Size matters, in that for floor tile, most people prefer a larger tile, as it does minimize grout joints, which in turn makes it easier to keep clean. But on the other hand, grout lines work a little bit like treads on your tire. they reduce the likelihood that you will lose your footing on a wet bathroom or shower floor.  Two other considerations on size/shape: The smaller the area to be tiled, the odder it looks to use a larger tile. A typical hall bathroom is five feet wide, an eighteen or twenty-four inch tile means the floor is covered on two or less tiles, especially in front of the vanity. One solution is to set the tile on a diagonal pattern, which breaks up the visual, while preserving the reduction in grout lines. Note, there is an additional cost to set tile on the diagonal, both in labor and wasted tile.

The other issue is the shape of tile. Today, most floor tile is square, in twelve, thirteen, sixteen, eighteen or twenty-four inch, while wall tile is rectangular, with dimensions of eight by ten, eight by twelve, nine by thirteen, and even larger. Again size matters, in a relative sense. If you have a grand master bathroom with floor dimensions of over eight feet wide and ten feet deep, and especially if your bathroom ceilings are over eight feet high, fifteen by twenty or twelve by twenty-four inch wall tile can be beautiful. In the typical hall bathroom, tiles larger than nine by thirteen inches usually look a little overwhelming. Also keep in mind, larger tile, and the heavier square floor tile add to your labor costs if you choose to have them set on walls.

Lastly, color and finish, while a matter of personal taste, are showing certain market trends. In various areas of the country, bright colors, earth tones, natural stone looking tiles are all the leading sellers, depending, of course what part of the country you live in. South Florida tends to be a leader, because we have so much tile in our homes.

The trend has been towards a matte, stone looking finish for several years, and even though colorful glass tiles have also gained in popularity, the travertino tiles are still the favorites. And while the lighter beiges and off whites are still somewhat more popular, the darker, noches are fast becoming the best sellers in high end neighborhoods, from the various towers in CityPlace, to Palm Beach Gardens and even some of the finer homes in the old downtown parts of West Palm Beach.

So make sure you are happy with your choice before it goes on the wall, because almost anything goes, but once it is up, you are going to be looking at it for a long time!

If you’d like help with your tile choices or any other bathroom repair or remodeling project we can help.

Caulk will NOT repair a leaking shower pan, but if you have cracks in the corners, or gaps under the shower curb (step in area) or at the joint of the tub and tile around your bathtub, you can develop a water leak even if all your plumbing is in good working order.

It is a good idea to inspect your shower and tub surrounds on a regular basis, a casual glance anytime you are bathing will let you know if the walls are separating at the corners, but about once per month, or at least a couple of times per year, one should get down and look at the edge of the tub and under the inside of the curb if you have a shower.

How to Caulk/What kind of Caulk?

We use DAP® KWIK SEAL PLUS® Premium Kitchen & Bath Adhesive Caulk w/MICROBAN®, while the are other fine caulk products made by reputable companies, the handy squeeze tube, anti microbe,  and super elasticity of this product makes for satisfactory and long lasting repairs.

Traditionally, you had to buy caulk in large cardboard or hard plastic tubes and load them into a caulking gun, which, if you didn’t buy a high quality enough gun, would sometimes leave you with a trigger  failure, and no matter the quality of the gun, you always had to deal with the dripping caulk between uses. Today, caulk is still sold this way, but it is also offered in a squeeze tube, more like a toothpaste tube. you simply remove the cap, cut the tip of the tube at a sloping angle, and squeeze as you need, replacing the cap to save the remainder for a few minutes later, or a few weeks later. the cost per ounce is pretty close either way.

The second question is how do you actually apply the caulk? I have seen so many bathrooms where a homeowner or a handyman has slathered caulk, not only on the gap, but about an inch on each side of the crack, as well. Besides being terribly unattractive, this method doesn’t even properly seal the area. The surface of most tile is already sealed, some of it even has a high glaze, in either case, tile is not a suitable surface for caulk to bond to. the edge of the tile (in the grout line or at the tub lip) is porous, as is most grout. Caulk bonds nicely to the unfinished tile and to grout. the ideal method of application is to run a bead of caulk down the gap, and then remove as much of the excess caulk as you can.

Years ago, I was taught to use the end of my finger, actually the bottom of the first joint of my index finger to smooth caulk. This works fine on finished wood prior to painting, or even better on old painted wood, but when I started working with tile, I quickly realized that much of the time, an edge or joint that needs caulking, has at least one surface that is a cut piece of tile. the cut edge on tile is about as sharp as a razor blade, so not only do you cut your finger, your  caulk has a tendency to look kind of pink! Today, I always use a commercial grout sponge, these are available at your local home improvement store, for about three bucks, and can be found in the flooring department. If you forget the sponge, an old rag will do fine, dampen it and wrap the tip of your finger in it and wipe. in any event, you should have almost no caulk visible outside of the actually crack. Caulk is cheap. a water leak is not. Apply it generously, and then wipe off the excess.

If you are experiencing a leak, caulk is not the solution to a pan failure, or a tub leak, but as water will go through any opening it find, it is a good idea to make sure everything is tight before you call a bathroom specialist. If a $3.00 tube of caulk can save a $2000-$3000, shower or tub replacement, it is a good investment. If it doesn’t stop the leak, then it is the time to call us.

