Ever wondered how the pros build lasting bonds with the movers and shakers in the bathroom remodeling arena? Strap in as I, Chris Kirby, lay out the blueprint for cultivating robust partnerships that will streamline your projects and delight your clientele. From the impact of seamless supplier relations to the intricacies of Alabama's licensing laws, our conversation is packed with insights on why a strong network isn't just nice to have—it's a must-have for your business. Plus, we tackle the art of project management, emphasizing prompt payments and crystal-clear communication with subcontractors to keep your remodels running like clockwork.
Tiles and trends, folks—that's where the magic happens in bathroom remodeling, and this episode has it all. Join me as we navigate the world of tile layouts, discussing the trend towards micro grout lines and the role client collaboration plays in creating the perfect look. We'll also weigh the merits of Luxury Vinyl Plank in wet environments and offer tips on how to nail that durable yet stylish bathroom vibe. And because staying on top of trends is key, we'll take you through the latest in bathroom design, from water barriers to lighting that transforms a space from drab to fab.
Rounding out this episode, we're not just talking about any tiles—we're diving into large format tiles and aging-in-place design that marries elegance with accessibility. Uncover the secrets behind a seamless entry shower and why fold-down teak benches may just be your new best friend. As we wrap up, we give a nod to the green pioneers at Cambria Stone for leading the charge in sustainable countertop solutions, proving that beauty and eco-consciousness can coexist. So don your earbuds and prepare to be inspired; this is an episode that promises to equip you with know-how that'll turn your bathroom remodels into the talk of the town.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Homebuilding and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to theHomebuilding and Remodeling Show
.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gulf Coast.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhomebuilding and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you are DIY-er lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on homebuilding and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go.
The second relationship, numbertwo, on the four key
relationships that you need tomaintain to be a successful
bathroom remodeling contractoris your suppliers and vendors.
You are going to have to getyour materials from somewhere.
The more of a relationship youestablish with a vendor or a
(01:46):
supplier, the better.
That relationship is going tobe maintained throughout the
duration of your contractingcareer.
You want to make sure that youare openly communicating,
because and allow them if youhave a place of business, if you
don't, that's fine, but if youdo have a place of business,
(02:06):
allow them to come in and talkto you.
Take them to lunch, have justan open conversation at lunch.
Allow them to let you know whenproducts are coming out, the
new products and designs and anddifferent things like that.
Vendors and suppliers love tobe able to do that.
They love healthy relationshipswith their contractors and that
(02:29):
leads to a better result foryour project.
You're probably gonna be ableto save some money.
They're gonna let you know whendeals are happening on certain
products and the timeline.
You'll start to maintain abetter timeline and be able to
produce a better quality projectby having a good working
(02:50):
relationship with your vendorsand suppliers.
They're very, very much a keycontributor to a successful
bathroom remodeling project andfor you to have good
relationships with them, to havesupplies when you need, to have
open communication if there's adelay, to get deals when they
(03:11):
roll out.
All of these things help yourclient have a better project as
well.
At the end, that number onerelationship has been maintained
because the vendor has yourback and is taking care of you
and your supply needs and timingand deliveries and things like
that, and so you can better keepyour timeline and budget in
(03:34):
check with your client.
Number one client relationshipmanagement your client is a key
relationship to maintain.
Your number two relationship tomaintain is that of your
vendors and suppliers, and we'llmove on to number three.
The number three relationshipyou need to maintain in order to
be a successful bathroomremodeling contractor is that of
(03:57):
your subcontractors.
Most remodellers do not possessa key license in every category
that they need to successfullyremodel a project.
For instance, I have homebuilder slash remodellers
license.
The state of Alabama requiresyou to have a state home
builders license to build housesand to have that license as
(04:20):
well to do remodeling projectsover $10,000.
So that's just Alabama statespecific.
Some of you may have differentrules and regulations in your
state.
However, that does not give methe license to perform
electrical work.
It doesn't give me the licenseto perform plumbing work, and
those are two very keysubcontractors that you are
(04:40):
going to need.
Maintaining relationships withyour subcontractors is just like
maintaining relationships withemployees if you have them, it's
taking care of them, makingsure they get paid on time.
If there is a delay in paymentfrom the client or it could be
as simple as a client is needingto move money over, so the
(05:01):
payment gets delayed by a daythe last thing you want to do is
have your sub expecting moneyand you can't get it to them.
Maintain that relationship andmaking sure that they're going
to prioritize you as the primarycontractor and take care of
your needs, as long as you aretaking care of them, giving them
(05:21):
plenty of work, opencommunication, paying in a
timely manner, and sometimesit's even nice to have a get
together and invite them to itand become close with your
subcontractors, because they areabsolutely key to maintaining a
successful relationship withthe client.
