Expanded Shower

Schloegel Design Remodel, in conjunction with One Week Bath KC,  recently completed the expansion of a master shower.  The home was built in the early 90’s.  Homes built in the 80’s and 90’s were starting to feature larger master bathrooms.  These larger bathrooms allowed for a more spacious feel and typically included whirlpool tubs, 2-bowl vanities and standard showers.  By today’s standards the showers are often undersized and many homeowners feel they have everything they need in the master bathroom except for the larger shower.  And that is where Schloegel Design Remodel/One Week Bath KC comes in.  We practically doubled the size of the shower without compromising any of the existing fixtures.  See the photo of the expanded shower.  The homeowners are very pleased with their new shower and this is what they had to say about their experience –  “……..we want to tell you how happy we are with the project and how it turned out. We enjoyed working with Doug, and also Brad and Gayle. They were all very professional and hard workers, trying to make everything right.”

This bathroom will be functional. J Wiser Plumbing moved both the toilet and shower a necessary part of making this bathroom accessible.  They also helped rework the lavatory to make it easy to use in a wheelchair.  Clayco Electric provided a new heat lamp (a very important item on the boy’s wish list) and a new exhaust fan.

The bath will also be beautiful.  Furgeson Lighting provided all the plumbing and lighting fixtures and accessories such as towel rods for the room.  Daltile donated floor and wall tile as well as a fun glass tile accent piece.  Tony Hamlin will add the finishing touches to the job as our painting contractor.

While we are remodeling the bathroom, we will also widen the boy’s bedroom door.  They currently have no door (and no privacy) because it’s impossible to get a wheelchair through a standard door opening.  Edelman-Lyon, the local Stanley automatic door distributor and installer, has donated the ADA operator to assist in opening and closing of the bedroom door donated by Kansas City Millwork. Kansas City Millwork also donated the bathroom door and window.

All the demolition and remodeling work makes for a lot of trash.  U Load It is providing the dumpster and will haul it all away.

We love it when a plan – and our partners – come together.

Jake Schloegel, CR, President and Founder

I have no idea about reno and stuff but we bought and moved in a 18 year old house two months ago. At first I thought we were just going to take out carpet and put in laminate. Anyway one thing leads to another… I went to an auction and bought a 36″ kitchen cabinets only to find out the top cabinets are too tall. I went on google and found a way to make it fit. I ran through your blog. My problem is I believe I do have a 5″ soffit on top of the old cabinets. The current cabinets are 30″ long that leaves about 19″ in between the cabinets. With my new cabinets being 36″ long. If I put it up where the current ones are now then it only leaves about 14″ in between top and bottom cabinets or should I take out the soffit (is it doable)? Could there be wires or pipe in there? We ran out of budget with all the unexpected reno, we were thinking of doing it ourselves. What’s your opinion? Should we just install it in with 14″ between cabinets or take out the soffit? What are we dealing with? I await your expert advise. Sorry for the long story. Best regards, Teresa

Teresa,

The standard distance between the counter top and wall cabinets is 18”.  I believe that taking the distance to 14” is a big mistake.  You most likely will feel the tightness.

I would recommend removing the soffit.  Yes, you could very likely encounter pipes and wiring in your soffit.  You can either relocate the wires and pipes, if they are in the way, or you can cut out the top of the cabinets to accommodate the wires and pipes.  If you cut out the tops of the cabinets, you will need to add some sort of covering inside the upper part of the cabinets to conceal the wires and pipes.

We have actually done it both ways.  I prefer to relocate the pipes and wires, however, this can run into several hundred $$$.  Cabinet modifications also take some time.  If you are handy, you may be able to do the modifications yourself.

Let me know how it goes,

Jake