What Was The Original Bathroom Like?
This was the original bathroom to the original house. It’s a typical 1968–1970s bungalow — rather small according to 2026 standards, but it’s a beautiful, warm home where a family could raise their kids, and this is how things were in the past. The bathroom is rather small, 60 by 90, and it’s a typical old bathroom with an old metal tub that the customer wanted to change to a shower.
Why Did The Client Choose To Renovate Their Bathroom?
When the customer bought the home — I’m not sure if it was her first home or not — she was buying a property already knowing that she loves the location and she loves the house. However, she did not love the bathroom, and she knew that one day she would renovate it. That day came. She selected iBathrooms, and we did this renovation.
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Were There Challenges To Renovate This Bathroom?
We did a full bathroom makeover. There was no relocation of fixtures or the shower. We converted the tub into a standing glass shower, so the new bathroom — as you can see in the photo — has got a low-profile shower base, but we kept it in essentially the same location. The original tub was 30”W x 60”L. By code, we are required to have 15 inches from the center of the toilet flange to the next item, which in our case is the shower base. We had extra space for the toilet. Now with the new 32-inch shower base, we are within code. The old tub had extra space; we used that extra space to give the customer that additional 2 inches.
We kept the vanity in exactly the same location, and we kept the toilet in exactly the same location. New flooring went in, new tiles went in the shower — obviously with waterproofing — new glass doors, new shower base. I do have to say that a combination of an acrylic shower base with tile walls is my personal preference. We do a lot of custom tile and it’s great and looks amazing. The only problem is the extra cost — that $3,000 — and extra maintenance afterwards, because oftentimes the grout on the shower floor and the tile itself, which needs to be more grippy, will require a little bit more cleaning if the water is hard.
Other than that, the bathroom remained exactly the same, location-of-fixtures wise. Where the tub was, the shower went. The toilet remained in its own place. The vanity was installed in the exact location where the old vanity was. Same with the light fixture, same with the medicine cabinet. All in all, the bathroom received a complete makeover, and as you can see in the pictures, it looks completely different.
The Design Process – Before and After
It’s very obvious. Before, it was a typical 1960s bathroom with smaller tiles on the wall and tile-like vinyl on the floor. All these white fixtures that were supposed to make it look nice and clean were all showing their age. What we wanted to do in this bathroom was make it look as big as possible, including turning popcorn ceilings into smooth ceilings to give the illusion of height. The customer was very brave to introduce color. Her choice of a gold fixture in conjunction with white tile that has these golden inlays in them works beautifully, and the color of the vanity — this navy blue — is just incredible.
The big thing that was done for this bathroom is that we used super large tiles: 36 x 36 on the floor, which basically leaves almost no grout lines at all, and 24 x 48 on the wall, which also makes the bathroom look much bigger. The choice of large-scale tiles is what I call future-proofing the bathroom. If you walk into this bathroom ten years from now, you will probably think it’s a current trend, that it was renovated a week ago. The trend is clearly heading toward larger tiles.
Craft Details Worth Mentioning
Not every contractor wants to work with large-scale tiles. It is a lot more difficult; it’s a lot more physically demanding. These tiles have to be installed level. There cannot be any variation in the surface upon which they’re installed. They have to be installed properly with 100% coverage, because if there are air gaps, cracks are possible. Our usual process involves using Schluter-DITRA for crack prevention and moisture prevention. It also includes Densshield and Schluter Kerdi-Band for waterproofing the walls above the acrylic shower base.
For this particular job, there is a window right in the shower, which is a double-edged sword. That window brings tons of light into the bathroom and makes it look even more spacious and airy. At the same time, that window is like a sore thumb — it’s right in the middle and it needs to be addressed with proper waterproofing so there is no damage, no leaks. A little bit more work went in. We wrapped the window with waterproofing and then tiled beautifully around it, so it doesn’t look bad at all.
Genuine Results and Feedback
I do invite everyone to please look at the video review that the customer just left for us. It is incredibly humbling and touching when a customer — and most people are not okay being on camera — speaks words of gratitude. You can see how genuine this is. This is not something you can force people to do. I’m deeply, deeply touched that our customers feel this way about their bathroom, their home, about the process, about us. This is part of the reason why we do what we do — hearing feedback like this. We love it and are deeply grateful.
Philosophy That Went Into This Project: Truth In Simplicity
The truth is that our customers want a bathroom that’s going to last them for a while — not a bathroom that lasts until the warranty runs out, but a bathroom that’s going to last them for decades to come. I know that. This is human nature; we all know that.
The truth is, even though this bathroom looks beautiful, what’s more beautiful is what went inside: from the waterproofing of the walls, the uncoupling membrane for the floor, to how the shower base is supported with the foam that is injected underneath it to give it better rigidity and support — and all the premium materials that went into this project. These guarantee that it will last for a long time. Most customers don’t know what those materials are, and most will not understand the difference between a premium material and a cheap one. The truth is simple, and it’s very simple for us, the contractors, to be truthful and make sure the work we’ve done is not just putting lipstick on the pig — but something that is unseen, yet known to us. It is done well.