Bathroom floor decision for new home.
I am building a new home and I'm trying to decide which way to go for the downstairs bathroom floor. The house has an open floor plan for the main living areas, so I thought I would use the same floor throughout the first floor- including a bedroom, bathroom, hallway, pantry, laundry room.
I'm thinking I'll go with a dark floor-- Republic SPC in Carmel-- because I like the contrast with white walls and black fixtures throughout. The cabinets will be a walnut modern flat panel, with floating vanities in bathrooms.
Now I'm wondering if it's OK to use the same floor in the downstairs bathroom? (it's water-safe) Or should I go with a tile floor? (making it the only room with a different floor downstairs)
This is the SPC I think I'll use (shown with the cabinet sample):
Comments (14)
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New Bathroom/Addition vs. Bathroom/Kitchen Remodel
Comments (5)thanks to all who have posted so far, especially Eric. We can probably save/budget down the road for a kitchen redo, or do part of it ourselves. Additions would be a little harder for us except finish work (floors, tile, etc. Can do drywall even but would need to find time to do it). What that kitchen has is a U shaped layout, not too bad except there are overhanging cabinets between a small dining/family space and the kitchen. It's a counter/pass through kind of setup where someone can sit at stools and talk with the person in the kitchen....except the cabinets hang down so the person in the kitchen has to look under them. We would likely tear those out and relocate the stovetop to the perimeter wall and make that pass through an island. Then that entire space could become kitchen/dining. It is possible we could still move out a wall on that (kitchen) side of the house down the road too, we are in Hawaii so all the construction costs are much, much higher than mainland. So jealous of all the posters here who can put on a large extension for less than 50K. Plan A or Plan B will cost us about the same. We don't plan to sell and move anytime soon, but should we need to we're leaning toward sq. footage instead of just extending current bath and upgrading the kitchen. Our neighborhood is about 20 years old so people are beginning to redo those rooms as the fixtures and appliances are ageing. We redid all the appliances about three years ago with stainless finishes, new faucet/sink, and redid the countertop Corian, so the kitchen is livable - just need to clear out some clutter and make smarter usage on available storage space. We could paint or restain the cabinet doors to freshen it up. A few neighbors are creating the "big bang" kitchen now but I'm not certain a 70K upgrade will improve the value that much as a new neighborhood is planned about 5 miles away within the next couple of years. Would we love to live in a "WOW" kitchen, of course. But as with most people we have to make a decision on where it is best to spend the money for now. We could feasibly also add on a 2nd story in future years, but we prefer the single story and if we age-in-place as planned, the new bath will include wide accesses and no-curb shower....See MoreAdvice on converting first-floor full bathroom to half bathroom
Comments (19)As a real estate appraiser I would advise to try to keep it. It will reduce the valuation by a few percent. If I were to appraise your home, I would now have to compare and adjust it from a 3 bathroom home to a 2.5. That's anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 adjustment downwards. Understand that I don't know where you live or your real estate market. Even though there is no bedroom on the floor, it's a very usable space. At the very least, I'd put in a shower. You just never know when someone will lose their mobility. It looks like an older home. If your laundry room is in the basement, you may want to reconfigure it to bring the laundry up to the main living area. That would be an improvement in utility and the only reason why I would consider eliminating it. Hard to see everything, but you could reconfigure the doorway/entry and take over that vestibule area....See MoreNew home build bathroom/toilet odor
Comments (5)The paths that sewer gas can may enter a bathroom is through the drains of the toilet, lavatory, or bath/shower. I would not suspect the toilet since water traps are built-in to that appliance. Water traps for the lavatory and tub or shower drain are constructed by the plumbing. Look under the sink to see if it has a trap. It will be difficult to see under the tub or shower floor, but look down the drains of these for standing water. These traps are standard and building inspectors should have looked for these, but these are so common those could have been over-looked. The other possibility is faulty vents or lack of a vent. The bathroom drains should be vented to the outside of the house, usually up the inside of a wall and through the roof. A differential pressure can develop between the street sewer and outer space. One source is wind. If the vent is plugged or improperly installed, wind gusts can slush the water back and forth in the traps and flush out enough water to break the water seal. After that, sewer gas can enter the room. If your sense of smell is keen enough, you may be able to tell by which source the gas is entering the room. By the way, sewer gas is combustible. It can be ignited if its concentration becomes great enough....See MoreOpinions on a variety of bathroom decisions....
Comments (10)I have the same basket weave in the shower and the floor. My death trap rental had the 12” x 12” in the shower and bathroom floor. The large tiles on the floor were very slippery if there was any moisture. Luckily the shower was framed so i couid hang on to the top of the frame if i moved my feet. And i thought about every step My bathroom has been in use for 3 years with no issues. It is a fairly high quality stone so there aren’t issues of iron oxidation. I also only have cleaning products that are safe for marble. I will say that if i had it to do over, I might have gone with a polished tile in the master as well because the polished is very striking. But the honed is very elegant 🤷♀️🤷♀️ FWIW neither of my bathrooms are the typical gray marble spa look as my inspiration was more the period Art Deco styles. Eta I have a niche and I also have a very attractive corner basket from Kohler. It does not resemble the after market type of baskets and was imstalled by my tile setter. I also have a built in bench which I love. Some people do a little niche very low for their feet when they shave....See More
John Creek
3 years ago
drsweetie
3 years agodrsweetie
3 years ago
PROBeth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agowhy not just do a large hex, black tile in the bathroom? black and the walnut look great together. Or if that's too dark, you could choose a charcoal, or even white tile. Find a nice porcelain tile w/minimal grout lines
something like this 24x24 matte charcoal porcelain tile, would be very versatile (Tilebar)
or,
drsweetie thanked Beth H. :- PRO
Beth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI think a larger format porcelain tile could work anywhere.
why don't you go look at Tilebar, search large format floor tiles, and get some samples?
I like the larger 24x24 or 30x30 with tiny grout lines
cavatina corda
arkim
Lines-greige
Linden, white
you like Terrazzo? they carry it now. I think they even make one in porcelain.
found another option for the charcoal tile. DalTile Gray hex with Driftwood color grout
and tilebar has some decent wood-look tiles toohttps://tilebar.com/collection/porcelain-tile/shop-by-look-porcelain/wood-look-tile.html
drsweetie
3 years ago- PRO
Beth H. :
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agolol. so am I, and I can't imagine having heated floors! I'd die! I have marble in my bathroom and even in the dead of winter, it's not that cold! wear slippers and use the money you'll save for some better quality tile!
(are you in the OC area?? I have a ton of samples from tilebar)
btw, take a look at this tile for the shower w/the walnut floating vanity. comes in a few colors. I love this large tile for a shower
https://tilebar.com/kenridge-ribbon-maple-24x48-matte-porcelain-tile.html
comes in a large format chevron tile too
your vanity goes pretty well w/this.
or this
drsweetie thanked Beth H. :
drsweetieOriginal Author