Again, they're going to be inthe client's home, just like the
(05:44):
vendor or supplier some ofthose vendor or suppliers they
may come out to the project totake a look at when stuff gets
delivered or if there's stuffthat was damaged in delivery a
good vendor or supplier they'regoing to come out and take a
look at that on site.
Those people are interactingwith the client as well.
(06:05):
So it feeds back into thatnumber one relationship you need
to maintain, that of the client.
Number two your vendors andyour suppliers.
Number three yoursubcontractors.
All of those people are goingto have an individual
relationship potentially withthe client.
Having the subcontractor takencare of is a huge factor in the
(06:28):
number three relationship thatyou need to maintain to be a
successful bathroom remodeler.
And now we move into shop talk.
It's the portion of the showwhere I bring in a co-host and
we cover trending topics in homebuilding and remodeling.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Because if you don't do that part at the beginning,
then you're having to cheatstuff and make it work and stuff
yes.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And it don't look right Because as you start being
harder and time consuming, yeah.
And so you start at the bottomwith a hat and a inch, and then
at the top, your towel's gotthat big and it looks.
And it looks crazy, that looksgood, yeah, all right.
So then you've established thatyou're level and you're zooming
through it.
What about brow lines?
How do you figure out theproper brow line size, or do you
(07:20):
talk to the client about that?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Usually talk to the client about that.
Nowadays they want lease groutlines as possible.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, they're one super, yeah, super, super thin.
And then there are also someactual.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now, the larger format towel, the bigger you can
get your grout lines and theydon't look bad.
But it needs smaller format.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
With fat grout lines.
It doesn't look right, and theneon bow picked their color.
Right.
You're in there.
You're doing your towel, you doyour floor, you do your walls.
Whichever way right, you preferto do first.
Whichever way you learn to dofirst, you do your floor, you do
your walls.
Talk to me about the trim.
Well, or is that the?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I mean we said pretty much such options.
We offer is either Schlutertrim, towel trim or bull nose.
So that's part of the layoutprocess.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Or pencil right.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
If you're doing Schluter trim, that goes up
before your towel, because yourtowel overlaps the backing.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
So, if you have and it could be the metal, they've
got the, I call it plastic,whatever the.
But anyway, you put in yourSchluter trim in.
How's that attached?
Well, essentially you've gotthree walls to.
Let's just say you've got threewalls to a shower, two
sidewalls and a back wall.
That Schluter trim is gonnacome on your sidewalls wherever
(08:44):
you're gonna stop your tile,correct, and you're gonna go
ahead.
So, before you actually installtile, you're setting your
Schluter trims, your Schluterstrips, your trim pieces.
How's that attached?
Screwed in Thins, okay, it isattached via thinset.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yes, it's got like a.
It's not screwed in At an inchand a half to two inch backer on
it that you push into thethinset.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Gotcha.
Okay, you gotta get that inthere Now and we'll go back and
we'll kind of hit on timelinesand talk through the timeline of
all of this.
But you've got your tile set.
It ran to meet your trim.
Everything's done as far astile.
That's the next step.
Okay, so we're in a bathroomwhen I'm just doing the shower.
(09:31):
Would you do the shower and theshower floor, that tile before
you do floor tile?
You would, yeah, and is there areason that?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
you would want to do that.
That way, I know where to stopthe floor tile.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Okay, because you're gonna set your curb really.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
You're gonna run it to it and then that way, if you
do like.
Some people like tile on theface of their pony wall.
Some people like she rocked it.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Just to.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Okay, Especially when it's Now.
If they're getting tile, Iwould do the flooring first and
then run the tile on top of it.
Okay, but if they're doing sherock, do she rock, run the
flooring to it.
Then your base floor covers.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Gotcha Okay, you run your floor tile.
Now can you put LVP inbathrooms.
Is that becoming more common?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
You don't like what LVP?
Lvp Like overall or just in aday, right, yeah, me either.
I'll be honest with you.
I'm not right, but it ispopular and some of the more.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I mean it's easy, I mean it's great stuff to work
with, but I'm just seeing inlike a lot of like high traffic
areas and stuff and places thathave had it for a few years is
not holding up.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, it went on there you can get a lot of
buzzer lighting and.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But if it's just like a couple that lives in a home
with no kids and stuff like that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, I'll say for us , we have it now too, but we
bought a wider plank and to methat makes the difference, the
actual cost of it and thematerial you can get the
cheapest of the cheap, and thatstuff is you get what?
It's fair?
Yeah, it's terrible If you do,even in a high traffic area, if
(11:21):
you don't have a lot of money tospend on flooring, I would
prefer glue down over Glue down,but it's way better yeah,
floating yeah.
And the thing people get afraidof the glue down right, because
it's different.
It's not just as easy assnapping and pop and lay right,
(11:43):
but if you know what you'redoing, we lay down.
We lay down, yeah, and I preferthat.
