A double vanity with dual mirrors and warm lighting

Questions and answers

Everything people ask us, answered plainly

Eighteen questions grouped four ways. If yours is not here, the studio answers its own phone between nine and six.

Answers
18 questions
Groups
4 topics
Still stuck?
(312) 555-0214

Scope and fit

Only bathrooms. We do not do kitchens, basements or whole-home renovation. A bathroom is the most technically demanding room per square foot in a house, and doing one thing means our crews have built hundreds of the same assemblies.

A powder room from around $12,000. Below that we are usually the wrong firm, and we will tell you that rather than take a job we cannot do well.

Yes. About a third of our projects arrive with drawings. We price from them, flag anything that conflicts with the existing plumbing or structure, and build.

Often, and it usually saves money. Sequencing two bathrooms back to back keeps one crew on site and shares protection, deliveries and permit work.

Money and timing

Because design is real work: measured drawings, elevations, material sourcing, slab selection and a fully priced specification. The fee is credited against the build contract on projects over $60,000.

After design, yes. The contract carries a fixed price with named allowances. Change orders only happen when you ask for a change or when we open a wall and find something nobody could have seen, and both are priced in writing first.

Design typically starts four to six weeks out. Site starts are usually three to five months out, because we will not begin demolition until every item is in our warehouse.

Five draws: 10% on signing, 35% at order release, 25% at rough-in complete, 20% at tile and glass set, and 10% after the punch list is closed. The final payment is never due before the punch walk.

They are illustrative sample bands for a demonstration website. A real number comes from a site visit and a drawn scope, never from a web page.

Living through the build

A zipper wall at the door, a negative-air machine venting out of the work zone, floor protection on the whole route, and daily debris removal. It is on every project, not an upgrade.

Almost always, provided there is a second working bathroom. If the bathroom being built is the only one, we talk about that during design and plan around it.

Generally 8 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays. In high-rise buildings we work to whatever window building management sets, which is often 9 am to 4 pm.

One lead carpenter every working day, plus the trade crew for that stage. The project manager visits at least twice a week and is reachable on a direct line.

Technical questions

Sometimes. Post-tension concrete slabs cannot be cut without engineering sign-off, so a recessed pan is usually out. The alternative is raising the bathroom floor to build the slope, which we will price honestly.

A bonded system: either a sheet membrane or a liquid-applied membrane, with banded corners and a pre-sloped pan. Every installation gets a 24 hour flood test that we photograph and give to you.

Only if nobody in the house will change their cleaning habits. Marble etches from acids. If that sounds like your household, we will steer you to quartzite or a porcelain that looks the part and behaves better.

Steam needs a fully sealed enclosure, a sloped ceiling section, a generator with a dedicated circuit and a proper exhaust strategy. It is a wonderful thing to have and a poor thing to add halfway through a build.

Ten years on the waterproofing assembly we install, two years on general workmanship, and manufacturer terms on fixtures, which we register on your behalf at handover.

Still deciding? Start with a visit

Forty-five minutes, two people, one inspection panel and an honest range. There is no charge and no follow-up sales call.

Request an estimate(312) 555-0214

Serving Chicago and the North Shore. Showroom visits by appointment.

Cookie preferences

Choose which cookies you allow. You can change this at any time from the link in the footer.