Saturday Learnings

We visited CIOT (Lawrence & Dufferin) and found some nice tiles. Our favourite was a faux-slate (porcelain) in a charcoal grey at $4.50/sf. It's Corek 12x01P which is a 12x12 porcelain tile. The shower tile we both liked was Luxor beige 13x20 at $5.75/SF (ALFL13200IK). His total would be around $680 for tiles (both floor and wall, excluding labour).

I also liked a beige floor tile but thought it would look too plain to have both beige on the floor and shower. It was 13x13 Pietra orient IMPP13x04P. My total would be $513 for tiles.

We loved the natural stone (marble, slate, etc.) but realized that we're too lazy to continually treat it and care for it. We're happy to have it installed and of course clean it... but treating it is another story.... As we were leaving there was a nice quartz (caesarstone) called Lagos Blue 4350 that he liked.

Next we visited Taps which was adjacent. We saw a nice sliding shower door 60" 3/8 frameless but there was no price. There were a few nice tubs which were around $439 and 60x32x18 which were a bit too narrow for our spaces.

We had a quick lunch at the nearby Wendy's and then head over to Ginger's. This was a nice showroom but way too pricey. He liked the TOTO toilet, soft close seat but it was skirted (too feminine for him) and it had a narrow inside. He liked the Anna Mirror with shelf that was 51"high x 28"wide for $299.96. It had the same wenge wood as his coffee table (BNT5001001). The chocolate brown and grey towels were nice but at $59 were way too expensive. I think the Bay or Sears would have similar towels for about half the cost. Finally, he liked the wall sconses Roderick double sconse (2191019) in polished chrome or polished nickle for $155. I thought this seemed pricey and that we could find it elsewhere for less. If anyone has any ideas, please let us know! He thought they looked like "light sabres" from Star Wars...

Her Bathroom

My bathroom is fairly simple, square shaped and there is no urgency to renovate. I moved into my place in May 2003 and have been living in my condo for ~5 years. The previous owners had black tile on both the floor and that line the shower wall - which I've never been a fan of... I'd like to go with something more mainstream that will hopefully increase resale value (beige or earth tones).

His bathroom

We've both taken our bathroom measurements and have a rough sketch. As you can see from his sketch, he has an odd-shaped bathroom. There's a closet behind the tub. The vanity has the sink to the left side and a lot of counter space (roughly 50"). He's considering moving the sink to the centre but would then lose the counter space.

There's a shelf behind the toilet, which he would like to remove. The tub measures 58.75" and most tubs now are about 60". We liked Schluter tubs (with air technology).

Saturday Shopping Excursion

To our fellow renovating bloggers - thank you for all your comments & advice!

This Saturday we've made appointments and are planning to vist more bathroom showrooms - around the Castlefield design district. There's one called CIOT (has anybody been?) where apparently they give you a buzzer upon arrival. You tour the showroom, and when your buzzer flashes/goes off, you go back to the front for your appointment.

We're also going to check out Ginger's and Taps since they're in the same area... They've suggested that we bring 3 things:
1. Rough diagram/sketch of our bathrooms - with measurements (should these be in inches?)
2. Photos of our current bathrooms (aka the "before" shots)
3. Images of what we'd like our bathrooms to look like (aka the "after" pics)

We're going to bring our usual pad of paper and pen. I was thinking of taking my camera. Does anyone know if you're allowed to take photos of the showrooms??? Should we bring anything else???

Contractor Estimate #1

How do you find a good contractor that's willing to renovate a condo bathroom? We went to RenoMark (see bathroom links area on this blog). They have a standard that they require all their renovators to follow.

You can also visit some web-sites (see links) for contractor ratings. Although, a colleague of mine had a mishap with a contractor that received a 9.0 (out of 10) rating so you never know...

We contacted Contractor #1 to give both of us an estimate on our respective bathrooms. We learned the following from him:

1. Tiles

• Labour for marble costs more (adhesive is extra)
• Consider mosaic tiles for a modern look
• Don't go with marble dust products as they scratch
• Tile size doesn't effect cost
• You have to remove the tub anyways and may get damaged in the process, consider replacing

2. Faucets

• If replacing tiles, should replace tub and sink faucets for an updated look
• Rain head - height of ceiling should be considered - may not allow for it
• For re-sale value, adjustable heights will sell better (moveable shower head)
• Consider a brand like Aquabrass, similar value to more expensive brands

3. Tub

• Consider half glass panel for shower instead of sliding doors?
• Consider concrete sheet/slab behind tile

4. Countertops

• Consider quartz (ceasarstone) - it's more expensive but won't scratch, and it's not porous
• Don't extend countertop behind toilet (dated look)
• Granite is good but may be porous - it's necessary to "seal" it so that it's water-proof (not sure how often sealing is required?)