In a high traffic area I'veseen less issues with that
compared to like even in ourbuilding right now.
We've got luxury vinyl planksand where you're rolling your
chair and all of that.
It makes a huge difference.
(12:03):
But in the bathroom for themost part it is supposedly.
It's water resistant, notwaterproof.
But do we put a barrier downunderneath?
We pretty much always do now.
Even though some of it comesand it has the backing on it, we
still put a barrier down andMinimum a six mil plastic.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, you know what I mean, at least now.
If a customer wants to investmore in like a better
underlayment that's more soft,and you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Those are nice this time consuming, laying that
stuff.
But it just all depends on whatthe customer wants, and I mean,
if you want a better qualityfloor with that stuff, that's
what you need to go with.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, all right, you've put in your plank or
you've put in your tile.
You got your floor stud.
Do you put in bandages beforeor after?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Bandages are towards the end of the project.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
We go in demoed.
You know we did the shower, gotthe flooring.
We usually put protectant downon that, but also before we do
the flooring, we skipped overthis like to get any of the
sheet rock were done.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, You're patching and all that done, right If
it's, especially if it's goingto take, if it's larger patches
and multiple coats yeah, goahead and do that, Do that, do
your texture paint.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You know, the less you can do on top of your floor,
the better.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, because if you come in there after the fact and
you still have to sand, it's anightmare, even if you've
covered it up right.
It is a pain and Especiallybefore the towel in.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We grow out in the white powder.
It's all in your grow lines.
Yeah, it's a nightmare to getclean.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I also would recommend, if possible and
depending on time of year andseason and all these different
things, but shutting off theHVAC system if we're in a large
you know what I mean If we're ina large area and we're going to
be doing a lot of sanding anddrywall patching.
Now we're going to move intothe portion of the show where we
(14:12):
talk interior design.
We're going to bring in aninterior designer and we're
going to talk trending designand products.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
So, well, on another one, I'llcall myself out again.
I don't do any work at home,okay it's very tough.
(14:32):
Yeah, so check this out.
We have the, we have lightsover our mirrors and the the
vanity lights.
Then we have an overhead light,but the shower Actually does
not have a light in it and it'sactually darker back.
Yeah, so I need to go in andput in a you know a light over
(14:54):
the shower.
I just haven't done it, but Icould tell you it does.
It makes a difference and andwhere the lights are located,
the light placement in ourmaster bathroom is terrible, so
I can speak to how important itis for lighting to be proper in
a bathroom remodeled.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And that is one thing about remodels that people
don't realize is that homewasn't built for you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, you know, and it wasn't built with you in mind
.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
So when you're going into a remodel, it is you know
you're looking at it.
As how is this now going tobenefit me?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's right.
That's what it needs to do.
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, so like awesome .
The next one after that issoaking tubs Soaking tubs, okay,
soaking tubs.
People are more into.
You know relaxing work, lifebalance, yeah, health.
What that means to us we'restarting to realize.
You know, running the rat raceat home.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
You know you want to go home but listen, you're not
talking about garden tubs, right?
So let's clear that up.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
No we had.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
We had all these homes where people Wanted garden
and jetted tubs and things likethat that was a trend and then
our company, over the past sevenyears have been ripping those
out and putting these big oldwalk-in showers in its place.
Yes, and now we're kind of it'snot the same because it's not a
(16:12):
garden tub.
No, it's not, but we are goinginto the soaker tubs right back
into the we don't need this tubto fit four people like a garden
.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, I mean, it's gonna fit one person comfortably
too, if you're really friendly.
Yeah, absolutely but that alsospeaks to One of the other
trends that we were gonna poponto and I'm just gonna hit it a
little early as aging in place.
Okay so one of the big reasonswhy garden tubs are coming out
is because of, like we weretalking about pre, this is baby
boomers Getting up into that agebracket.
Sure getting in and out ofthose garden.
(16:41):
I don't want to do it.
Right imagine anything elsewanting to do.
I mean I've got my glass of winein one hand and a slippery
surface down.
No, yeah.
So again it's going into agingin place soaking tubs.
You have a tiny lip on the edgeof it, so much easier to get in
and out of, and especially ifyou want that muscle relaxation
at focusing more on that.
You know Massage aspect of it.
That's what we're getting so.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So let's dive into some of the agent in place,
because that's a it's a longertopic than just the list.
With the agent in place, you'rebasically making it to where,
as they get older and they mayeventually need a walker or
wheelchair or things like that.
Let's hit on a couple of thespecific things.
So for us, we have put inthings like the seamless entry
(17:27):
into the shower.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That is huge, that's huge, okay, and not only for
being ADA compliant if you're arental home or what have you,
but also I've worked with a lotof clients Whose children have
disabilities you're getting them, walking them into a shower
with a zero entrance, and then,of course, yeah, so you get
older and we all don't want tothink about it, but it's good to
think about it.
