Bathroom Remodeling: Ventilation, Waterproofing, Heated Floors, Cabinetry, and Small-Space Design
Host:
Welcome to the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction on News Talk 1310 WIBA. Have a question? Email it to EdgeConstructionRadio@gmail.com.
Now, here is your host, Sean Prebil, on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction, online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is so easy to remember: 636-EDGE.
Joining us this morning, as we are every Saturday morning, is Mike Twohig of Edge Construction.
Mike, how have you been?
Mike:
Great, Sean.
Host:
You and I were talking about motorcycles a bit before the show.
Have you gotten to do any remodeling jobs that involved a motorcycle?
When I was a teenager, a friend of mine had relatives who worked for Harley-Davidson growing up in the Milwaukee area.
I remember one of their uncles had a Harley actually in the main entryway of his home. They were very well off, and it was kind of on display.
Have you gotten to do anything like that?
Mike:
We have not, but I just have this thought.
Christy, if you are listening, wouldn’t that be cool to have?
I do not think our old farmhouse, with its low ceilings and nothing fancy, is the right spot.
I think she is going to say, “Keep it in the shed.”
Host:
You do have a shop.
Mike:
Yes, let’s keep it in the shop.
I do have a friend in Washington, D.C. He is an immigrant guy who worked his way up from sweeping the floor in car dealerships to owning a house on the river out there.
He had a Harley with no miles on it in his living room.
I thought, “Gosh, okay, I am never going to have that,” but it was cool.
If you have everything else and you have the room, that would be something.
Host:
If you were going to have a motorcycle in your house, it probably would not be a Harley, right?
Mike:
No, probably Triumph.
Something like that old British stuff. I love that look. That is cool.
Harleys are great too.
Host:
If you are listening this morning and thinking about doing something like that, you know the guy.
Mike:
We will figure out a way to hang it up in there.
Host:
I cannot even imagine that on the ceiling.
Mike:
Yes.
Host:
The type of structure that would need — you guys can do it, though. That is for sure.
Mike:
We are not talking Harleys this week.
Host:
We are going to talk bathrooms this week and bathroom remodels.
Mike:
Okay, I have to interject.
We did a remodel, I think last year or maybe finished last year.
This was a very nice house, a big house.
I do not know if you remember talking about the light fixture we had to suspend in their foyer. We had to have a bracket that was rated for, I think, 1,200 pounds. We actually built scaffolding and a pulley system to get this thing up there.
The light fixture itself was about 700 pounds.
So that is about the size of a good-sized motorcycle.
I guess it is not impossible.
Host:
And you guys got it up there.
Mike:
Yes, we got it up there.
Dale, our electrician, is our guy in-house. He called and said, “I am going to need two guys to help me, and it is going to be a few days at least. You have to come look at the structure too.”
I said, “Isn’t this just a light fixture? What do you need me for?”
He said, “Oh, you do not understand.”
There were four boxes of crystals, each weighing 150 pounds.
That was not the fixture. That was just the glass hanging from it.
So there are options for this stuff.
Host:
One more interjection to all this.
You guys at Edge Construction really love doing these kinds of things.
If it is something different or there is a challenge, I know it is something you like.
Maybe not that it is really fun.
Mike:
No, no, we did enjoy it.
But it was not just attaching those things to a roof.
We had to actually do some engineering and beef up the beam that was already up there.
It was over 20 feet up in the air.
I remember looking at Dale and saying, “How are we going to get this up there?”
Like I said, we built scaffolding and got a pulley system involved.
Host:
Was a scissor lift involved in that one too, or am I thinking of a different job?
Mike:
That was a different job.
We did not use a scissor lift.
I think, in the end, it was too heavy for the scissor lift system, so we had to use what they call block and tackle.
That is how we got it up there.
Host:
Very cool.
Speaking of previous projects and the great work you do at Edge Construction, I mentioned the website, EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
Check it out. They have a great portfolio up on the website, but also a link to Houzz.
If you have not checked out Houzz, they have a lot of great projects they have done at Edge Construction up on their Houzz page.
Just head over to EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
There are links to Houzz, Pinterest, and Facebook as well.
This week, we are talking bathrooms, Mike.
We are also going to be talking about some of the commonly asked questions people have about bathrooms.
One of the things I have learned over the years from talking with you is that bathrooms unfortunately get put off by people.
