Opinions on a variety of bathroom decisions....

2 years ago

Haven't posted on here in a while but here goes.... We're updating the master bathroom, likely selling the home at some point in the not too distant future. We're in the Atlanta area had have lived here for about 25 years. Not sure what the next step is but this is the last of the major renovations, having updated the kitchen, hardwood floors and carpeting.

Would love a few comments on the following:

1. Polished or honed marble? My tile installer suggested I look at porcelain, but it seems to me that marble is nicer for a master bath. I was sure I wanted honed, but am now thinking I'm going with polished marble. Found some really nice stuff at a local Floor & Decor (I had some really pretty stuff at at great price from a local stone supplier, but I think I like the pattern in the F&D marble even better.) The honed only comes in 18 x 18 square, so I'm planning on that for the floor to save someone (me?) from slipping on a possibly wet floor. The polished comes in 12 x 24 and I was planning on that for shower and jacuzzi surround (and yes, we finally decided in the end to keep the jetted tub.)

I've had matte tiles on there for years, not sure if the polished is going to drive me crazy with reflections or not -- it will depend on where you are in the bathroom. There are two large square windows over head, so the room gets a decent amount of light. If I go honed-only, then I either have to pick new stuff or use the 18 x 18, but then there is NO reflection, it doesn't even seem like a matte reflection.

Once the polished marble is sealed, do I have to worry about much else? Scratches or special things to clean it with? I've had carrara marble in my kitchen for the past 5 years and, while I was a nervous wreck to take the leap, I absolutely love it! It's honed but still has a bit of a shine to it, possibly from use or the sealer?

Is there a way to take down the shine on a polished marble without taking all of the tiles to someone to do that.... would something like light steel wool do it? Would a sealer take away some of the high shine? And in some lights the surface looks like it has water marks on it, but that's the "crystalline" look of the underlying stone (sorry, no pics at the moment.) If you can understand what that is, is that normal?

2. Shower size -- Tub and shower are all on one wall, looking left to right. We were thinking of leaving the surround on the jetted tub and moving the current shower wall to the left, to make the shower wall come up against where your head would be in the jacuzzi, essentially creating a bench in the shower. While this will not increase the shower footprint, it will "feel" bigger, because the shower wall will be further away, closer to the jetted tub. Hope that makes sense.

The other option was cut into the box that holds the jetted tub and increase the footprint of the shower. It's the more expensive way to go to gain about 9-10" of space on the shower floor.

3. To niche or not to niche? We now have a shampoo niche in the shower and we were thinking of taking it out and putting the corner shelf tiles instead to house shampoo, etc. (of which there is a ton, for two people!) The niche just collects water and gets junky, but maybe that will resolve itself with a new tiler that will tilt it properly, I don't know. I've heard several times from tile and designer types that "people love the niches" so maybe this should stay? I'm trying to get a clean look but have to admit it's useful to have it there (sits between faucet head and the handle.) The excess hair care and body products could always sit on the "bench"/tub surround if we go that route, above. The niche could also be a place to put some nice accent tiles for design purposes.

Sorry for the long post, lots bouncing around in my head! Thank you for feedback!

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Comments (10)

msjoan
2 years ago
Porcelain tile is much more durable than any natural stone. If you want your master to look great in when you're ready to sell, you may want to consider it. PS I kick myself for not having had a niche installed (with nice accent tiles).
Helen
2 years ago
I have honed marble in my master and polished marble in my guest bath. I wanted a softer feel for my master bath. My marble counter is not typical marble as it is French Vanilla which is not very strongly "marbled".

I would advise against getting such large tiles as they are a safety hazard. Honed doesn't make the tiles less slippery - it gives them a soft satin finish instead of a very shiny finish.

My master bath has Calacatta basket weave which has lots of grout for my feet to grip. When I was remodeling I rented an apartment that had 12" x 12" marble tile and I felt that it was a death excursion whenever I took a shower because the least bit of moisture on the floor made it as slick as ice.

