It took us 3 years to save up for the remodel.
But by the time we saved up, we lost steam in doing our own home improvements. So we talked to contractors. Sadly, the best price we could get for the full re-do was $37,000... WAY more than we wanted to pay (and more than we had saved up), and there would be nothing special about the bathroom. The tile would be ceramic (we wanted glass, or marble, something DIFFERENT)... the tub would be ordinary, no jets. The sinks and cabinets would be from stock, and the countertop would be ... some kind of solid surface, at least they weren't pricing out for formica!
So we had no choice. Take on the task of designing and sourcing the materials, and hire professionals to do the work that we didn't want to do. We couldn't find a decent tiler who would do the glass tile shower surround that we wanted, so... I have a tile saw, so I thought we could do it. And as long as we were at it, we might as well do the floor for ourselves.
As time arrived to do it, the plumber and electricians were finished with their preliminary work, and the carpenter had finished out the walls and sub-flooring... I got cold feet. Cutting GLASS requires a special wet saw blade. The USUAL wet saw blade would cause chipping and shattering and shards of glass flying as I tried to cut... at least that was the story. I ordered a medium-priced (about $25) glass wet saw blade and hoped for the best.
We started with the floor and tub surround, which were to be marble. Our neighbors thought we'd never finish. I think we cut and placed maybe 4-5 tiles a night (I'm exaggerating, but it FELT that slow). It took 4 weeks, considering that we were working evenings and weekends, working around weekends spent visiting my Dad and seeing my stepson's college graduation, and every other special event that we could use as an excuse to push the work aside.
Eventually, we got around to doing the glass work. We changed the sawblade and went at it. It was a TON easier than I thought. 3 evenings and one weekend to finish up... And I have A FEW tips to help anyone stop the shattering/cracking that glass tile is so notorious for... besides getting the right sawblade... go slow! So here it is, freshly grouted: (more tips after the photo!
We were getting a glass shower surround. The glass people said they will not drill through the glass, that we would have to remove the glass tiles and somehow replace them around the surround's anchors. THAT wouldn't work for us. So we decided to run a "frame" of marble from the floor & tub surround, up the walls to act as a stable anchor for the surround installers to drill through. The issue was that ... same problem as always... glass tile shatters. The surround installers have had enough experience with this that they know it's nearly impossible to properly drill a hole through a glass tile to install the surround. They let you figure out the solution to the problem, whether it's to remove the tile and have them install without it, then replace the tile when they're finished, or to use an opaque ceramic tile in the location of their anchors rather than the glass tile in the rest of the surround, OR... get creative, like we did. And here is the really important part... we hired a good subcontractor who knew what they were doing, to measure, manufacture and install the shower surround. For the price we paid, we were smart to listen to their expertise. We could beg and whine and convince them to install it through the glass tile (we'd have to sign a waiver of liability for damage to the tile before they'd do it), but we'd be missing the most important part of hiring someone who is good at their job... taking their advice. Instead, we took their advice, got creative, and ended up with what I think is a nicer and more interesting look... a finished edge for our glass tile shower stall.
The accent tile we chose ended up being a smart choice. That was by accident. We had several choices, some were a combination of different materials, and some were all glass. I liked the combination, because it was more interesting, but the all glass choice had colors that were more exactly matching the rest of the tile... We made a choice and had it delivered, but because it had taken so long to finish the floor, as we approached the accent part of the shower stall, I had forgotten what we chose. After working with the glass sawblade for a while, I realized I could not cut through the accent tile that was made of different materials... both glass and marble... with my special glass cutting blade. For the low price, it came with a warning never to use it to cut anything other than glass or else you'd ruin the surface for the glass cutting task, a multi-use glass sawblade would have been 4 times the price! When we got them out of the packaging, I was relieved, we had chosen the mosaic that was ALL glass tiles (less interesting, but a better match for the color). By lucky accident, I could accomplish the task of cutting the tiny little edges of the mosaic pieces without switching saw blades back & forth for each edge. GREAT! It made the job a TON faster.
As I type this, the surround guys are in the bathroom, drilling through my marble frame. I HOPE our creative solution works. I guess I'll find out later! Wish us luck.
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