pros/cons of first floor master
hairmetal4ever
12 years ago
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OttawaGardener
12 years agoterezosa / terriks
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Carrara Marble in Master Bath - pros and cons?
Comments (56)This topic couldn't be more timely! I am in the process of selling my NYC condo and buying a Loudoun County new construction home. To start with, the condo had marble baths - vanities, floors, shower tiles, wall tiles - the whole thing. I hated it! Looking back, I now know why I hated it. I hated it because I always knew that condo was not my forever home. I was always trying to keep it looking fresh and clean and pristine for "when we sell". That meant that I was always wiping up water from the vanities. If we had guests, I would take every opportunity to go into the second bathroom to wipe up whatever water was sitting on the vanity. This was a constant issue and stress for me and my poor husband who was an innocent bystander to my obsession. One day my cat peed on the bath mat on the floor and the etching in front of the tub freaked me out and I couldn't look at it without worrying about a potential buyer's complaints. One night I put my contact case on the vanity without drying it off and to this day there is an outline of a contact case on that vanity. All this being said, the first person who looked at my condo made me a full price offer with no mention of the barthroom marble! Now that we are building our dream home, I have decided to put in 150 feet of Carrara marble kitchen counters and am plotting for that day In the future when I can afford to redo the builder 4x4 ceramic tiles in the master bathroom our budget requires we get now with Carrara marble tiles and vanities. Long story short, now that I know that this is "my" house and whatever I do with it only has to please me and not some future buyer, I am doing exactly what I want. The thing is that I am a relaxed person who enjoys things that feel warm and homey and used but have an underlying elegance. Marble is perfect for me! I can't wait to have it and enjoy it and appreciate it's characteristics rather than fighting them. Marble boils down to this, if you are going to fight every mark and indication of use - DON'T GET IT it is not for you. Stick with granite or something else that will look brand new in 20 years. If you appreciate a patina and signs of use, then get it and love it....See MorePlace Master BR on 1st or 2nd Floor? Pros/Cons?
Comments (18)We wanted first floor master as that is what we had in our last house but when it came time to build we went with 2nd floor master and here is why. We built on a 100 ft wide lot with a neighborhood that mandates side load garages (which we like anyway). If you are building a house with large common areas, it doesn't give you much width to do a nice size master suite on the first floor. Yes - you can always build back but on smaller lots, you resist side windows, and as you build back, you have less window space per floor space (think townhouse). So after looking at spec houses in the same neighborhood, we realized that we liked what we could get only in 2nd floor master plans. The footprint stayed smaller which kept our garage entry easy and kept us away from a river running through the back yard (more like a seasonal thing but either way something you don't want near the house). Our neighbor has a 1st floor master - he has a hard time getting in his driveway. And his closets are smaller than ours. So for a "city" lot with a bigger house, 2nd floor master allows a better suite. For privacy - two walls are exterior, one is against master bath and then laundry room and the fourth is a large master closet bumped up mostly to a closet in a guest bedroom. There is a small area that goes from master closet directly into guest bedroom but otherwise we are 3 walls away from anyone. We also have 2 doors - one to the suite and one to the bedroom. And for virtual separation our suite is a foot higher so you have to walk up 2 stairs to get to it....See MoreHelp With Basic Bathroom Flooring Question -Pros and Cons of Materials