I love marble FWIW and also rejected any of the manmade options because they just didn't speak to me. There was something very artificial about them.
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I just noticed something about your toilet. It has an in-swinging door. That might not meet code. If it does, it is still a dangerous situation. If someone passed out in there, they would block the door from opening, and help could not get in. In the hospital I work at the doors have a latch and hinge set so that the doors can open either in or out for safety. A pocket door would work if the toilet was pivoted 90 degrees, so that the bowl or tank of the toilet faced the shower, the shower moved down a bit, and the linen closet at the end of the shower moved to the toilet room wall, to make up the extra width that the shower will take up. The toilet will need to have 36" min interior width for best function, and that would leave about 24" in depth, a perfect depth for a wall closet, to balance the wall with the shower depth. Next the door could be pocket and slide behind the closet area.
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Okay, so this is how exhausted I am. I am just home from work (almost the last day of school - yay!) and I'm skimming the topics while putting my tired feet up before starting dinner. "Oh", I say to myself, "someone is trying to decide on bathroom tile just like me". It's only when I click on the thread that I realize it is me! I just read somewhere that each tile can weigh as much as 3 pounds. Therefore, shipping is going to be fairly costly too. What if I just do one bathroom with the encaustic (possibly rug style) and do the other bathroom in hardwood? The hardwood is covered under the insurance. Do people put hardwood in a bathroom or is that just asking for trouble? It is site finished oak. If I do use the encaustic, it will definitely be of the neutral variety. The middle pic that tibbrix posted above is my inspiration bathroom and the one that got me searching for the tile. The cement tile shop . com makes one that looks pretty identical. Sorry I haven't replied to each post. I have read them and appreciate all opinions - even those that don't like it. It helps to realize it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Resale is always an issue at some point, but we are going on the assumption that this is our forever house. I'm off to read some designer and contractor emails and answer a ton of their questions. Right now I'm wishing I was little less of a decor addict and could just say, "oh, just go ahead and do what you think is best."
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I have considered 3 alternatives I like best the suggestion to place the tub IN the window. Other thoughts: - I'd take the toilet out of the closet. The closet will be small, dark and claustrophobic -- and harder to clean. It doesn't contain storage space for toilet paper or medical items you might need as you age. It does require emptying a second trash can each week. - If you're dead-set on the toilet-in-a-closet, consider flip-flopping it with the shower so the closet can have a window. - If you do go with a toilet-in-closet, the door should not swing inward. - Where will you place a hamper for dirty clothes? - Will towels be stored on the shelves near the tub? If you turn the tub horizontally, be sure not to cut off easy access to those shelves. - That's a ton of counter space. Excessive space can lead to clutter. - It would make sense to have the shower head and the toilet "back to back" to keep plumbing consolidated. - Have you planned storage IN the shower? If you go with a pony wall in the shower, you'll be able to hide purple shampoo bottles, etc. behind it -- and that's better than those less-than-attractive things being on display. Don't skimp on in-shower storage -- you don't want to build a lovely shower, then have bottles rattling around on the floor. - You have a lot of empty space in the middle of this bathroom, which can end up feeling cold and, well -- empty. It looks perfect after cleaning for 1 day, then back to spots and scale. Yes, this is a lot of glass to keep clean. I'd consider an old-fashioned shower curtain, which would also bring in some color and texture. Wanted a hand shower as well. Definitely My dream tub. I am a small person and prefer to sit more upright than slide down in an oversized tub because my feet don’t touch the other side, lol. Yes, I prefer a DEEP tub but not a BIG tub. Other tub thoughts: - I like to read in the tub, so I'd want a sconce or some other light positioned in the right spot near the tub. - I also like the water coming out of the wall rather than a freestanding faucet, but that's just personal opinion. One way to keep your shower glass looking good is to squeegee it after every use, then dry it with a towel. If you do this it barely needs to be cleaned. This is more work than some people want to do, so you have to decide whether you want to do it. I think pretty much everyone falls into the "more work than people want to do". You can reach your hand in, turn on and adjust the flow and temp without splashing everywhere or burning/freezing yourself. This is an important detail. As far as towel placement, we previously had a similar dilemma, and used a hook on the shower door for the towel I was going to ask where you would place towels -- the shower handle is a good idea, but you still need somewhere to hang tub towels. I currently have hooks instead of a shower bar, and I hate it -- the towels often don't fully dry.
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Denise Tokarz
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you to both of you! msjoan, another vote for the niche, thank you!

Helen, are you talking about the basket weave in the shower only or all over the floor? I was planning on a smaller mosaic, similar to a basket weave in the shower but didn't think the larger squares on the floor would be a problem. The kids' jack and jill bathrooms and the existing tile on the walls and tub surround are all matte 6 x 6, but currently there's very old carpeting in there, to be replaced by the tile. (The master is over the bathroom and gets chilly in the winter, so we went with the builder's carpeting throughout at the time. Hopefully we won't freeze with the tile!)

Porcelain has come a very long way, but I felt like if we're going to advertise an updated master bath, it just seems to me that a marble bathroom is a bigger plus, as long as it's sealed and is generally worry-free. Could be wrong! Thank .you again!
Helen
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
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.
Denise Tokarz
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you for your feedback. It's really interesting to hear other opinions, I appreciate your taking the time to post. :)
plan2remodel
2 years ago
Do you use the jetted tub? How big is the shower? Would it make sense to expand the shower and replace the jacuzzi with a free-standing tub?
Denise Tokarz
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi! Yes, we use the jetted tub, that's part of the reason that we don't want to get rid of it. But also, it's an additional expense to remove it and replace it with a free standing tub. I think if we were definitely keeping this home, I'd rip it out and get a new tub. The shower is not huge but not tiny either, standard size (can get measurements later!) Even if I move the shower glass wall over to where you head would be at the tub, it will "feel" bigger -- same footprint but the space where your upper body is will be more spacious, if that makes sense. Thanks for posting!
PRO
User
2 years ago
If you are selling soon, forget any remodel at all. It is a big money loser. You won’t have enough time to enjoy it either.
cpartist
2 years ago
I have to agree with Joseph. You'll never recoup any of the money you put into the bathroom.
Denise Tokarz
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi! We'll be here for at least a year I think. It needs to be done. The bathroom is part torn apart as is. There was carpeting that went into the bathroom from the upstairs bedroom (it's over the garage & gets chilly so that was the decision 25 years ago for heat reasons.) We replaced the carpeting and stopped right at the point where you'd enter into the bathroom and now the new stuff is against the old stuff that's waiting to be torn up. I "maybe" could sell the house as and let someone else do the remodel but it looks like crap at the moment and I don't want to do that. We're not 100% sure of the next step, my husband wants out of here yesterday but we don't know where we'll go, so we're updating, enjoying it while we can and if we move, we do, but the house has to get ready. I'm not putting top of the line stuff in here and have plenty of places I know of for cost-effective materials, remnant pieces, etc., so I'm pretty confident I can do this and not go crazy monetarily.

Opinions on a variety of bathroom decisions....

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msjoan

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Opinions on a variety of bathroom decisions....

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msjoan

Helen

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