It is kind of the last piece to get that TLC, and so you see some interesting things when it comes to bathroom remodels.
Mike:
This is the thing.
Bathrooms with a shower or tub in them — sometimes you call them the main bath or a kids’ bath, and then there is the primary bath — those are not generally common spaces.
Meaning, that is not where friends and relatives go hang out.
They do not come into your primary bath while they are here for dinner.
So it tends to be something that is a little easier to put off.
They are expensive.
If we are going to tear this thing apart, and we will get into all the reasons to tear it apart, there is water involved, pipes, and things that should be updated every time you touch something like that.
But it is not just the expense. It is also the hardship.
Sometimes we work in smaller houses in Madison, and some of those houses have one bath.
Some of these really desirable properties downtown, in Middleton, Monona, and elsewhere around town do not have a lot of baths, other than maybe the random Wisconsin toilet in the middle of the basement.
Host:
Yes, with no walls.
By the way, they are not just hanging out down there. That is the weirdest part.
There are no walls there, and they are just there.
It was not like there was a lot of planning, like, “Oh, we will tuck it in a corner so someday we have a bath.”
It is just there.
Mike:
I will tell you, if you have one bath and we are going to redo it, that toilet in the basement can be very handy.
We have turned a lot of those into baths, actually.
Host:
I was going to ask that.
Do you get a lot of people who say, “Listen, we have the one bath in the house, but we have this random toilet in the middle of our basement. Can we maybe move that around and build something for it?”
Does that happen often?
Mike:
We do.
Sometimes there is a makeshift shower down there too, or there might be some other things.
But I always like to make fun of that random toilet.
I would love to find somebody with some seasoned people in construction, maybe older plumbers, who can say, “Yes, we remember doing that.”
But yes, that does happen.
Sometimes we have remodeled that upstairs bath, and the homeowners have that toilet in the basement.
You can join a health club for a month or so, or maybe go to mom’s and get showered up, or however it happens.
But having the toilet is pretty handy.
Host:
What about the ones that are seen a little more often, maybe the smaller bathrooms for guests?
Do those get a little more TLC?
Do you guys tend to do those more frequently as part of another project?
Maybe you are remodeling the kitchen, remodeling the living room, or doing both, and then you throw in that smaller bathroom as part of the project.
Mike:
We do.
It is less of a project than doing a full-on primary bath.
If you have a growing family or a grown family, that main bath or kids’ bath, whatever you want to call it, gets a lot of use.
When houses were built, we throw around that dirty word once in a while: builder grade.
It is not like they are putting all their eggs into that basket.
If you are going to save money on the new-construction side, it seems like that happens in the bath.
Maybe they are not putting great stuff in there, and those tubs wear out. Those surrounds wear out. Maybe the fixtures are at the end of their life.
That is a great tagalong project.
If we are doing a kitchen or, a lot of times, if we are doing a primary bath, like one we have coming up, the primary bath was the main project.
The homeowners started off saying, “If we can, we want to spruce up the main bath a little bit,” meaning the kids’ bath.
When we dug into it and priced both projects out, we could actually do that tagalong project for 25 or 30 percent less.
So you get a better deal on that bath if you can put it with something else.
If the drywall crew is there doing one thing, adding a little drywall in another room is a great deal.
It is a great deal for us anyway.
That one started off maybe doing a countertop. Then it morphed into a cabinet. Now we are doing flooring and replacing the fixtures in the tub because those tubs, over time, the floors start to get a little soft.
We really looked at it and said, “Listen, we think this should be done. You cannot just do a facelift-type remodel on that room at that time.”
But there are times where we just go in and replace the tub too.
Host:
You mentioned the understructure.
What is that like for a homeowner?
Obviously, if you are feeling a soft spot on your floor, that is probably a sign something really needs to be done.
Are there other things you can look for and say, “This bathroom is probably ready for some TLC”?
I am guessing aesthetics and just looking old and dated is one of those indicators.
Mike:
The cabinet part is kind of easy.
The rollers start to go bad. Sometimes the hinges go bad. The doors start to come apart a little bit.
There are obvious signs of wear where you know this has to be replaced at some point.
Tops generally do not wear out. They grow out of style.
They definitely get ugly and maybe worn, but I have had so many homeowners, myself included, say, “I really hate my laminate countertop.”
But try to wear one out.