It is we want to be able to takecare of ourselves in our own
(17:50):
homes.
Yeah, that's a big, big part ofwhy aging in place has become
so important, and if you havethe space that will allow you to
stay in your home comfortably,why wouldn't you invest that
money into it?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Absolutely yeah having to move to somewhere else
and spend additional funds orgo you know right and and some
of the additional things besides, like the ADA aspect, like grab
bars and things is like,sometimes lower in the
countertops to the appropriateheight, you know, and different
things and features like that,even when you do the Walk-in
(18:23):
showers that are seamless.
We're also putting in benches,yeah, and what is popular and I
love it is the.
I think they're more like ateak that the fold down.
Yes, I love those.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They look good you know they're also great for
space.
So if you are needing to use awalk or a wheelchair and you
have to bring it in the showerwith you, it's much easier to
get your chair or get yourwalker in there, fold it down
and then sit down versusmaneuver around a stationary
bench.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I wasn't even thinking about the space saving
aspect, I just like the featureyeah okay, awesome.
Okay, so aging in place.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
That's one of the big ones right now.
We are also seeing a lot oflarge format tiles.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, large format tiles, oh goodness, and you guys
are blowing my mind with thetile that we're getting into our
showroom.
And then you showed me what didyou call that?
A match?
What was it?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
It's called book match.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Book match.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So book match basically means when you have
tile and I'm just going to usethis, which is funny because it
is trends and influences.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
There you go Nice.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
When you're looking at a piece of tile, it's not
book match.
It just means that the patternkind of goes everywhere.
Yeah, and usually in a bundlethere's about four to six tiles
that have their own pattern.
Yeah Well, when they're bookmatched, it means that you
actually have tiles that whenyou put them side by side, the
picture goes across it fluidly.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, and after, after we get done with cordon, I
want to go and show theaudience how cool because y'all
blew my mind with that becauseit was not two of the same
pattern, tiles or color, it wasa floral pattern, two completely
different and a and it matchedit's not different patterns, it
actually is just differentcolors.
Okay, yeah, yeah, the patternsthe same, but it looks different
(20:08):
because of the colors.
Got you?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Okay.
So that's huge, but not even ona large format scale for like
showers.
We talked about this at marketis.
You know most people arelooking at for a shower wall to
save money a 24 by 42 or 16 by36.
Well, now they're doing andgetting better at it.
The porcelain sheets Gotcha andI don't know if you've seen
those yet or not We've got someat the wholesale distribution
center.
So a whole porcelain sheetbasically can redo one shower.
(20:34):
Wow it can do the back wall andthe side walls in the pattern
flows across the whole shower.
Okay, it's unbelievable.
Now you do have to have youknow, some knowledge, and take
some training courses, like youall supply, before you start to
dive into those kinds of things.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So is this?
Is this kind of like the Onyx,where you know, onyx, it's a
whole sheet that we stick inonto the walls, or but it's
porcelain.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So Onyx in its capacities only has, it can only
do so much.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Porcelain.
With the way that they ink, jeteverything, it will replicate
the look of marble.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I mean it will fool you.
It will.
I'm in a designer and I canlook at small sheets and until I
turn it on its side and realizethat the vein doesn't go all
the way through, sometimes Ican't tell.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
So that's how amazing that stuff is.
So, yeah, so large formats isdefinitely a huge, huge hitter,
and that helps with grout linestoo.
Yeah, you can age, you can play, so you don't want to be
scrubbing your shower.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, we're getting that a lot too, and why people
are going to the alternativematerials, such as an Onyx
shower system, is because thereare a lot of people who cannot
stand to clean grout, and so thelarger format you have, very,
you don't have as many groutlines, right, exactly?
So, okay, makes sense.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Exactly, and all these for the most part have.
You know we've talked aboutfour rectified edge.
Yes, Very minimal grout lines,so large format.
Sustainability is another one.
Okay, that hit a little harderon the West Coast.
It's slowly easing its way overhere to the East Coast.
But you know, having asustainable product, you know
for tax benefits but also to forthe future.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
You know if you're going to be selling that home or
if your children are going tobe moving into it.
That makes a huge impact.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
On overall your money .
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Also the environment.
I'm a huge green person.
One of my favorite countertopcompanies is Cambria Stone.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
They recycle even their own water.
They recycle their own quartzdust.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Wow, I mean, I'm just spending the extra money for a
company who cares that muchabout my future, absolutely, and
sustainability, you know, anddesign and everything.
So it's more about the energyefficiency and call savings as
well.
People don't understand thatsomething like a bathroom can
save you money when designedproperly.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
(22:52):
support.
Please subscribe to our YouTubechannel.
Follow us on social media viaFacebook, instagram and Tik Tok.
