This porridge is too hot, this porridge is too cold but this one’s juuusssst right

Our story so far: A chance encounter led me to a tiler who was willing to take on our extra-large master bathroom shower in the old Methodist church we were turning into our home.

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After a little back and forth over the course of a week or two, we agreed to provide all the materials per You-Can-Call-Me-Al’s specs, and he would perform the work to be paid by the hour.

This meant we would have to buy a custom glass door and have it installed. Which meant visiting with another contractor. One lead led to another, but after I defined my wishes with a glass expert, he sent me a quote. Besides the door, another half wall was included which was more affordable than two glass walls but still lux.

shower door sketch
Top-notch graphics.

In the middle of these negotiations, we saw a “Fixer Upper” episode in which the shower door had a cut-out in the glass instead of the handle. Very trendy. I inquired about this, and by gum, the glass expert could do such a thing. For a price, of course.

In the end, we’d have nearly exactly the master shower we’d envisioned: Extra-large and airy.

The only do-it-yourself part would be the shopping.

You-Can-Call-Me-Al suggested buying tile at a Big Box store because if he ran short, it would be easy to get more. If, on the other hand, we found something special-order from Spain, well, then we might have problems.

So I went to Home Depot (again) and made like Christina El Moussa from “Flip or Flop.” I juggled samples on the floor of the store and settled on three: One for the floor of the shower, one for the walls, and one as ribbon accent. I bought one of each and brought them home to the rental house to sell the salesman on them. He was no Tarek, but then he had no reason to gripe—let’s be honest, I choose options available at a Big Box store—Tyler agreed to my vision.

tile choices
This is definitely one project I can’t wait to see finished. From top: accent ribbon, wall tile, floor tile.

All told, our extra-large master shower would cost us about $7,000. Plus plumbing and fixtures.

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Tomorrow: Ah, the fixtures. Like everything else in a home remodeling project, the choices can overwhelm. Read about it here.