Those things just last forever.
Now with upgrades to stone, most of the time we know those are lasting for a long time.
On the fixture side, if you are looking at sink fixtures and shower fixtures, there are obvious things like a drip or a leak.
But a lot of times, by the time the finish starts wearing off those fixtures, they are probably getting toward the end of their life.
If you are looking at a 30-year-old fixture or a 20-year-old fixture and it is showing obvious signs of wear, there is probably wear on the inside too.
For fiberglass tubs and surrounds, it is the same thing.
Once that really starts to dull, it probably means that floor is getting a little weak too.
Host:
You mentioned cabinetry in the bathroom.
As we think of the floors, walls, and if it has a shower in there, the humidity to dry-air cycle, those cabinets experience a variety of different environments.
I do not know if it is just because it is a morning thing or what, but people seem to be generally rough on those spaces — opening up the cupboards and things like that.
They seem to be rougher on those spaces than maybe the kitchen cabinetry.
Mike:
It is a very utilitarian space.
You mentioned the wild swings in humidity and moisture, and that is very tough on cabinetry.
Depending on what your builder put in there — I will not say that word again, but we all know what it is — some of that finish, like stained cabinets, have a poly or water-based finish over the top.
Over the years, that finish kind of wears off and gets thin. It is very visible.
Once that happens, those humidity swings are even tougher on cabinets.
If your cabinets are particle board, which most of them are, I do not really love it.
We try not to use that stuff.
That material takes on moisture pretty easily by its nature.
It starts to expand and contract, and over time it just gets soft.
I probably do not have to tell you. You have had that experience where you can tell something is wearing out.
Host:
Whether it is a new home — and I do not want to pick on builders — or older homes, we were talking about humidity.
Ventilation seems to be something that was often just a basic ceiling fan, or nothing.
There is more to bathroom ventilation than just having a fan that barely does anything, right?
Mike:
Yes.
I apologize, but we use a really good fan, and it is one of my favorite subjects.
I love a good fan.
Our starting point is normally Panasonic fans.
They are quiet, move a ton of air, and I think the smallest one we put in is 110 CFM.
That means it is moving 110 cubic feet per minute, which is quite a bit of air.
Most people do not realize that you should leave that fan on for 10 or 15 minutes after you are done showering to get the room dried out.
Just because your fan sounds like a jet engine does not mean it is moving a lot of air.
Most people turn it on and say, “Oh my gosh, this thing is so loud.”
Those Panasonic fans are so quiet that we have had homeowners call us and say, “You have to come out. Our fan is not working.”
I say, “Hold a piece of paper up to it, and if it sucks right to it, it is running. You just cannot hear it.”
So new technology and things have come a long way, even in the last 10 years or five years.
Those fans are fantastic because they move the air you need, and they are nice and quiet too.
Host:
Some of that can be done — and maybe I feel like we have talked about this before — where the motor is not necessarily right there.
There is venting, and then there is the fan itself.
Mike:
Right.
You can do that.
We actually have that at our shop.
It is sort of a remote fan.
Picture pipes.
Normally, a fan is right in the room with you, and that is why you are hearing it.
Panasonic has figured out how to do it where the fan is still mounted to the fan box right in your ceiling, but it is just very quiet.
Hotels often have the other setup.
The industry term is whole-house fan.
You can have this thing up somewhere remotely, and it can even be tied to humidity, so it turns on with humidity and runs until it does not need to.
Or you can put it on a timer.
One issue, and the reason we do not do them so much in houses, is that whole-house fan could theoretically be running to four bathrooms.
Now you are going to run it, and it will suck warm air from the inside and send it outside, which creates negative pressure in your house and pulls in cold air.
With the technology we have now, those Panasonic fans are great.
Host:
That sounds great.
We talk about moisture, whether it is humidity or water in general.
It is definitely the enemy of the inside of your home.
Of course, with bathroom remodels, we will talk with Mike about some of the things they do at Edge Construction.
We will talk about the fun stuff too, as far as the design process and some of the great work they have done at Edge Construction.
We will get a little more into some of the areas that need to be addressed when it comes to a bathroom remodel.
We will do all of that next.
If you have not been to the website yet, check them out online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
That is Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We will continue our conversation with Mike of Edge Construction next as the Home Remodeling Show continues right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
The Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction continues now on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction, online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
That is Edge Construction Company dot com.
