Once Shall and Corzilius decided that Plaskoff Construction was the right contractor, the couple interviewed several designers that the company recommended. One of them, Toll Hammerschmidt Design, Santa Monica, Calif., had done design work on a modern building constructed by Shall’s employer. Once the designers were chosen, Plaskoff Construction treated them as subcontractors. “We come in as a team,” Plaskoff says, which cuts out the finger-pointing that builders and designers can get into. The company has also started working with interior designers at the beginning of the process so that if a couch will end up placed in the middle of the living room, for instance, there will already be an outlet for the side-table lamp. Having the contractor and the interior designer work together from the beginning in a design/build manner prevents the contractor from being “change-ordered to death,” Plaskoff says.
“It was partly driven by our customers,” he adds. “They wanted a one-stop shop.”
Shall and Corzilius gave Heidi Toll and Velvet Hammerschmidt equal measures of direction and freedom to create. “We knew what we didn’t want,” Corzilius says. “It was claustrophobic. We wanted it opened up.” They wanted the toilet in a separate room, one not used as a hallway to the shower. As for the bidet, Shall says, “It was history.”
For colors and materials, they handed the designers photographs of a maple- and granite-infused bathroom they had found in a magazine, and the designers worked closely with the contractor to make sure that the design ideas were cost-effective and compatible with what was possible to construct. Early in the process, all parties had what Plaskoff calls an “expectation-setting meeting,” where the homeowners were made fully aware that neither the builders nor the designers have X-ray vision that enables them to see through walls and floors, and that issues could arise in the future that would extend the time frame and the cost of the project. This awareness would come in handy later on. To solve the bathroom’s problems, the biggest change would be moving the toilet from the far end of the bathroom to a new water closet closer to the entrance from the bedroom. As Hammerschmidt points out: “You don’t want to walk the furthest distance to use the toilet in the middle of the night.” The new nook would include the existing corner window for air and light, and a textured-glass door.
Perhaps in reaction to the former use of the space, Toll and Hammerschmidt suggested making the entire bathroom open, except for the toilet room and the existing sauna room and closet. The vanity, the bathtub, and a spacious tiled shower would be in one open area.
When the plans were finalized, the bid was drawn up. It included a $5,600 supervision fee, a $7,000 design fee, and $7,477 in profit and overhead. Before the demolition crew came in to take the bathroom down to joists and studs, a demolition setup crew laid panels from the home’s entry to the bathroom to protect the wood floors.
Plaskoff’s company is a well-oiled machine, Shall says, adding that he could contact the project manager, Chris Richards, via a “full-blown office staff,” by pager or by cell phone. The company even sometimes gives homeowners pagers to facilitate communication.
Once the subfloor was removed, an unfortunate fact was discovered: The floor joists ran opposite to the direction that the designers had anticipated, making it impossible to run the drainpipes in the joist bay to the new toilet location at the other end of the room.
The solution was unusual: The drainpipes were run outside the house in a specially built box above the patio cover. With siding and paint to match the house, the box is barely discernible.
The window, once centered on the wall, was moved to the far left, drenching the shower with sunlight and affording stunning mountain views. Once the rough plumbing and electrical were in place, the maple cabinet and the bathtub were installed. The green slate tile on the floor and walls took three weeks to lay out and install, with spacers used for uniformity. The green color, the designers said, accents the view.
Dark green granite was chosen for the counter, topped by vessel-style sinks. Identical granite was used for a small shelf in the toilet room. Chrome lights hanging over the sink area “have attitude,” according to the designers.
Sourcing and installing unique products and materials for high-end projects takes longer, Plaskoff says, which requires more of the project manager’s time. The greatest fear upper-end clients have, he says, is that they will walk into a neighbor’s home and find exactly the same thing.
Installing higher-end products, Plaskoff points out, takes the same amount of care as installing mid-range products. However, the contractor’s liability is much greater on a $10,000 bathtub that gets damaged, for instance, that it is on a $400 tub. You have more to lose when something goes wrong on a high-end project, he says. Whereas some contractors will cut their normal 20% markup for a luxury project, Plaskoff recommends against that because you don’t want to short-change yourself, he says.
Within a few months, Shall and Corzilius were able to start using their new bathroom, but it took a few additional months for some details to be finished. Since then, they have been enjoying the serene, Zen-like room, especially the dual rain-shower heads.
If he had it to do over again, Shall would put a window over the sink area. But his wife disagrees. “I love the bathroom,” she says. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Kathy Price-Robinson is a freelance writer on the central coast of California. She writes about remodeling and green building and is the author of an award-winning remodeling series, “Pardon Our Dust,” for the Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times.
Project: Gut and redo master bathroom in Westlake, Calif., home.
Designer: Heidi Toll and Velvet Hammerschmidt, Toll Hammerschmidt Design, Santa Monica, Calif., www.t-hdesign.com.
Contractor: Matt Plaskoff, Plaskoff Construction, Tarzana, Calif., www.plaskoff.com.
Duration: One year, including design; four months of construction and finishing details.
Cost: $65,000