Get more info at our website,wwwtheshomebuildingshowcom.
And, as always, for who we arethe home building and remodeling
(23:13):
show.
The Homebuilding and Remodeling Show.
Let's go.
Welcome everybody to theHomebuilding and Remodeling Show
.
My name is Chris Kirby and I'llbe your host.
(00:21):
I am the owner of threeconstruction companies on the
Alabama Gulf Coast.
The show is about residentialconstruction.
We're going to cover topics ofhomebuilding and remodeling.
Are you thinking of doing aremodel or building a home?
Are you a contractor looking toimprove your knowledge base or
grow your business?
Have you ever done a remodelproject or built a home?
(00:42):
There were so many things youwish you knew or that you could
have done differently during theprocess.
Then this show is for you.
We break down the process ofbuilding and remodeling and how
to have the best results duringyour project.
Whether you are DIY-er lookingfor tips, someone looking to
hire a contractor to do aproject, or a contractor looking
(01:04):
to expand your knowledge baseor your business, welcome aboard
.
Glad to have you.
Stay tuned.
We kick off the show with mythoughts on homebuilding and
remodeling.
I'll share best practices andtalk about some of our
experiences in business and outin the field.
These shared thoughts andlessons learned are meant to
help you on your very ownjourney.
(01:25):
Let's go.
The second relationship, numbertwo, on the four key
relationships that you need tomaintain to be a successful
bathroom remodeling contractoris your suppliers and vendors.
You are going to have to getyour materials from somewhere.
The more of a relationship youestablish with a vendor or a
(01:46):
supplier, the better.
That relationship is going tobe maintained throughout the
duration of your contractingcareer.
You want to make sure that youare openly communicating,
because and allow them if youhave a place of business, if you
don't, that's fine, but if youdo have a place of business,
(02:06):
allow them to come in and talkto you.
Take them to lunch, have justan open conversation at lunch.
Allow them to let you know whenproducts are coming out, the
new products and designs and anddifferent things like that.
Vendors and suppliers love tobe able to do that.
They love healthy relationshipswith their contractors and that
(02:29):
leads to a better result foryour project.
You're probably gonna be ableto save some money.
They're gonna let you know whendeals are happening on certain
products and the timeline.
You'll start to maintain abetter timeline and be able to
produce a better quality projectby having a good working
(02:50):
relationship with your vendorsand suppliers.
They're very, very much a keycontributor to a successful
bathroom remodeling project andfor you to have good
relationships with them, to havesupplies when you need, to have
open communication if there's adelay, to get deals when they
(03:11):
roll out.
All of these things help yourclient have a better project as
well.
At the end, that number onerelationship has been maintained
because the vendor has yourback and is taking care of you
and your supply needs and timingand deliveries and things like
that, and so you can better keepyour timeline and budget in
(03:34):
check with your client.
Number one client relationshipmanagement your client is a key
relationship to maintain.
Your number two relationship tomaintain is that of your
vendors and suppliers, and we'llmove on to number three.
The number three relationshipyou need to maintain in order to
be a successful bathroomremodeling contractor is that of
(03:57):
your subcontractors.
Most remodellers do not possessa key license in every category
that they need to successfullyremodel a project.
For instance, I have homebuilder slash remodellers
license.
The state of Alabama requiresyou to have a state home
builders license to build housesand to have that license as
(04:20):
well to do remodeling projectsover $10,000.
So that's just Alabama statespecific.
Some of you may have differentrules and regulations in your
state.
However, that does not give methe license to perform
electrical work.
It doesn't give me the licenseto perform plumbing work, and
those are two very keysubcontractors that you are
(04:40):
going to need.
Maintaining relationships withyour subcontractors is just like
maintaining relationships withemployees if you have them, it's
taking care of them, makingsure they get paid on time.
If there is a delay in paymentfrom the client or it could be
as simple as a client is needingto move money over, so the
(05:01):
payment gets delayed by a daythe last thing you want to do is
have your sub expecting moneyand you can't get it to them.
Maintain that relationship andmaking sure that they're going
to prioritize you as the primarycontractor and take care of
your needs, as long as you aretaking care of them, giving them
(05:21):
plenty of work, opencommunication, paying in a
timely manner, and sometimesit's even nice to have a get
together and invite them to itand become close with your
subcontractors, because they areabsolutely key to maintaining a
successful relationship withthe client.
Again, they're going to be inthe client's home, just like the
(05:44):
vendor or supplier some ofthose vendor or suppliers they
may come out to the project totake a look at when stuff gets
delivered or if there's stuffthat was damaged in delivery a
good vendor or supplier they'regoing to come out and take a
look at that on site.
Those people are interactingwith the client as well.
(06:05):
So it feeds back into thatnumber one relationship you need
to maintain, that of the client.
Number two your vendors andyour suppliers.