It is a great website to learn more about Edge Construction. They also have some great recent projects up on the site.
Check them out, as well as links to Houzz, Pinterest, and Facebook.
If you are thinking about doing some remodeling, Mike and the team at Edge Construction would love to talk with you.
Pick up the phone and give them a call at 608-636-3343.
That number is easy to remember because it is 636-EDGE.
We are talking about bathroom remodels, reasons why folks remodel, and some of the things that go on in a bathroom remodel.
Mike, we talked earlier about some of the signs that point to the need for a bathroom remodel.
One of the cool things, before we get into specifics, is that overall, some of the products are so much better than they were even a few years ago.
I know you have talked about Schluter. Am I saying that right?
Mike:
Yes.
Host:
Maybe it is just from talking with you, and we were talking about fans in the previous segment, but the products you guys are using and people are having put into their bathrooms just seem overall much better than they were even a few years ago.
Mike:
Right.
Since you brought up Schluter, that is the orange stuff, if you ever see tile going in.
Almost everybody uses that now, or I know there are companies trying to compete with them.
I do not know how you do it. It has that beautiful blaze-orange color. Maybe you do green or something.
But yes, let’s talk about the things you do not see.
There are some real improvements there, which is why I believe in a full remodel.
We need to get down there and see where the problems are.
We replace pipes when we can get to them.
That system, where if you have ever seen a bathroom really start to get old and the tile starts getting loose on the wall or floor, that has to do with the old way of doing things.
People look at that tile floor and think it is just an impermeable thing.
But if you looked at grout and mortar under a microscope, it would look like it is all air.
There is a lot of space between those hard particles.
Water can make its way down in there.
It is not going to run through your tile like a faucet, but it can slowly seep in.
That is why we use the Schluter system now.
We are making a membrane that goes underneath all things tile.
That is now the shower and the floor. That membrane is the system.
I tell our tile people, “The tile has gone from being the membrane to the Schluter system being the membrane. Now the tile is really the artwork on top of that.”
So you build a bowl, and then you tile on top of it.
Host:
What about drywall?
Do they make better drywall?
Mike:
They do.
It is not drastically different.
We use the blue or green stuff, as we call it with technical terms.
Drywall paper is generally white. That is what most of it is.
They make some denser product that we use in bathrooms, and we use that whenever we have a chance to do it.
Host:
You mentioned pipes.
Mike:
Yes.
When we open it up and find galvanized pipe, we do not like to leave that stuff.
We like to take it out.
If we are doing anything in that bath, we are going to replace valves. Those are the shutoffs underneath your sink, because we know those can fail.
We like flexible plumbing pipe.
I call it PEX, which is actually a brand name. It was kind of the first one that came out.
It is a product that eliminates corners and joints and makes a lot of sense.
When PEX tubing came out, the first time we used it, I asked about the warranty. I think at that point they had a warranty of 100 years.
So what they are really saying is you are never going to worry about it.
That is an upgrade we like to get our hands on.
Host:
I actually wrote down the word PEX.
You and I are on the same page.
What about electrical?
While we are talking about things behind the wall, electrical is definitely an area that often needs significant upgrading in bathrooms, right?
Mike:
It has changed a little bit.
The codes have changed.
We have known for a long time that anywhere above a countertop, you have to have a GFI outlet — a ground fault interrupter.
Now we have other technology to worry about on the electrical side too, with some of the other things and dedicated circuits.
We talked about the Panasonic fan.
You can get a fan with a light in it. You can get a fan with a heater in it.
If you have a door that separates your water closet, your toilet, from the rest of the bathroom, and maybe there is no good way to run a heat vent over there, we will put a fan-light-heater in there.
That has to have a dedicated circuit.
It means you have to have a home run of wire going all the way down to your panel on a separate circuit and all the way up into the bath.
In the 80s and 90s, when a lot of these houses were built, GFI outlets were really expensive — or they must have been — because you will commonly see one GFI outlet in a bathroom.
Then builders would run wire to the other spots and sort of tag along off that one GFI.
That is not really a great plan.
You are much better off having a GFI in each bath and dedicated circuits to them.
If you are using a blow dryer in one bathroom and somebody else is using one in another bathroom, that should not all be on one circuit.
The inspectors help us deal with all that.
Host:
You mentioned heat and heated tile.
