While we interviewed different bathroom contractors for several months, we also chased down lots of fixer upper issues that kept distracting us.
Since we wanted to conquer at least one ugly bathroom this year, we were glad to find a reprieve of miscellaneous repairs.
LARRY AT ONLY BATHROOMS
After contractor interviews, Only Bathrooms in Alexandria, Virginia, owned by Larry rose to the top of our list, since he had the best prices and selection of anyone.
Even better, he knows about just about everything across the board regarding construction and design.
When he came over to our house to see the various projects we had in mind, he started asking lots of questions of other things he saw in the house. 😉
In other words, he soon noticed some of our agony we’ve been dealing with regarding our fixer upper.
GUEST BATH BEFORE PHOTO
We decided to start with the guest bathroom that looked almost exactly like the day my hubby purchased it in his bachelor days.
We wanted to change the pink walls, brown tile, Victorian shower doors, old tub and shower parts that had seen their better days, granite, lighting, and two mirrors side by side on adjacent walls.
Most impractical were the vanity drawers, where the previous homeowner cut holes so that they could close without smacking the plumbing.
Those holes meant anything can and would fall into a dark space we can’t reach.
The only changes my hubby made to the bathroom are the paint samples in yellows and greens he put on the wall when he first moved in two years ago.
DESIGNING THE NEW BATHROOM
When we designed the bathroom, we met Larry at his shop full of many fabulous options, which was a lot of fun!
My hubby encouraged me to have fun with the design, so even my two year old granddaughter will love it when she comes over.
Arriving with my paint chip palette of a wonderful range of blues for inspiration, Larry was impressed, since he likes blue a lot.
I forget the sequence now, but I think he had me choose flooring first, that was quick…that tile would be fun for my granddaughter to enjoy!
Then Larry had me choose a cabinet color. As much as I loved the blue cabinets, it’s a small room, so I decided on white to enlarge the feel of the room. Larry agreed.
Choosing tile for the shower, I loved a small blue mosaic he had on display, surrounded by white tile, which I wanted to duplicate, but that was no longer available.
As I agonized, he found another blue I really liked for it’s depth.
For the white tile, I told him I wasn’t a huge fan of subway tile, so he showed me this beveled white tile and I fell in love with it.
At that point Larry simply laid the chrome faucet against everything and it just worked!
I’m not a chrome gal, so seeing it without thinking about it was the best option for me.
As we quickly fell in sync, designing this space quickly since we think much the same way about design, my husband laughed. It’s like he blinked and we were done!
The funny thing is it usually takes me hours, even days, to decide. Like my husband, I was also surprised at how quickly it went, and I was content!
Unlike one of the other places we interviewed, where I agonizingly sat for hours trying to decide what I could live with, since I was provided few options with our “low price point”, which was hefty in our eyes and wallet.
But for that same price point at Larry’s, I chose these fun lovelies! =)
Excited by all my choices, I forgot to take a picture of both tiles together…of the darker blue on the left as well as a textured white subway tile on the far right, which can be better seen in the header photo.
EXITED TO START!
Larry said he could start in about 3 weeks and be done in about 1 month. Wow!
Another company we interviewed, who was expensive with limited options, said we’d have to wait 6 months to begin our project, then it would take 6 months to finish.
GUTTING THE OLD
As promised, Larry’s team arrived in about 3 weeks to start the project by gutting out everything!
Meanwhile my husband and I held our breaths, hoping nothing awful would be discovered to throw a wrench in the works, which seems to be our lot with this fixer upper.
But no, everything went super smoothly! Not a single issue.
It felt great to see all the horrid stuff leave our house.
BOXES ARRIVING LIKE CHRISTMAS
And then the new soaking tub quickly arrived…
…and other boxes arrived making it feel like Christmas in September!
Since the bathroom was so small, only one guy did most of the work, and he was so handy it did it all: gutting, tiling, painting, electrical, etc.
For a few of the larger projects a buddy showed up to help him.
ADDING MORE TO THE WORK LIST
Uh oh! Remember I said we weren’t having any problems?
I spoke too soon.
A problem arose in my basement laundry room when the delivery guy refused to hook up my new dryer because the old venting was soft, instead of rigid.
What? I kept asking if I had to do anything to be ready and no one ever brought this up.
Who in the world does one call to replace the dryer venting? Not the delivery guy, he assured me.
Calling numerous local “might be dryer guys”, I ran into dead ends…but really wanted to dry my clothes in my new dryer, instead of hauling wet clothes up five flights of stairs to dry in our master bedroom loft, like I had been doing since marrying my new hubby six months ago.
Guess who saved the day? 😉
The Only Bathrooms guy did the venting for me and in the process found a slow leak from the powder room on the main level dripping down into the basement…what???
He fixed that too!
During that time the new tub was undergoing a test to prove to the inspector the water won’t leak…so we didn’t lose too much time on the guest bathroom project.
GRANITE SHOPPING
Then Larry’s assistant contacted me to join her at the granite shop to choose the granite.
Throughout the process I had worked closely with the assistant to choose other of the smaller options, like lighting, medicine cabinet (which was VERY important to me to maximize storage in this squishy townhouse), etc.
She. was. amazing.
Hey, the entire Only Bathrooms staff is amazing! So, so, happy!
FINIS!
And before I knew it, the guest bathroom was done!
It took this one guy, a master of all trades, only two and a half weeks to conquer this bathroom!
Oh, and every day before he went home, he cleaned his mess up thoroughly, vacuuming all the dust.
And before beginning the project he laid floor protection down on the path he used from the front door on the second level to the third level bathroom, that only came up after everything was done.
I highly recommend this company if you live in Northern Virginia!
TA DA!
Everything single thing is new, even the new ceiling fan which is whisper quiet.
We even got snazzy new GFI outlets…
I did not expect this! I can set a timer to run the fan to defog the bathroom after a hot shower…so mildew doesn’t build up.
Also the lights dim, which makes my hubby happy!
And I love this brand new clean vent and the gorgeous molding!
We’re so happy, we’ve already met with Larry to conquer our Master Bathroom! Stay tuned!
EPILOGUE 2023
A few months later, I discovered gorgeous towel racks for the guest and master bathrooms.
While Larry’s team hung up the rack in the master bath, to complete that project, they quickly added the other one to the guest bathroom!
