We turned a cramped and gloomy space into this delightful ensuite!

When I first went to see this ensuite bathroom I was surprised by what I saw. The room was quite large, 10′ x 10′ but it felt small. The jetted tub that the original/previous owner had installed took up so much room that the ensuite felt cramped! It wasn’t a space that I would like to spend much time in and they were open to ideas on how to make the best use of the space once the tub was removed.

We discussed many options but it was agreed that a large walk in shower was a must. Full waterproofing by Schluter Systems is a must and is always installed under all tile in every Bathtek bathroom! With the space that we had to work with we were able to offer a barrier free, (meaning no glass) zero clearance shower space. Zero clearance means no curb to step over when entering the shower. No obstacle means no trip hazard! An altogether more accessible shower space!

Lots of space for shower product storage was high on the list so we decided to go with a full shower width niche to the back wall of the shower. It was balanced by making it one full tile in height so as not to break up the tile design. The tile of choice was 24″ x 24″ Calacatta grey vein tile to shower walls and ceiling and 10″ hexagonal tile in the same finish for the ensuite and shower floors while adding tile to the base of the wall to meet the floor tiles perfectly! Tiles were installed over Schluter’s Ditra heat tile underlay with heat cable installed to give a comfortable thermostatic controlled warm floor.

A new bathroom fan with new ducting and exterior vent was installed to ensure the best moist air removal that we could and installed right where the most water vapour is produced in this ensuite, over the shower area!

Plenty of storage was needed and we opted for full vanity cabinetry along the open wall opposite the shower along with a tall storage cabinet placed centrally over the vanity cabinets. Front lit mirrors with a built in heat pad are a great addition over the vanity sink areas for direct light when using them. The heat pad is useful for anti fogging when using the mirrors in a steamy bathroom when someone else is using the shower!

An American Standard high efficiency toilet with a Vortex flush was installed with the recommended seat with soft closing action.

With just the one small window, not enough natural daylight, we needed to add lots of LED potlights to the working areas of the room with a daylight setting to them to provide the bright, light and airy feel to the room that was required.

Bathroom grade paint was applied to the walls to make maintenance over time much easier.

A complete transformation from the gloomy, cramped ensuite space that we first encountered and we expect this ensuite bathroom to be serving this family for many, many years to come!