This is another area where, as we talk about things you do not always see but truly appreciate, heating the tile has become very customizable.
You guys do some really great work with heated tile for bathrooms.
Mike:
We do.
Probably about half the bathrooms we do now, people opt for that.
It is an investment.
It is not super expensive, but it could be a couple thousand dollars, probably on the high side, as an upgrade.
Schluter helped us out here too.
When heated floors came in, you would have to buy these mats.
If you had a space that was five by seven, you might get a four-by-six mat. You cannot cut them, so you are trying to heat a main area with a premade mat.
Schluter came out with a system several years ago that almost looks like hockey pucks on the membrane.
You can wind your wire through it.
You can custom wind your wire and pick your length of wire.
It is a closed system, so that loops back around to the power.
You can customize it, put heat exactly where you want it, and not where you do not want it.
You can even run it onto a shower bench.
You can do it however you want.
With the fancy thermostats now, if you get up at 6:00, you can start your floor warming up at 5:30, and it shuts off at 7:00, or however you want to do it.
It really burns very little power. It is very efficient, and it is low voltage.
So it is a great option.
I would say everybody would go with that if they called around December or January.
I do not know what it is. The house may be warm, but it is always a great feature.
Host:
We will talk a little more about bathroom remodels.
We have not talked much about the structure itself, and of course we will get into the actual process of remodeling, tiling options, different types of countertops, different types of cabinets, and different types of shower options.
We will do all of that as we do the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction.
Do not forget, if you have not been to the website, EdgeConstructionCompany.com, check them out.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
The Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction continues next right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
You are listening to the Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction. Email your questions to EdgeConstructionRadio@gmail.com.
Once again, here is Sean Prebil on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction right here on 1310 WIBA.
We are hanging out with Mike Twohig this Saturday morning, owner of Edge Construction.
The website is EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
That is Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We are talking about bathroom remodels, some of the things Mike sees, and some of the great projects they have done.
I mentioned the website, EdgeConstructionCompany.com, where you can see their work.
They have a great portfolio on the website, plus links to Houzz, Pinterest, and Facebook. Houzz has a ton of great photos and information about some of the projects they have done at Edge Construction.
You will want to check that out at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
We left off talking about the things you do not see but that really matter when it comes to a bathroom remodel.
We touched on electric, plumbing, and making that watertight space.
What about the structure itself?
Over the years, I think you have talked about this: bathrooms and kitchens seem to be the two areas where people tend to get a little bonkers when it comes to repairs.
I get it. You have a little leak, so you go in, do a quick repair, and kind of cover things up.
Am I right that you will see people who have cut things out to make things fit in some weird way?
That is another area you guys work on that may not be seen, but you leave it much better than the way you found it.
Mike:
Yes.
We want to do that because it is the culture at Edge.
We definitely do not want to cover anything up.
If there is a problem, we are going to fix it and deal with it.
Inspectors do not want you to leave stuff either.
If we are going to open things up, we always get permits, and we always try to do it the right way.
We know they are going to be looking at it, and over the years we have figured out, “Okay, they are going to have a problem with this. This is not good.”
Not so much on newer houses, modern construction maybe from the 60s on — give or take a few years.
Those are not the houses where we find floor joist members cut in half to run a pipe.
But in older houses, that was pretty common.
If you are making room for a pipe, those construction boards in the floor systems might have been smaller.
A modern one might be a 2-by-10 as the smallest thing we would see.
That older stuff could be as small as a 2-by-6 supporting the floor.
When you cut four inches out of that 2-by-6, or cut it right in half and take a chunk out so you can run pipes through it, homeowners will look at that and say, “How is my house not going to fall down?”
No, it is not going to fall down.
Weirdly, over the years, I always think the house becomes one piece of wood. It borrows strength from other parts and keeps it from falling down.
But that does not mean we can leave it.
We have some technology that helps us do those repairs.
There are companies online now that have engineered metal strap fixes. It might be a big hook of steel that can go over, span that gap, and strengthen that joist.
Or sometimes we just have to pull the pipes, reframe everything, and drill holes where they are supposed to be — how they should have done it 50 years ago — and fix it all up.
Host:
As we talk about what is going on that you do not always see, it is weird to think about it, but it is the important stuff.
Ultimately, it is going to look great and perform great, but when it comes to longevity, it is often the things you do not see and the improvements that have been made that make the project something that lasts for generations.