Number three yoursubcontractors.
All of those people are goingto have an individual
relationship potentially withthe client.
Having the subcontractor takencare of is a huge factor in the
(06:28):
number three relationship thatyou need to maintain to be a
successful bathroom remodeler.
And now we move into shop talk.
It's the portion of the showwhere I bring in a co-host and
we cover trending topics in homebuilding and remodeling.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Because if you don't do that part at the beginning,
then you're having to cheatstuff and make it work and stuff
yes.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
And it don't look right Because as you start being
harder and time consuming, yeah.
And so you start at the bottomwith a hat and a inch, and then
at the top, your towel's gotthat big and it looks.
And it looks crazy, that looksgood, yeah, all right.
So then you've established thatyou're level and you're zooming
through it.
What about brow lines?
How do you figure out theproper brow line size, or do you
(07:20):
talk to the client about that?
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Usually talk to the client about that.
Nowadays they want lease groutlines as possible.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, they're one super, yeah, super, super thin.
And then there are also someactual.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Now, the larger format towel, the bigger you can
get your grout lines and theydon't look bad.
But it needs smaller format.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
With fat grout lines.
It doesn't look right, and theneon bow picked their color.
Right.
You're in there.
You're doing your towel, you doyour floor, you do your walls.
Whichever way right, you preferto do first.
Whichever way you learn to dofirst, you do your floor, you do
your walls.
Talk to me about the trim.
Well, or is that the?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I mean we said pretty much such options.
We offer is either Schlutertrim, towel trim or bull nose.
So that's part of the layoutprocess.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
Or pencil right.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
If you're doing Schluter trim, that goes up
before your towel, because yourtowel overlaps the backing.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
So, if you have and it could be the metal, they've
got the, I call it plastic,whatever the.
But anyway, you put in yourSchluter trim in.
How's that attached?
Well, essentially you've gotthree walls to.
Let's just say you've got threewalls to a shower, two
sidewalls and a back wall.
That Schluter trim is gonnacome on your sidewalls wherever
(08:44):
you're gonna stop your tile,correct, and you're gonna go
ahead.
So, before you actually installtile, you're setting your
Schluter trims, your Schluterstrips, your trim pieces.
How's that attached?
Screwed in Thins, okay, it isattached via thinset.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
Yes, it's got like a.
It's not screwed in At an inchand a half to two inch backer on
it that you push into thethinset.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Gotcha.
Okay, you gotta get that inthere Now and we'll go back and
we'll kind of hit on timelinesand talk through the timeline of
all of this.
But you've got your tile set.
It ran to meet your trim.
Everything's done as far astile.
That's the next step.
Okay, so we're in a bathroomwhen I'm just doing the shower.
(09:31):
Would you do the shower and theshower floor, that tile before
you do floor tile?
You would, yeah, and is there areason that?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
you would want to do that.
That way, I know where to stopthe floor tile.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Okay, because you're gonna set your curb really.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
You're gonna run it to it and then that way, if you
do like.
Some people like tile on theface of their pony wall.
Some people like she rocked it.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Just to.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Okay, Especially when it's Now.
If they're getting tile, Iwould do the flooring first and
then run the tile on top of it.
Okay, but if they're doing sherock, do she rock, run the
flooring to it.
Then your base floor covers.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Gotcha Okay, you run your floor tile.
Now can you put LVP inbathrooms.
Is that becoming more common?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
You don't like what LVP?
Lvp Like overall or just in aday, right, yeah, me either.
I'll be honest with you.
I'm not right, but it ispopular and some of the more.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
I mean it's easy, I mean it's great stuff to work
with, but I'm just seeing inlike a lot of like high traffic
areas and stuff and places thathave had it for a few years is
not holding up.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, it went on there you can get a lot of
buzzer lighting and.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
But if it's just like a couple that lives in a home
with no kids and stuff like that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Well, I'll say for us , we have it now too, but we
bought a wider plank and to methat makes the difference, the
actual cost of it and thematerial you can get the
cheapest of the cheap, and thatstuff is you get what?
It's fair?
Yeah, it's terrible If you do,even in a high traffic area, if
(11:21):
you don't have a lot of money tospend on flooring, I would
prefer glue down over Glue down,but it's way better yeah,
floating yeah.
And the thing people get afraidof the glue down right, because
it's different.
It's not just as easy assnapping and pop and lay right,
(11:43):
but if you know what you'redoing, we lay down.
We lay down, yeah, and I preferthat.
In a high traffic area I'veseen less issues with that
compared to like even in ourbuilding right now.
We've got luxury vinyl planksand where you're rolling your
chair and all of that.
It makes a huge difference.
(12:03):
But in the bathroom for themost part it is supposedly.
It's water resistant, notwaterproof.
But do we put a barrier downunderneath?
We pretty much always do now.
