Bright Endings While working on the roof, CG&S added two skylights, so light now pours down upon the bathroom. For ventilation, there is a skylight on opposite walls of the bathroom, one that opens into a vaulted great room, and one that opens to the outside. Davis used remote controls on these skylights, and they can be opened or closed by the touch of a button located on the wall right by the door. For additional luxuriousness, CG&S added a wonderful, yet economical, element to the floor. Radiant heating wires running under the tile now take the place of the ineffectual wall heater.
“This is a great and cheap alternative to running pipes under the floor, especially when you are working with a small room,” Davis says.
The control panel by the door also controls this heating element, with the ability for different temperature in the “wet” and “dry” parts of the room. Even the lighting can be adjusted in different parts of the room by the touch of a button at the entrance to the bathroom. CG&S borrowed attic space to store and conceal these controls.
All the internal carpentry work was taken care of within the company, and the homeowners were able to stop by often to see the progress of the house. “Jim (the project manager) was there almost every day and everyone in the company was approachable and took time, often, to answer my questions,” Duncan says.
The construction issues were not the only factors that led to increased cost in this bathroom. Duncan and Snodgrass chose high-end materials suited to their new luxury escape. CG&S designed all the tile layouts based on the homeowners’ choices.
To highlight and accentuate the dramatic new soaring ceiling, CG&S recommended interior designer Alexandria Singleton, who steered the couple to the striking deep purple color. The mingling of traditional artisan tiling with the dramatic ceiling, modern lighting, and deep colors creates a feeling of depth and richness this bathroom was so desperately lacking.
“The entire rest of the house was done in basic eggshell white, and we were excited to inject some life into it,” Duncan says.
The old window well became a beautiful built-in cabinet, taking up no additional floor space in the bath because of the deep masonry walls.
After what had become a year-long project that happened to include a bathroom remodel, Duncan, Snodgrass, and their daughter moved into their new home.
Pod People The “showering pod” is a feature that CG&S has used on previous projects, and they find it to generally be a great success. “Not only does it visually open typically closed areas and create an exotic feeling in the bathroom, but it is a great way to conserve precious floor space,” Davis says. Proper ventilation and tiling is essential to maintain humidity levels and prevent paint from peeling.
“The homeowners love it because it turns bathing into an experience and contains the water in one area of the bath,” says Davis. To achieve this affect without compromising quality and cleanliness, all the flat surfaces within the “pod” have a waterproof membrane and a very slight slant to them for drainage. Of course, the floor must be drained properly to ensure that the outside “dry” area remains, well, dry.