be the perfect time for the contractor to start the job. My parents were out of the house, but had someone watching their dog, so it was a good time to get going while they weren't home. This contractor came recommended to my family and since I don't live in the area, I had no input or knowledge on him. When we got back from our trip, he was "done" with the shower tiling and laying the river rock floor. 
It was still drying when we got back and saw it, so we couldn't really inspect it very well, so we all just glanced before we headed to bed and then took a flight back to Michigan the next day. When we landed I had text messages from my mom of the shower and all of its many imperfections! It honestly looked as if this guy had never laid tile before. There were so many rookie mistakes, I just have to show you:
First of all, the tile store ordered a shade darker of the grout that we selected (ugh! so frustrating!) But what the contractor did was not wash out his sponge well enough when he switched from grouting the floor to the walls, which had a lighter grout. Like WHAT?! Rule number one when grouting, people! So you can see some darker spots throughout the subway tile.

Secondly, he didn't space the tiles evenly when he laid them. You can see some of the spaces have WAY more grout than other areas.

Thirdly, and to me, the worst offender was the way he laid the niche tile. All tile professionals should know to start in the MIDDLE of the niche and work out when trimming it. This guy clearly started from the left side and then realized he ran out of space for a full-length tile there, so just filled in with a tiny one. I couldn't believe it! See how awful this looks?!

My parents were so upset. And of course, so was I. I've never had a job turn out like this before! I showed it to my tile store in Michigan and they said it was amateur at best and they would completely rip it out to redo it. The problem was, this was an independent contractor and when my parents told him there were some things not to their liking, he was rude, didn't see the problem, wouldn't fix it, and wanted his money.

This is why I always recommend getting a professional tiler sent out from a store so that the job is backed by the store in case of issues. Had we gone through a store, they would have paid for the job to be redone.

ANYWAYS, we parted ways with that contractor after he also messed up the trim on the countertops, and my parents called in their friend who is a trusted contractor (he actually designed and flipped their house back when they bought it 18 years ago so we should have just gone with him from the start!) He sent out his tile guy and he worked on fixing all of the first guy's mistakes. Now it looks stunning and they love it so much!
These pics were taken before the towel bars and wall art got hung, but it's better than nothing!
Starting with the vanity, it got a fresh coat of white paint, new quartz countertops in Cirrus (LG brand) and a gorgeous new marble hexagon pattern backsplash with marble pencil trim. The vanity also got new knobs and a new undermount sink with pretty fixtures.

The shower also got a much-needed facelift (and a lot of fixing from our new tile installer!) Look at how perfect the trim on the niche looks now! Perfectly even all the way around. We took out the little corner shelves and installed this niche because it provides more space for bottles but also more space inside the shower. It's a small shower and having to worry about corner shelves wasn't working well. The footprint of the shower stayed the same, so it was important to maximize the space we did have to work with.

Also notice all the grout lines are even! Praise God! (Again, how it should have been in the first place)

The shower door was also replaced with a Euro style door that doesn't have seams. It's such a more clean look!

Hope you liked this little tour of iPhone photos and hopefully this is a warning to everyone who's looking to renovate a room in their home! Like I said, I'd be sure your tile guy is backed by a contractor or tile store for quality control. I'd also make sure you've seen multiple pictures of their work before trusting the person to do a good job. And of course if you hire an interior designer who could be onsite checking in, that's always a great idea :) If I wasn't in Hawaii and didn't live across the country from my parents, I would have gladly done this for their job!
To see a little video tour, check out my instagram stories today where I'll be showing it to you!

Happy Wednesday! xoxo interior design website / services / portfolio