Mike:
Right.
When you have the chance to get at this stuff during a remodel, or when you need to do it, that is important.
I have often wondered about the companies in town that do quick-fix or over-the-top remodels — sort of a surface remodel on a bath.
I just do not think it is a good idea.
It does cost a little more to dig in, see what is underneath, and fix that stuff, but it is really the right thing to do.
There may be major issues down there.
We have done repairs and remodels on baths that had that surface remodel, where a valve failed, a pipe failed, or a joint came apart.
Then you are paying the piper at some point.
But I realize human nature is to spend the money on the things you can see.
You want to put all this beautiful stuff in there, but half of that work is behind the drywall or under the floor.
Host:
Let’s talk about the things you can see.
Let’s talk design.
One of the things I love is going to EdgeConstructionCompany.com, seeing the projects you guys have been recently working on, and going back through them.
I love the slider feature. I love seeing that stuff.
Houzz is also a fantastic resource for that.
As we talked about what you do not see, now we move into what you do see with the remodel.
It all starts with that design get-together and those conversations.
There are amazing things you are able to do when it comes to bathroom designs.
What are some of those more popular things we are seeing right now?
You mentioned countertops specifically, seeing people get rid of those laminate countertops and going with natural stone or other options.
There are some really cool things available for bathroom countertops, aren’t there?
Mike:
Yes.
Quartz is great.
I feel like we have been talking about quartz forever, but they keep coming out with new looks and new designs.
The quality really has not changed. It has always been this product where they grind up quartz, which is actually a harder stone than granite, bind it together, and make the designs.
A company here, one of the companies we use and probably our main supplier, is up in Minnesota.
They will copy an Italian granite design or something from Scotland, but they will make it in Minnesota.
So you are not cutting this out of the mountain over there, putting it on a ship, and getting it over here. You are making it just like anything else.
Sometimes those more complicated designs cost a little bit more.
But pricing now has turned into what is popular, and what people want drives the price down.
It has gotten to a place price-wise that I never thought we would get to.
People do want it, and it is a great product.
I think this trend toward natural products — stone countertops, real wood cabinets, and better products — is not just us putting in stuff.
Homeowners are driving it.
They are not asking for the cheaper products. They are willing to invest in better sources.
Host:
Did some of that come from experiencing the other end of the spectrum?
People realize there is a reason to make that investment and really look for quality products because of what they have been dealing with in the previous bathroom before the remodel.
Mike:
I think so.
Some of it is a result of coming out of a time when flipping houses was so popular.
You do not have to be a carpenter now to look at a home where somebody did that kind of stuff — just enough to get by or sugarcoat everything.
If you have lived in a house like that, and a lot of people have now, where corners were cut, you do not want that stuff again.
Host:
What about cabinetry?
We talked earlier about the environment these cabinets live in, and it is not the most hospitable.
You really want durability there.
At Edge Construction, having high standards when it comes to materials and manufacturing matters.
Of course, you can do customization as well.
Cabinets are not just an appearance part of the bathroom. Functionally and for longevity, cabinet selection is important too.
Mike:
For me, it is ethical to put in a product that is better and going to last long.
That is green. It makes sense.
For us, it is also a good business plan.
If we want to be around for a long time, like we have been, we have to have a floor for our products, meaning there is a minimum standard.
I do not want to put in particle board stuff.
I do not want to put in things that I question.
Kohler is our starting point on plumbing fixtures.
Over the last year and a half, we have quietly made a big upgrade. A lot of our cabinets are coming from a Wisconsin company right now.
The name is Great Northern, and I know we joked about where they are at.
I think it is Rib Lake. We still do not know where that is, even though I have been there to see their manufacturing plant.
It is somewhere north of north, a couple hours north of north.
But the quality is fantastic.
They make them with the products and materials we want.
On their finish end, which is very important, especially in a room like a bathroom, they do a great job.
It is exactly how a cabinet should be built.
When we pull them out of the box, they are just fantastic.
We get great pricing.
It is definitely an upgrade from our Wellborn Forest product, which is made with the same products.
But I love using a Wisconsin company, and it is a little higher level on just about everything.
Those guys, by the way, when they go on vacation, they go down south to Escanaba.
Host:
We are talking with Mike Twohig, owner of Edge Construction, talking about bathroom remodels.
