Master Bath

The master bath at the SR project was completed this weekend.  It is really, really beautiful.  I'll get some pictures, but I'm not sure that I can get a good vantage point giving the small bathroom.  My tile man had to do lots of extra work to ensure that everything fit well--to include extending the frame of the shower so the vanity top would be flush with the shower opening and reframing for the centering of the niche.  Weekend before last he alluded that I might not be happy with his price.

On Saturday he said that he thought a long time and that he had to charge me $X for the work. He was apologetic because it was a small space, but I had budgeted for a figure a little higher than that.  As he clearly was giving me a discount, I told him that I would give him $Y, a number 11% higher and the number that I had budgeted (though I did not tell him I had budgeted that).  He seemed relieved.

This tiny bathroom is expensive, coming in at $10k or so including the demolition and reworking the plumbing.  It would likely be at least 50-75% more had another contractor do the entire thing. Given that this home is on a block of expensive homes, it made sense to 'splurge'.  Splurge is in quotes, because at least 1/2 of the cost was unavoidable given the condition the existing state of repairs (unworkable vanity, unworkable plumbing, large expanses of missing tile from the floor and the wall).  Gutting and starting over was the only course of action that was going to yield a satisfactory result. This bathroom will certainly be a selling feature; however, any looking for a bathroom 'suite' will not be moved.

I'm positioning this home to be a a turn-key home with 'affordable luxury'.  I want the home to have features that are consistent with a home costing much more--the bathroom, kitchen/den flooring, kitchen appliances, premium lighting (purchased at a discount), and finished garage being central to executing on that plan. Therefore, I'm very cognizant of  getting lot of  bang out of every buck spent.

With the floors getting refinished this week, the living area of the home will be fully complete.  We'll tackle the garage over the coming few weeks and get this wrapped up to put on the market.