BATH REMODEL ~ The Good & Ugly

Originally, we planned on starting our renovation adventures
with our master bedroom suite.  If you have been following, you'll remember that
Mr. Heart decided it would be best for our first gut job to be on a smaller scale.
He is a wise man!  I had already begun gathering inspirational pictures
and had a good idea about fixtures and finishes, so we moved forward with renovating the
guest bathroom.  We were excited to start and for the most part it went
very well, though we have learned a few things along the way.  Possibly our new found
experience will be helpful to someone else, so I wanted to share a few things
about our guest bath remodel...

1) Will it be a DIY project and if so how much will you do yourself?
There are some contractors/decorators that aren't interested in being assisted.

2) Interview several contractors, get references, see their work (very important!),
agree on a price, and give no money up front.

3) Have a clear idea of what you want, time frames, etc., and communicate it well
so everyone is on the same page.

4) Discuss with your contractor/installers all of the materials and finishing touches
you are wanting, to be sure they have experience working with your material choices
and can accomplish the look you are hoping to achieve.

For us, this was not a project we wanted to tackle, so no DIY here.
We had a pretty clear vision for our project.  If assistance is needed you may want to
seek the help of an interior designer.  It would be sad to finish a remodel project
and it not be all you had hoped for.  We met with several contractors,
spoke with their references, and checked out their work, so we were good to go.

Most of my inspiration came through magazine pictures and I especially wanted
a light and bright guest bathroom.  As you can see in these next two pictures,
carrara marble makes for a light and bright bath…
(Calcutta, carrara, and statuary marble have many of the same attributes and it is often difficult to tell them apart.)

In the beginning, when discussing our material choices with our contractor and his son,
they informed us they hadn’t installed carrara marble before, to which we replied the only
thing we have heard is to use non-sanded grout for installation because the sand would scratch
the marble.  They agreed to check on how to install marble tile for any other installation
requirements.

We purchased the carrara for the flooring, wall tile, wall trim, the slab for the vanity top
and all of the fixtures and accessories.  Our contractor began the tear out.  We began paying
for labor and reimbursing them for materials along the way. The contractor installed the
marble flooring and it was beautiful, all light and bright.  They did a wonderful job.
The remodel was becoming long, loud, dusty, messy, and trying at times,
but overall it went very well…except for the marble wall tile installation…

On the first day of installing the wall tile, the guys were able to complete one full wall and
the commode area.  By early evening, we began to notice the tile color was turning dark and dingy.
We all thought it may be due to the marble being damp and once the adhesive dried it would
lighten up again.  As time went on we could see the tile becoming darker and darker
with shades of brown coming through. (dark arrows.) We stood some wall tiles across the
bottom of the wall to reference the original color prior to installation. (white arrows)

By the next morning, my heart began to sink as the difference between the wall tile
and floor tile became more and more apparent.

Our contractor suggested we give it another day to dry, still hoping it was a moisture issue.
By the next evening the tile was even darker with shades of dark gray, tan and cream.
Compared to the vanity top and the flooring, my light and bright bathroom was becoming even
more dark and dingy...

We were all confused.  The floor install turned out beautifully and stayed true to color.
What was happening to make the wall tile discolor?  The contractor had no answers
and continued thinking it was due to the moisture still needing to dry.
But it seemed, the drier - the darker, which was not the result we were hoping for.

So, we began reading the labels on the bags of flooring adhesive and then on the
container of wall adhesive where it was quickly noticed...
“Not for use with natural stone.”
Come to find out, this product was pigmented with a cream color and the cream was

showing through.  Also, the adhesive had been applied to the back of each tile with
a notched trowel, causing a shadow effect to show through the tile.  Marble, we learned,
has to be covered completely with the installation adhesive and not applied with a
notched trowel.  So, the darkening tile was due to the contractor using the same product
he uses for all his tile installs to also install our marble tile.  
Hmmm, we wondered, what happened to checking to see what was needed for
installing carrara marble tile as was discussed in the beginning?
Oh well, the darkened wall tile was removed.  We purchased more tile which was
then installed with the correct adhesive.

This pictures shows a section of removed tile compared to the new tile that was installed
with the proper application, the bathroom was looking light and bright again...

We were glad the problem came to light before more tile had been installed.  We felt bad for
us in having to buy more marble tile and felt bad for them in their time and hard work.  So, we
absorbed the cost of the tile and they absorbed their labor.  We moved forward together,
the project was finished, and we were all very happy with the end result.

Moral of our remodel story…

They are professionals, but no one can know everything.  So, ask questions and be satisfied
with the answers.  Ask more questions, check and re-check, because you can never be
too involved in the process.  Most of all have realistic expectations.  There will be problems
and when they arise there will need  to be fair solutions for everyone involved.

Here is a glimpse of the finished guest bathroom, you can click the picture if you would
like to see the finished project...

Have a remodel story you can share, if so please do!

Thanks so much for visiting, please leave a comment so I’ll know you did.

Blessings,

Cindy

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