I almost said kitchen remodels because we started talking cabinetry.
Before we wrap up this segment, I was going to ask about customization.
We talk a lot with kitchen remodels about customization and custom cabinets.
There are options for bathrooms too, aren’t there?
Mike:
Very much so.
That is another reason we are using more of this Wisconsin company, Great Northern.
They offer some really great customization options, and they do not really cost us anything.
Because they make them here, their view is that everything is kind of custom.
They are starting with wood and turning it into cabinets.
So it is not like they say, “Well, it takes us a lot longer to incrementally increase the size of the cabinet or decrease it,” or however you want to customize the finish.
They let us do those kinds of things.
Host:
That is a great option for you with Edge Construction.
If you have been thinking about doing a bathroom remodel, today is the day to pick up the phone and give them a call: 608-636-3343.
That is 636-EDGE.
Bathroom, kitchen, basement, addition — if you want to go up, go out, or do all those great things, Mike and the team at Edge Construction would love to talk to you.
Again, telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
We will continue our conversation with Mike of Edge Construction next as the Home Remodeling Show continues right here on 1310 WIBA.
Host:
The Home Remodeling Show with Edge Construction continues now on News Talk 1310 WIBA.
This is the Home Remodeling Show, brought to you by Edge Construction, online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com.
All one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
Their telephone number is 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
It feels like we are only scratching the surface of bathroom remodels.
There is so much to talk about, and it feels that way a lot of weeks, Mike. We just kind of get started, and there is so much to talk about.
One of the areas I do not know that we have talked a lot about involves expanding a bathroom and making room for a bathroom.
I know we have talked about that with kitchens a lot and some other spaces.
But do you get folks who say — and I think a primary bath might be the best example — “We need to either make room for a bathroom, or the bathroom we have right now is not adequate, and we want to add a little bit more space.”
Do you get that question often?
Mike:
We do.
Over the years of design around here, for some reason, baths are just rooms that feel like people were taking inches out of, making them smaller.
There are some code issues sometimes that we run into.
A big one is that you have to have 24 inches clear in front of a toilet.
Host:
I had no idea.
Mike:
In some smaller houses around town, places with only one bathroom, there is not that much room.
With what we have to work with, we can only get maybe 20 inches or 18 inches.
Inspectors do not want to hear your excuses, Sean.
They say, “The rules are the rules.”
If we are going to remodel it, we have to fix it.
We do not do anything without a permit, so that means we are bringing things up to code.
Sometimes it is not like we are taking half a room to make the bathroom bigger.
We might just steal a few inches.
Sometimes that is all you need — six inches or a foot — to make it a viable space and make everything work.
Host:
With the design process, maximizing the space visually also matters.
I know there are ways to trick your mind into feeling like things are bigger, or to proportion things properly.
Maybe you go shallower on a cabinet than what used to be there, or remove something.
Does that stuff go on as part of the design process to make a smaller bathroom feel and function like a much bigger space?
Mike:
Yes.
I think all that helps.
Perspective is what you are talking about.
You do not want a massive cabinet in there. Sometimes a normal-sized cabinet might feel too big.
There are little tricks.
We can shorten cabinets and tweak things a little bit.
I was kind of laughing when you were talking because I was thinking about Heather and her designers, our in-house team.
If there is a way to make a bathroom smaller, they have figured it out.
We have done some very small baths where a half inch matters.
In fact, we just had a project where we did two baths in the same house.
There was one weird bath that was kind of a little big and one that was too small.
We used both of them.
It was literally one of those baths where we could not mess up our install by an inch or we would not meet code.
So it is generally a thing.
CAD is such a wonderful thing too.
A lot of times, when you are standing in that room, you cannot see the answer.
But when you get a top-down look through computer-aided design, we are able to figure those things out.
Host:
It is amazing stuff they can do at Edge Construction.
Again, we have just scratched the surface.
You know what that means: we are going to talk more bathrooms in future shows.
In the meantime, if you are thinking about doing a bathroom remodel, kitchen, or any of those types of spaces, Mike and the team would love to work with you.
You can check out their work online at EdgeConstructionCompany.com. That is all one word, Edge Construction Company dot com.
You can also pick up the phone and give them a call at 608-636-3343. That number is 636-EDGE.
Edge Construction brings you the Home Remodeling Show right here on 1310 WIBA.