Even though some of it comesand it has the backing on it, we
still put a barrier down andMinimum a six mil plastic.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
Yeah, you know what I mean, at least now.
If a customer wants to investmore in like a better
underlayment that's more soft,and you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Those are nice this time consuming, laying that
stuff.
But it just all depends on whatthe customer wants, and I mean,
if you want a better qualityfloor with that stuff, that's
what you need to go with.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, all right, you've put in your plank or
you've put in your tile.
You got your floor stud.
Do you put in bandages beforeor after?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Bandages are towards the end of the project.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
We go in demoed.
You know we did the shower, gotthe flooring.
We usually put protectant downon that, but also before we do
the flooring, we skipped overthis like to get any of the
sheet rock were done.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, You're patching and all that done, right If
it's, especially if it's goingto take, if it's larger patches
and multiple coats yeah, goahead and do that, Do that, do
your texture paint.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
You know, the less you can do on top of your floor,
the better.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, because if you come in there after the fact and
you still have to sand, it's anightmare, even if you've
covered it up right.
It is a pain and Especiallybefore the towel in.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
We grow out in the white powder.
It's all in your grow lines.
Yeah, it's a nightmare to getclean.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I also would recommend, if possible and
depending on time of year andseason and all these different
things, but shutting off theHVAC system if we're in a large
you know what I mean If we're ina large area and we're going to
be doing a lot of sanding anddrywall patching.
Now we're going to move intothe portion of the show where we
(14:12):
talk interior design.
We're going to bring in aninterior designer and we're
going to talk trending designand products.
Hope you enjoy.
Let's go.
So, well, on another one, I'llcall myself out again.
I don't do any work at home,okay it's very tough.
(14:32):
Yeah, so check this out.
We have the, we have lightsover our mirrors and the the
vanity lights.
Then we have an overhead light,but the shower Actually does
not have a light in it and it'sactually darker back.
Yeah, so I need to go in andput in a you know a light over
(14:54):
the shower.
I just haven't done it, but Icould tell you it does.
It makes a difference and andwhere the lights are located,
the light placement in ourmaster bathroom is terrible, so
I can speak to how important itis for lighting to be proper in
a bathroom remodeled.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And that is one thing about remodels that people
don't realize is that homewasn't built for you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, you know, and it wasn't built with you in mind
.
Speaker 3 (15:17):
So when you're going into a remodel, it is you know
you're looking at it.
As how is this now going tobenefit me?
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's right.
That's what it needs to do.
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, so like awesome .
The next one after that issoaking tubs Soaking tubs, okay,
soaking tubs.
People are more into.
You know relaxing work, lifebalance, yeah, health.
What that means to us we'restarting to realize.
You know, running the rat raceat home.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
You know you want to go home but listen, you're not
talking about garden tubs, right?
So let's clear that up.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
No we had.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
We had all these homes where people Wanted garden
and jetted tubs and things likethat that was a trend and then
our company, over the past sevenyears have been ripping those
out and putting these big oldwalk-in showers in its place.
Yes, and now we're kind of it'snot the same because it's not a
(16:12):
garden tub.
No, it's not, but we are goinginto the soaker tubs right back
into the we don't need this tubto fit four people like a garden
.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Yeah, I mean, it's gonna fit one person comfortably
too, if you're really friendly.
Yeah, absolutely but that alsospeaks to One of the other
trends that we were gonna poponto and I'm just gonna hit it a
little early as aging in place.
Okay so one of the big reasonswhy garden tubs are coming out
is because of, like we weretalking about pre, this is baby
boomers Getting up into that agebracket.
Sure getting in and out ofthose garden.
(16:41):
I don't want to do it.
Right imagine anything elsewanting to do.
I mean I've got my glass of winein one hand and a slippery
surface down.
No, yeah.
So again it's going into agingin place soaking tubs.
You have a tiny lip on the edgeof it, so much easier to get in
and out of, and especially ifyou want that muscle relaxation
at focusing more on that.
You know Massage aspect of it.
That's what we're getting so.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So let's dive into some of the agent in place,
because that's a it's a longertopic than just the list.
With the agent in place, you'rebasically making it to where,
as they get older and they mayeventually need a walker or
wheelchair or things like that.
Let's hit on a couple of thespecific things.
So for us, we have put inthings like the seamless entry
(17:27):
into the shower.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
That is huge, that's huge, okay, and not only for
being ADA compliant if you're arental home or what have you,
but also I've worked with a lotof clients Whose children have
disabilities you're getting them, walking them into a shower
with a zero entrance, and then,of course, yeah, so you get
older and we all don't want tothink about it, but it's good to
think about it.
It is we want to be able to takecare of ourselves in our own
(17:50):
homes.
