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There is a company in England that makes brick stain. They do several colors, so you can probably get something close to what the bricks originally were. You will have to stain each brick independently.
Here is the UK company: https://dyebrick.com/gallery/index/category/239-restorations
Here is one in Canada: https://www.permatint.com
What did your contractor say? Have they even attempted to remove the grout from the surface of the brick? The problem is in the way the grout was applied and removed. Get them in there to try to rectify this situation.
It is so apparent that the grout is what changed the tile color. I can't see how trying new grout color will help this without the old grout being removed ( if it even can ) .
Bring these people back to your home now. The more time you waste here , the less likely they will want to help you.
I hope you can get a resolve soon!
" There is a company in England that makes brick stain "
@Nancy in Mich, that is all well and good by the real issue from what i hear is the thick globbed mortar joints, which really changed the look more than the brick color.
I removed our plate glass mirror and installed two recessed medicine cabinets in its place. The mirrors swing open in opposite directions, so you can position them to see anywhere on your head, using the mirrors on the inside of the doors. I took out the small medicine cabinet located where yours is and had my builder make a walnut shelving niche in its place, to match the wood in the rest of the room.
We’re just repainting and cleaning them up. We like the functionality of these old mirrors.
Or, is the installation defective? No way to know from here!
Squeegee it and call it good.
" It is level. "
Is it supposed to be? Is the bottom pitched towards the drain?
I doubt the wall tile with ridges is even rated to be a floor tile.
Another thing to consider with shower floors is hard water. If you have hard water in your municipal water system, the sediment can form on the tile flooring. My solid surface shower pan is cloudy with mineral build up and I need to treat it a few more times with Lime Away to get to the clean floor! It just kind of snuck up on me over the years. I can only imagine the problems you would have with ridged floors!
Thanks Nancy for taking the time to comment I decided to go with the 2 x 2 mosaic tile instead of the ridged floor even though Mirrelli rates it for floor as well as wall. just not willing to take a chance of water sitting
I installed a Kohler acrylic tub. IMO, the most important installation item with any lighter weight tub is a full bed of mortar supporting the tub bottom. Full support = no flexing = no fatigue cracking. My tub has near 100% mortar support and it's solid as a rock. Works with the cheap tubs, too.
If you can make your own good quality cabinets then that is the best option.
I would check out kitchen showrooms. We just had a vanity made out of Fabuwood for a hall bathroom.
I honestly don’t remember price.
We’ve bought 2 vanities online in the past. Luckily they came undamaged.
Corian can make a shower pan any size and shape. It is nothing like a fiberglass pan, and because the color goes all the way through, it can be refinished if it is ever needed.
We installed a Kohler cast iron shower receptor (pan) in our guest bathroom. It looks very nice, and no worries about grout cracking or becoming grungy.
The white tile leaves room for a splash of paint. And the option to repaint in the future if your taste in color changes…. You could go a soft pastel or strong and moody and maybe change the vanity if you desperately want to…
What’s to hate? I think you need to observe the rule that you should live a year in a new home for at least a year to be sure what you need out of a remodel. Yes, the tile is plain and shiny. At least the green stripe and green floor match well, though. Do you prefer a matte finish? Be wary of following trends in something as long-lasting as a tile bathroom.
Live with this bathroom while you settle in, discover your needs in this home, and watch how others in the building do with their remodels before you jump in. Remodeling in a condo or apartment is a lot more complicated than in a single family home. You may want to wait until certain members of the board leave, rules change, or whatever is needed to make a remodel easier. You have a great working bathroom, so you have the option to observe, see roadblocks and what is behind them before you get tied up in a remodel.
What style do you like? What is your budget?
The only thing that looks Tuscan to me is the accent tile on the floor. You could paint it and it would be a lot less noticeable. Do you have the accent tiles in the shower as well?
The counter, lights and mirrors are not Tuscan but they are a little generic and boring. Updating them shouldn't be too costly.
If you could share inspiration photos that would be helpful.
Not a pro but I would do glass to the ceiling and then run a ceiling track for a shower curtain + custom shower curtain (I feel like i remember reading that drilling tempered glass is problematic?)
I think you'd be better off getting an L-shaped ceiling-mounted shower rod, and using a curtain around the pony wall side too. Then you can put in the glass pony wall and doors later on.
Is there any room on the first floor that could ever be a bedroom? Would that bathroom with a shower ever be used by a family member with limited mobility who needs to sleep on the first floor and needs a full bathroom too? If you can't imagine any scenario in which that is possible, then I agree with your plan to remove the full first floor bath and keep a powder room.
The whole point of the heated floor is to heat the floor and tile is the best for that purpose.
This is Kompy. I was around 30 when I joined Gardenweb way back when!! I turn 60 in June. Wow how time flies! Since then I got divorced, remarried, sent a kid off to college, had same kid decide to skip on college and start his career...but through it all have stayed a happy go lucky person...and I still love my job as a kitchen designer, going on 40 yrs! Me and new hubby are friends with old hubby. Stopped by his house yesterday with my son after the amazing OHIO Eclipse! I still come on Houzz everyday while I eat my lunch at my desk...which is what I did 30 years ago on GW! I've learned so much from all the pros here as well as the homeowners! I miss GW still...it seemed more close-knit and kind.
So nice to see your Post Kompy
I was recently wondering the same thing, I checked her user profile and her last comment was in February of 2023...I hope she's OK. I sent her a message today to see if she's still around Houzz.
My shower curtain billows inward just a bit on my curbless shower during a shower. It has never moved out of the shower. I have a heavy vinyl liner. It just barely touches the shower floor. The shower is 63" x 37" in size and the vent fan is outside the shower and pulls 80 cfm.
For the last 30 years we've had showers without doors or curtains in the last 2 homes we built. The shower is designed so the water stays in the shower. Each was designed by us and they were different in size and shape. Wouldn't have it any other way.
@Lars - I also have the same type of valves in the shower - thermostatic system where the source and temperature are controlled by different valves. Mine is a three way diverter because I have a hand held shower that is by my bench.
Like you I step into the shower and select the hand held which is pointed away from me and there is no blast of cold water.
Have your contractor look into Flexinstall LED lights. They can be installed with or without junction boxes, so if there's enough room to run electric, in theory, you can have ceiling lights.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Flexinstall-LED-14-in-White-Disklight-Recessed-Ceiling-Light-for-Home-with-5CCT-DuoBright-Dimming-92060/324109301
As for a fan, I'd see if you can do a wall mounted exhaust fan, since you have a window in the space I assume you can access the exterior, which would have been the path through the ceiling too.
There are so many directions you can go in terms of style, do you have any general inspiration that you've been thinking of for the space that you can share?
A couple things I'd prioritize if it were my space and I couldn't do ceiling lighting
1. opaque globes/shades to minimize the intensity of bulbs that are closer to eye-level than if they were ceiling mounted.
2. closed globes (rather than open access to bulbs) making them easy to clean and protected from moisture.
A few concepts here
If you can have drywall for your ceiling, you can have LED lights. Like the above lights, the Dals ones I used in my shower ARE their own junction box, can be installed in the depth of the drywall ceiling, and just need to have wire running to them. They come damp rated or not.
https://dals.com/product-category/recessed/slim-panels/
As for ventilation, it is on an outside wall. Wall fans used to be a thing. If you can have a window, why can’t you have a through-wall exhaust fan?