You win some, you lose some
Posted on April 10th, 2008 – 9:15 PMBy Jason Hammond
When we moved into our house just after Christmas our bathrooms were in working order. There were of course a few details that had to be filled in as we went but for some reason (maybe the 10,000 other things we had going on) it seemed these space were not getting the needed attention to complete them. So this past week I took a little time and finished up a couple of really easy things that finally made these spaces complete. In the boys bathroom we had a left a large cut in the stair well roughly about 5 feet of the ground and about 4 feet wide. This was a clever idea our architect Michael Huber had used to introduce natural light into a room that was without an exterior window. The window was to be filled with a piece of Polygal (dual wall polycarbonate) to obscure views in while allowing the light to enter.
I’ve had the polycarbonate cut and ready to go for a good 3 months now but for some reason had not taken the time to cut down the aluminum channel and fit it into place. After taking an hour of my time to measure, measure again, then cut the aluminum channel and pre-drill holes to fasten it into place. I was very pleased with the result. It is certainly industrial but fits perfectly with the rubberized flooring and metal garage style door we used to hide away the boys mess. In our bathroom we had originally planned to use a wood front on the tub surround. However from the moment it went in both Stacy and I new it wasn’t the right material. The wood interrupted the flow of the concrete floors and really didn’t fit in with the wonderfully sophisticated look of the zebrawood cabinets. So with a couple of left over pieces of concrete board I replaced the wood front and brought the whole room back into harmony.
I was feeling so good about the bathroom, like it was finally complete. Then after taking a shower before work I pulled on the handle of the faucet of the shower fixture as I turned it off. Apparently, it hadn’t been tighten too well during the install or worked itself free a bit over time because the handle came off. The Toto fixtures are very heavy duty, high quality, fixtures so the handle had some serious weight to it. my first instinct was to try and break its fall with my foot but thought better of that just before impact and slid my foot out of the way. Fortunately or unfortunately for me the handle did not hit me but instead struck the floor. Putting the handle back on was easy and I was able to tighten it enough that it will not come off again unless needed. However the weight of the impact of the handle shattered one of the 1″ tiles at the floor of the tub. Just when I thought I had completed that room and could take it off my to-do list, I had one more little project to take on.
The boys bathroom has an industrial feel while still being whimsical with the marsh mellow sinks and apple green accents
The polycarbonate window finished the room and worked to allow natural daylight in.
Pardon the horrible picture but this was the best I could do to show how the polycarb. obscures the view of the room but still lets light travel through the space.
The beautiful materials of the master bathroom weren’t working with the tub surround.
By changing out the wood tub front to a cement one it integrated better into the entire look of the bathroom.
8 Responses to "You win some, you lose some"
Jason,
Beautiful bathrooms… what type of flooring did you use in the boy’s bathroom?
Clinton@TheBarterHouse
Clinton,
We used a rubberized coin flooring for the floor in the boys bathroom. We wanted something that looked cool but was almost complete indestructible. The material can be found in tile form but we opted for a sheet form as it was more resistant absorption issues because there were no seams. There are a bunch of companies out there that sell the materials so make sure you request samples of the material. Some are made of a more rigid for vinyl while others are extremely thin.
Jason
Jason
So Jason, seconds after that piece of hardware dropped, did you experience that sad sinking feeling sorta like discovereing the first scratch in the new car?
Diane,
Sorry for the delayed response but this landed in the SPAM file until I rescued it.
Yes, very much the feeling you would expect. I was sad in a way but after having faced the size and scope of a year long project this was a minor issue.
Jason
I’m going to be lazy here, since I’m going nuts with my small house remodeling stuff, and hope you might have some pointers, without my going back thru your blog by hand. I tried searching for flooring in the search box, but it seems to search the newspaper.
I’m looking for green wood or “wood look” flooring to replace wall-to-wall carpet. I’d like to find something prefinished, to minimize mess and time of installation which I’d have done professionally. I’m out in a rural area, so this is not a hotbed of local stores but if I know what I’m looking for I can find dealers.
I looked at Ecotimber, but after I had samples of their dark finished Brazilian Cherry and very light Hard Maple in the house for awhile, I just couldn’t like the totally matte finish. There’s something about it that makes the product look fake, even though the top layer is wood. I happen to have a light Maple dresser, which looks so much better than this flooring.
Duro bamboo floors come in 53 colors, none found anywhere in nature or anywhere I’d want in my house.
Disclaimer, in my old house, I had 80 year old oak and Douglas Fir, sigh, floors.
Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.
Hi Trudy,
Wow. Flooring is a really tough one. My uncle has taken old pine planking, cleaned it up some and used a heavy poly on it and his floors look great. They’re rugged yet refined at the same time. I don’t know how open to exploring alternative flooring materials but you can get Douglas Fir, at most home improvement centers or lumber yards. I had it in our or house and had to replace a board that was damaged. It was never exactly the same as the original but it was really beautiful. It’s completely raw other than being a tongue and groove system so you’ll have to finish it after it’s installed but it could look really great.
On a side note: They used to use the “nice wood” in the public areas and the less desirable(readily available) stuff in the private spaces. We had maple and Douglas Fir but to be honest in they were both pretty stunning.
Jason
Hi Jason-
Amazing house! Thank you so much for sharing your creative ideas and for giving me inspiration! I only wish I could open your house tour. DO you have any info. as to where you got the zebra wood cabinets? They are beautiful~
Hi Linda,
The Cabinets were built by Eastvold Custom. http://www.eastvoldcustom.com/.
The material is actually a reconstituted veneer product. So it’s actually wood vs. a laminate but it is made from readily available materials then treated to give it an exotic hardwood look. Much more green friendly then cutting down exotic trees.
Hope that helps,
Jason
