The Cool House: Shower base chosen, tick.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Shower base chosen, tick.

Settling on a shower base has been the most difficult part of this project. I'd rather chip tiles off the walls for a week than look at any more options that stop water cascading through the ceiling to the shower room below.
So far we have decided on
1) keeping the thirty-eight year old terrazzo base
2) getting a custom-made shower pan, tiled in
i) glass mosaic
ii)mesh-backed pebbles
3) ceramic base
4) acrylic base
5) tiled pan
6) another acrylic pan
We rejected the first once we started the demo, if it looked old and grubby at this point what would it look like with shiny new tiles on the walls and floor? The second had the tile designer and ourselves going crazy trying to find something that went with the other tile choices and the style of the house. The third was Steven's favourite but looked to busy with the mosaic accent wall. The ceramic base was my preference. I wanted something that looked like this



But the cost would be prohibitive and the sizes are European so we'd have to re-frame and there was a long lead time (which at this point wouldn't have mattered but that was before we knew the window would take a trimester to build). I'm determined to have this in the master bath remodel, though. We'll have to make the floor extra waterproof because it's a no-lip system.
Bck to the project in hand. We settled an an acrylic base and then we looked at them and they were all horrible. Cheap feeling and nasty looking. So we went back to plan b. But the thought of a lead pan or a "hot mop" rubber system had me freaking. After all the "hot mop" is the stuff they put on flat roofs and we all know how long that lasts!
Then I walked into Finishing Touches, the local fixture store in Huntington, and told them of my problem, and they showed me an acrylic base that didn't feel like plastic, it felt like ceramic.


It came in a gazillion colours and although it was twice the price of the Kohler looked twice as nice and came in the correct size. And if we install it and find it is too shiny, they sell a teak insert for an only slightly shocking price that looks very zen.
At this stage in the process, money feels like the least of the remodel problems.

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