5. Vanity

• Custom made versus pre-made: a few colleagues mentioned that they picked up their vanity at Home Sense and also Rona (for between $700-$1100). This is less expensive (and faster!) than custom made but you may not get exactly what you want.
• Wall mounted is more of a design trend, less storage for a condo - may require more support for backing to hold in place (concrete walls need to handle load)

6. Plumbing

• Ensure building shuts off water to entire condo unit prior to work done

7. Other issues

• Garbage disposal
• Booking elevators (in advance)
• Letter to Management board 10 days prior & approval required

We received quotes that higher than anticipated! We're going to get a second and third opinion (to see if everything matches up) and continue to check more showrooms. Any ideas? Let us know!

Tubs Etobicoke Showroom

Much to our surprise, very few Kitchen + Bath showrooms are open on Sundays! After some online research we found that Tubs was the only one open on Sun July 13th. They had several locations including Mississauga and Etobicoke. Before venturing out, we decided to call to ask which showroom was larger. Upon calling Etobicoke, they confirmed that they were the "mothership" and we should pay them a visit...

Many located north of the city (in Vaughn and Woodbridge) boast showrooms that are ~30,000 square feet. We had been sadly disappointed with the ones around Yorkville that featured (I'm not kidding!) one bathroom vanity and countertop (Davenport & Avenue Road) or three small vanity displays (Avenue Road). It was not worth our time and effort to visit these in person.

Another showroom we visited at Davenport and Woodbine was quite nice but unfortunately they do not do condos. It's best to call ahead of time to inquire about condos and also to request an appointment (some require this and you can't just walk in). Also, it's good to confirm days/times that places are open. We were surprised to learn one excellent tile place is closed Saturdays (due to religious reasons) and tried to combine a few places in the area (Keele and Lawrence).

We arrived at Tubs around 2pm and had until 5pm to look around. I'd recommend bringing paper and a pen since it's almost overwhelming. Each bathroom has a suite number and you can write down your favourites (if you like everything) or just the tile. There are prices for everything. Next, you can sit with an associate and go over your favourites and what you plan.

Before visiting showrooms, it's best to bring with you:

• Your bathroom measurements and a rough diagram/sketch
• Know what you plan to do (total gut job or partial reno)
• Word of mouth - chat with friends, colleagues and family members about work they've had done (and ask for contractor suggestions)
• Online research & magazine research (cut out pictures that you like from magazines) to establish a theme (contemporary, modern, traditional, french country etc)
• Research materials
• Determine a budget

Tubs has most suites featured on their site and links to their Manufacturers. They suggested that it's best to get all your materials and either store them at your place (tough to do in a condo) or they could store them and the contractor can pick them up as needed.

Has anyone been to the other Tubs locations? It may be worthwhile to visit those showrooms as well...

Bathroom Showrooms

On Sat July 12 we spent the day viewing bathroom showrooms in Toronto. We wanted to get some ideas on what we like and don't like. There are so many options to choose from! We need to make decisions about:

• Tiles (floor and wall)
• Wallpaper
• Vanity: Countertop and base, wall mounted or not
• Lighting - spots or track
• Faucet - sink and showerhead
• Tub - jacuzzi or standard
• Sliding glass shower doors or curtain
• Toilet
• Toilet paper holder, towel rack and hooks
• Mirror and medicine cabinet

We visited Binns, an upscale kitchen and bathroom showroom. It was great for design ideas but started at $25,000 + retainer which is out of our price range. They only do a few bathrooms each year.

Next, we went to a few Kitchen + Bathroom showrooms around Yorkville (Davenport & Avenue Rd areas) but they did not have much by way of selection.

Finally, we drove up to Steeles (Markham) where we went to Faucetworks. It's a great bathroom showcase which featured a number of vanities, tubs, faucets and sample bathrooms. My favourite part was the interactive showerhead section where you turn a knob to see the showerhead flow. You can adjust to see all 3 settings and prices are listed. They have wholesale (discounted) prices. We liked the rain showerhead by Moen (3 settings) the best.

Home Depot Visit

We attended a friend's wedding on May 24, 2008 in Mississauga and had some time in between the ceremony and reception. We decided to visit Heartland (outlet store centre) to do some shopping. After going to Danier and Harry Rosen we went to Home Depot.

We both need to do bathroom renovations and have been putting off doing our research... but we had to start somewhere and HD seemed like a good place to start. We went straight for the bathroom section and checked out tiles, vanities, toilets/sinks and countertops. Home Depot has contractors that they suggest but homeowners have to take on their own liability (i.e no guarantees on work done). After watching "Holmes on Holmes" and other shows, we were skeptical about getting a good contractor for our projects.

We have questions including:
- Where/how do we find a good contractor?
- What will a bathroom reno cost?
- Labour costs versus material costs
- Can we get a free quote/estimate?
- What requirements do our condo buildings have for work conducted?
- Book elevators in advance?
- Garbage disposal?
- Letter to Management Board 10 days in advance (and project must be approved)
- Hours of work 9am to 5pm Mon to Sat?