As a side note, Palm Beach Builders will come to your home and recaulk your bathroom, as needed, and also inspect your bathtub or shower and give you a free estimate if more work is needed. but keep in mind, while our estimates are ALWAYS FREE, for us to caulk your bathroom will run about $100.00, so if you are physically able to do it, there is no need to pay a professional to recaulk your bathing area.

If you’d like help with caulking or any other bathroom repair or remodeling project we can help.

You may also either have grout cracks in the corners that are wide enough and high enough to let some water run down the walls behind the pan, or you might have a large opening under the inside lip of the curb, especially if the curb top is a slab of marble. I have known many veteran tile setters who sometimes overlook this gap. Simply lean down and look under the step, if you do not see tile or grout solidly to the bottom of the marble slab, you will want to seal it, either with grout and caulk, or if it is a small opening, just caulk. (note: the heating and cooling, as well as the dramatic changes in humidity in a typical bathroom may cause the walls to expand and contract at different rates and cause cracking, all 90 degree corners should be caulked as well as grouted.

If you aren’t sure what is causing your leak, you do, or have a plumber do for you, a leak test. Palm Beach Builders can do it for you, too, for a minimal cost. This involves removing the metal drain cover from the drain of your shower and inserting a rubber ball like device, filling the shower with water up to just under the curb, and letting it sit overnight. if the water level is down significantly by morning, the pan has to be replaced. If the water is basically as deep as it was when you went to bed, you probably have a leak at one of the aforementioned locations.

In fact, REPUTATION is the keyword here. No matter how glitzy the website, no matter how big the advertisement in the yellow pages or newspaper, nothing the contractor cam tell you means as much as the words of your neighbors. Be sure to always ask for references, be sure to contact at least a few of those references. Ask the previous customers of the contractor what their experience was.

Would they use that company again?

Were they treated with respect?

Was the work satisfactory?

Did they feel like the company was honest?

Did they get a detailed breakdown of costs?

Were their questions answered?

Were the workmen trustworthy, as well as knowledgeable?

A major portion of our business is based on referrals, over half,  in fact. From large retirement communities, like Century Village and Cresthaven in West Palm Beach, to small upscale neighborhoods, like Steeple Chase and Hunt Club, in Palm Beach Gardens, where we just completed our 10^th bathroom remodel for our 4^th homeowner. (out of a community of just 92 homes!), to places as diverse as Limetree, Bent Tree, and Aberdeen in Boynton Beach, to Fisherman’s Landing in Jupiter and the Little Club in Tequesta, we have received multiple projects, based on the word of mouth of neighbors!

I can tell you all day what a wonderful company Palm Beach Builders, Inc. is, but that is just me bragging on my company. A real person, who really turned a room, or two or three over to us, and watched us tear it apart and put it back together, and then paid us for a job well done carries a lot more weight. So, sure, listen to the sales pitch, mine or my competitors, but insist on references, and CALL them.

If you’d like to contact your neighbors who are our previous customers, or have any other questions about a bathroom repair or remodeling project we can help.

In the long run, it is not only the right thing to do, but the best business model to give my best advice. A trusted contractor is as valuable as he/she is rare.

Instinctively, I felt that the money invested in your bathroom, in a quality project, remained the best investment. But until I recently found the following article, I didn’t have hard proof. Now I do, and so do you!

While most of our projects come in well under the eleven thousand dollar price tag mentioned in this story (in fact, we are currently running a special at nearly 1/3 of that price! Yes, a complete remodel for under $4000.00, under $5000.00 even including a nice vanity, medicine cabinet and shower door! Keep in mind, while our prices are very reasonable, especially compared to national trends, our quality of material and workmanship is not at all second to anybody.

Our premium remodel WILL add value to your home!

Anthony Watkins

Palm Beach Builders, Inc.

Here’s a post from G.M. Falisko called Many Happy Returns for Home Rehabs

Remodeling magazine’s annual report shows that maintenance-related projects and moderately priced upgrades are providing stable paybacks, even in a slower market.

By G.M. Filisko | December 2008

Despite home price drops in many cities, remodeling projects are holding their own as a way for owners to add value.

Many people are wondering where their money will be safest during these uncertain economic times. When home owners turn to you for your expert advice, counsel them that some things never change: Investing in their home still pays off.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® statistics show that home prices have fallen by an average of 7 percent nationally in the past year. But the value of home owners’ investment in remodeling projects has declined only 3.86 percent on average between 2007 and 2008, according to Remodeling’s 2008–2009 Cost vs. Value Report.

Tile Installation & Repair

Convert Tub to a Shower

Install Whirlpool Tubs

Repair Damaged Walls

Install Sinks, Vanities and Lightbars

We have trustworthy employees so you will feel comfortable if you have to run an errand, you won’t be worrying about the good silver disappearing while you are out. Our workers also respect that they are working in your home, not that you are living on a construction site. You are going to get some noise, dirt and dust, but we work to keep them to an absolute minimum and we clean up after ourselves. You will still need to clean up a bit after the project is finished, but we haul away the debris and sweep up our work area when we finish every job.

The result is design that breaks the traditional molds and is more flexible and adaptable. It is accessible to or useable by all people, regardless of age, size, or physical ability, as much as possible. This is Universal Design.

In terms of bath design, you will want to consider clear floor spaces sufficient for entering, closing the door, and approaching each fixture. In addition, you’ll want support in the walls for grab bars to be placed as needed. The beautiful choices available today in fixtures make it easy to create this supportive environment attractively. For more information, ask your Watkins Construction representative.