Bathroom: Before and After

An Ugly Bathroom Gets a Long Overdue Makeover

As a recently divorced woman house hunting with an infant daughter nearly eighteen years ago, Veronica Westfall had a list of specific requirements: Her new home had to be under $100,000, close to work, and in the same neighborhood as her babysitter and the good elementary school. That didn’t leave a whole lot of options. So, when she found a home that met those requirements — but still needed a whole lot of work in other areas — she signed the purchase agreement within 60 seconds of laying eyes on the property. Then, she made a home improvement wish list.

“The roof was old, the windows were drafty, I needed a new driveway, the carpet was stained with the spills and pet accidents of decades, and the downstairs bathroom was very grungy and the exact color of pancake makeup,” says Veronica. “That bathroom was truly ugly, with dings and chips and tiny little tiles that never came clean no matter how hard I scrubbed. One step at a time, I thought. So, I got to work.”

Chipping Away — One Step at a Time

Veronica did a lot of the work on her home herself to save money. And, when it came to things she couldn’t do, she used contractors. Unfortunately, says Veronica, her initial experience was not very good.

“There were replacement windows that didn’t fit the first or second or even the third time, a flooring contractor who never quite finished, and a contractor who only showed up when it was time to get the deposit,” laments Veronica. “It was almost comical the bad luck that I had.”

Of course, as badly as Veronica wanted to tackle her functional-yet- ugly bathroom, there was always a more pressing project. Then, one day, Veronica’s now-teenaged daughter slipped in the tub and the tile wall crumbled where she fell against it. She was OK, but the tile wasn’t. It was time to remodel the bathroom.

Not feeling particularly hopeful given her past experiences, Veronica turned to HomeAdvisor to find a good contractor. And, after reading through several reviews from past customers, Veronica chose Matt at FAST Contracting for the job.

“Miracle of miracles,” says Veronica, “he showed up on time, did the work in a week and didn’t leave until I was perfectly happy.”

A Smooth — and Surprisingly Clean — Operation

Knowing that she wanted to design her bathroom around the neutral glass tiles she’d seen in other home designs, Veronica went to Lowe’s to choose the components for her new bathroom. Then, when it was time for Matt to begin work on her project, she had everything down to the knobs and fixtures staged and ready for him to pick up directly.

That’s my best tip for people doing a remodel,” says Veronica. “When your contractor gives you a list of what you’re responsible for buying, go ahead and pick that out right away so everything is ready to pick up when he’s ready to start the job. I think that’s what slows things down for a lot of people.”

With materials in place, recalls Veronica, the project started out smoothly — and things just went even more surprisingly smoothly from there. Despite the fact that everything from the tile to the vanity was mortared in, requiring an involved and messy demolition effort, the FAST crew stayed on schedule and kept the work area cleaner than Veronica ever would have imagined.

“Every day when I came home the house seemed even cleaner than when I left it,” says Veronica. “That had never happened to me before. And, these guys even tiled on the floor of the linen closet without telling me. It was like a little Christmas gift the first time I opened it!”

It wasn’t an easy project, adds Veronica, but Matt and his crew took it in stride and considered it a challenge. What’s more, they took a great deal of pride in their work — and Matt even came back a week after completion to check in and fix a slightly off-centered countertop (the result of a factory defect).

“That spells the difference between someone who takes the job to get it out of the way and someone who looks at it and thinks: OK, how can we make this even better?,” says Veronica. “Now the ugly bathroom is my favorite room… and I can’t wait for him to do the kitchen.”