Yeah, that's a big, big part ofwhy aging in place has become
so important, and if you havethe space that will allow you to
stay in your home comfortably,why wouldn't you invest that
money into it?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
Absolutely yeah having to move to somewhere else
and spend additional funds orgo you know right and and some
of the additional things besides, like the ADA aspect, like grab
bars and things is like,sometimes lower in the
countertops to the appropriateheight, you know, and different
things and features like that,even when you do the Walk-in
(18:23):
showers that are seamless.
We're also putting in benches,yeah, and what is popular and I
love it is the.
I think they're more like ateak that the fold down.
Yes, I love those.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
They look good you know they're also great for
space.
So if you are needing to use awalk or a wheelchair and you
have to bring it in the showerwith you, it's much easier to
get your chair or get yourwalker in there, fold it down
and then sit down versusmaneuver around a stationary
bench.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I wasn't even thinking about the space saving
aspect, I just like the featureyeah okay, awesome.
Okay, so aging in place.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
That's one of the big ones right now.
We are also seeing a lot oflarge format tiles.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah, large format tiles, oh goodness, and you guys
are blowing my mind with thetile that we're getting into our
showroom.
And then you showed me what didyou call that?
A match?
What was it?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
It's called book match.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Book match.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
So book match basically means when you have
tile and I'm just going to usethis, which is funny because it
is trends and influences.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
There you go Nice.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
When you're looking at a piece of tile, it's not
book match.
It just means that the patternkind of goes everywhere.
Yeah, and usually in a bundlethere's about four to six tiles
that have their own pattern.
Yeah Well, when they're bookmatched, it means that you
actually have tiles that whenyou put them side by side, the
picture goes across it fluidly.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, and after, after we get done with cordon, I
want to go and show theaudience how cool because y'all
blew my mind with that becauseit was not two of the same
pattern, tiles or color, it wasa floral pattern, two completely
different and a and it matchedit's not different patterns, it
actually is just differentcolors.
Okay, yeah, yeah, the patternsthe same, but it looks different
(20:08):
because of the colors.
Got you?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Okay.
So that's huge, but not even ona large format scale for like
showers.
We talked about this at marketis.
You know most people arelooking at for a shower wall to
save money a 24 by 42 or 16 by36.
Well, now they're doing andgetting better at it.
The porcelain sheets Gotcha andI don't know if you've seen
those yet or not We've got someat the wholesale distribution
center.
So a whole porcelain sheetbasically can redo one shower.
(20:34):
Wow it can do the back wall andthe side walls in the pattern
flows across the whole shower.
Okay, it's unbelievable.
Now you do have to have youknow, some knowledge, and take
some training courses, like youall supply, before you start to
dive into those kinds of things.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
So is this?
Is this kind of like the Onyx,where you know, onyx, it's a
whole sheet that we stick inonto the walls, or but it's
porcelain.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So Onyx in its capacities only has, it can only
do so much.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
Porcelain.
With the way that they ink, jeteverything, it will replicate
the look of marble.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
I mean it will fool you.
It will.
I'm in a designer and I canlook at small sheets and until I
turn it on its side and realizethat the vein doesn't go all
the way through, sometimes Ican't tell.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
So that's how amazing that stuff is.
So, yeah, so large formats isdefinitely a huge, huge hitter,
and that helps with grout linestoo.
Yeah, you can age, you can play, so you don't want to be
scrubbing your shower.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Well, we're getting that a lot too, and why people
are going to the alternativematerials, such as an Onyx
shower system, is because thereare a lot of people who cannot
stand to clean grout, and so thelarger format you have, very,
you don't have as many groutlines, right, exactly?
So, okay, makes sense.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Exactly, and all these for the most part have.
You know we've talked aboutfour rectified edge.
Yes, Very minimal grout lines,so large format.
Sustainability is another one.
Okay, that hit a little harderon the West Coast.
It's slowly easing its way overhere to the East Coast.
But you know, having asustainable product, you know
for tax benefits but also to forthe future.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
You know if you're going to be selling that home or
if your children are going tobe moving into it.
That makes a huge impact.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
Right.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
On overall your money .
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Also the environment.
I'm a huge green person.
One of my favorite countertopcompanies is Cambria Stone.
Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
They recycle even their own water.
They recycle their own quartzdust.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Wow, I mean, I'm just spending the extra money for a
company who cares that muchabout my future, absolutely, and
sustainability, you know, anddesign and everything.
So it's more about the energyefficiency and call savings as
well.
People don't understand thatsomething like a bathroom can
save you money when designedproperly.
Thanks for joining us today.
As always, we are grateful forour listeners and your continued
(22:52):
support.
Please subscribe to our YouTubechannel.
Follow us on social media viaFacebook, instagram and Tik Tok.
Get more info at our website,wwwtheshomebuildingshowcom.
And, as always, for who we arethe home building and remodeling
(23:13):
show.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!