Comments (7)I wanted a feminine but not cloyingly "girly" look. I think you have hit the mark in the beige-y tiles -- and any number of colors would work as accents with this tile, so you'll be able to change your look over the years. I would not frame these tiles with the copper hexes -- I think the frames would be somewhat jarring and would ruin the soft, almost watercolor-y look of these tiles. I think I'd do the majority of the shower with the large tile in the lower right ... the flower-looking tile as an accent band ... and put the copper hexes (which I do like -- just not as a frame) on the shower floor. The small tiles will give you greater grip on the shower floor, which is important since you say you value aging-in-place. Yes, they'll require some scrubbing occasionally, but you're not talking about a big area -- and safety matters. Are these marble? I would not go with marble in the shower -- not matter how lovely -- it's not an easy-to-maintain material. Yes to porcelain every time. It's essentially "forever", moderately priced, and so many choices. Yes, labor will cost more than you expect. You can minimize this a bit by going with large sized tiles on the shower walls ... and by using a simple layout (simple square layout rather than herringbone, for example). Yes, labor should be about the same regardless of whether you use marble or porcelain. Excellent advice above about putting in grab bars now. Let the tile installer do it now ... let him PLAN the tiles around the idea of grab bars ... rather than having someone come in later /in future years and plop the bars in the middle of your lovely tile. Excellent advice, too, about taking photographs while the walls are open. Maybe you'll never need to know what lies behind your walls, but it'll take little effort to take the pictures, and it could be very useful someday. While you're planning this shower, go with a larger storage niche than you think you need ... and think about NOT using your expensive accent tile in the back of the niche ... you're going to cover it up with shampoo bottles. I'm not clear on this: Are you talking about tile for just the shower floor ... or the bathroom floor PLUS the shower floor? I've decided to use same wood-tone LVP literally everywhere in my whole house ... except the two showers. I have tile floors in my bathroom now, and I do not love that they're cold underfoot. Also, tile is harder on the joints as you age -- I like the linoleum in my kitchen better than the tile in my bathroom. Perhaps this is a mismatch of qualities /materials, but -- as you said above -- I'm building to please myself. Last thought: Do it right. Tile lasts a long, long time -- you'll likely never re-do this. So don't skimp....See MoreWhat are pros and cons between hardwood and carpet flooring in bedroom
Comments (5)Carpets are warm and quiet underfoot. The noise dampening of carpet is not to be under estimated. Carpet prevents noise from moving OUT of a room and into another room as well as prevents noise ENTERING from underneath (ahem...the family room). That being said, the carpet is NOT the part that offers the noise reduction....it is the HIGH END PAD that offers the noise reduction. To get the noise reduction properties of carpet, you have to work with a more expensive carpet pad. Simply throwing down commercial grade berber over plywood (as an example) will not offer any form of acoustic properties. A hardwood floor can be used to reduce noise with SEVERAL requirements being Added to the installation. Of course, first and foremost the subfloors for those bedrooms need to be assessed to ensure a happy install. You might find that the hardwood install requires a LOT more preparation (ahem...costs and materials) than you anticipated. OK, assuming things are ready to role without much effort (rarely happens but let's just play along for a moment) the hardwood will need an acoustic underlayment (such as 6mm or 12mm cork underlayment). It is the underlayment (again...it is all about what sits UNDERNEATH the floor) that absorbs the noise, not the wood itself. The underlayment can add 1/4" (6mm) or even 1/2" (12mm) worth of floor-height raise onto a hardwood that might already be 3/4" thick. Oh dear. Check your door clearance. Most doors can handle a floor that is (roughly) 3/4" thick. That means most interior doors can handle 3/4" hardwood or a thick carpet + thick pad or even laid tile (can sit roughly 3/4") without having to remove/trim and rehang the darn things. But let's imagine this isn't going to be so easy. Let's imagine the hardwood needs a STIFFER subfloor which might mean another 1/2" of plywood. And now you want to add in 1/4" of cork for noise dampening. And then you choose a 3/4" solid hardwood. Uh Oh. You have just added 1 1/2" worth of floor height in those rooms. Hmmmmmm. Now the doors have to be trimmed and rehung. Oh wait and now the hallway floor sits REALLY low which means a BIG transition in the doorways. Whew. A beautifully thick carpet and thick pad will max out at 3/4". Doors and baseboards should be able to handle that thickness without much issue. The real trick will be the hardwood. What is the flooring OUTSIDE the bedrooms? What is currently INSIDE the bedrooms? What are your door clearances CURRENTLY sitting at? What is the subfloor thickness? How much noise enters/exits those rooms with the current set up?...See Morekats_meow
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