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Peter’s Blog
On these pages we like to highlight some of our projects and offer helpful remodeling tips. Please take time to scroll through the postings for recent photos and company updates as well. Thank you!

April 20th, 2013

I am often asked "How much will my bathroom remodel cost?"

Having worked in the bathroom remodeling business for the last 20 years, I can tell you that there are a number of issues that will affect your budget which don't really fit into a sf cost basis. I would definitely recommend working with a licensed contractor that specializes in bathrooms as they are a different beast from Kitchens and there are often unforeseen issues with mold and dry rot which may not be initially apparent. Anyway, in my experience an average Guest Bath remodel will run about 10k and Master Bath closer to 20k. Things that will affect your budget significantly: are you changing the footprint, moving drains, building or removing non structural walls and/or doorways? Heated tile flooring vs vinyl (some of the new vinyls are great alternatives to tile cost-wise and maintenance)? Spa/jetted tub vs soaking tub? Heavy glass enclosure vs std glass (Heavy glass is a beautiful look but probably not worth the extra expense for a guest bath), cabinetry is usually a big chunk of the budget- your wood choices and choice of door facings, whether custom or not could double your cost for the same size, shower and countertop surfaces: you can use a solid surface type product for about the same price as tile and have greater durability and easier maintenance. Some of the new surfaces, like TruStone look like slab stone but are actually engineered, Finally your choice of plumbing fixtures will affect your budget- if you want quality don't buy through the big box stores..,the national brands provide a lower quality product (plastic vs brass parts) to the big box stores than those you purchase thru a plumbing wholesaler . Also, don't forget to upgrade your fan and lighting. Just some things to consider in order to have a realistic budget for your bath remodel.

For a check list on planning and budgeting for your bathroom remodel, check out our
Planning Your Bathroom Remodel info packet.

March 29th, 2013

In our effort to source locally produced materials for our bathroom remodels, Strasser Woodenworks of Woodinville is one of our favorite suppliers. Their line of bathroom vanities and cabinet accessories represent the finest in locally available non-custom cabinetry with several solid wood finishes and styles to choose from. Moreover, we offer 25% off retail on all cabinet purchases through our showroom and the quickest delivery possible.

February 4th, 2013

I had to showcase one of our favorite recent projects completed for a couple living in a houseboat on Lake Union. It was a pleasure to see the stunning bathroom transformation using TruStone Rainforest Green for their Spa Tub and Shower Surround.

January 6th, 2013

Just wanted to share a recent testimonial from one our customers:

"It was a pleasure to work with you. We are so happy with our remodeled bathroom. The new layout makes the room seem so spacious. Love the enlarged shower, love the frameless enclosure, love the heated floors and especially love that there is no more tile. The TruStone is beautiful!

Peter – thank you for listening to what we wanted, offering suggestions and helping us put together a wonderful master bath.

Heather – thank you for your friendly help, answering questions, and keeping us posted on the work schedule.

Steve and Don – thank you for "making" our bathroom. From demo to rebuild – you are hard, conscientious, and courteous workers. You are truly craftsmen."

Here are some pictures of their beautiful new bathroom. We used TruStone in Vanilla Travertine for their new shower, bath and vanity area. Looks amazing!

January 25th, 2012

Don't miss our booth at the upcoming Spring Home Shows. We'll be displaying a custom PhotoArt vanity top featuring one of the remarkable works of Issaquah professional photographer Jerry Klein. We are excited about our recent partnering with J. Klein Art Photography to provide custom images for use with our TruStone™ product line. Jerry has an expansive library of colorful images spanning the intimacy of close-ups and the grandest of panoramas. His passion for photography and the beauty of nature's creations is undeniable. You'll enjoy viewing his website of available for purchase photo canvases and the website provides us with a wonderful resource for custom showers and countertops that will amaze you.

January 10th, 2012

We are adding new dealer displays around the area.  Morgans Plumbing on Stoneway Ave. N has put in a TruStone™ Breora shower display and will be adding two additional displays this spring; one featuring a custom photo panorama tub surround. Aurora Plumbing has recently added a new vanity top display as well as color samples and we welcome Dreammaker Bath and Kitchen in Bellingham. Dreammaker Bath and Kitchen provides our cultured stone products as well as installation in the Whatcom county area. Look for upcoming displays at their showroom in Bellingham.

March 19, 2012

See our new gallery on Facebook!

We've posted photo albums to showcase recently completed jobs. Check out the TruStone project gallery and other albums to get ideas and inspiration for your upcoming bathroom remodel.

You can also check out our custom bathroom displays at the Seattle Remodeling Expo March 23rd 2012 at the Washington State Convention Center. We are booth #1018!

Nov. 1st, 2011 

The holidays are just around the corner. There's still time to spiff up your bathroom before your guests arrive OR treat yourself to the bathroom you've been dreaming of. Look through some of the previous posts for some photo ideas...

Oct. 18th, 2011 

We regularly survey our customers once their project is complete to determine their level of satisfaction and to find areas where we can make improvements. We recently received tabulated results from the last two years of our client surveys. We are proud to report that our customer's rate Designers Marble 4.6 out of a maximum 5 in OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION.

Other areas in which Designers Marble received outstanding scores were:

PROFESSIONALISM FROM ESTIMATE THROUGH PROJECT COMPLETION and THE QUALITY AND LOOK OF OUR CULTURED MARBLE PRODUCT LINE

These results truly reflect our commitment to providing our clients with outstanding products and top-notch customer service throughout the entire project. Thank you to our customers for recognizing our efforts.Your satisfaction is our number one priority!

September 7, 2011 

Upcoming Home Shows

There's no better time to remodel!

The Seattle Home Show 2 is coming up. We would love to answer any questions you have so stop by our booth #925 at Century Link Field Exhibition Center!

June 6th, 2011 

Wanted to include some photos from a couple of recently completed jobs. Both projects show the shower prior to the glass enclosure installation in order to better highlight the TruStone. The first two photos feature a new TruStone option "Breora". I think this will prove a popular color choice since it is a creamy neutral with natural earth tones. It goes beautifully with most cabinets and can coordinate well with light or dark flooring.

Working with Rich Design Group, we installed this large shower in Sahara Travertine with tile insets and flooring.

May 27th, 2011

m.designersmarble.com

For our on-the-go customers, our mobile web site is now available. This site give you quickly uploaded and easily accessible contact information as well as location and showroom hours. Also, look for our QR code on upcoming direct mail pieces and soon to be posted on our off-site product displays.

February 15th, 2011

Here's what some of our customers are saying about us in on-line web reviews

"Just want to welcome all to this forum and sing the praises of Designers Marble. We recently had them completely renovate our master bathroom here at our condo in downtown Seattle. After a less than satisfactory attempt with a "high end" design house, we found Designers Marble at the Seattle remodel show last February.

The project included - replacing an existing underutilized bathtub with floor to ceiling storage cabinets, replacing existing shower and dual sink utilizing Trustone and cabinetry, installing heated floor, installing television, and powered toilet (don't ask!).

Working with Peter was great as well as the rest of his team. Murl at Woodinville cabinets and Steve (who did most of the actual work) were beyond our greatest expectations. Tearing up a master bath in a condo on the 5th floor with 2 cats involved was fraught with logistical problems. Peter and Steve actually made the whole experience almost enjoyable. We had no problems, everything went basically according to schedule, with minimal mess and disruption - even the cats were not traumatized by all the activity.

They knew what they were doing, they have a great product, they planned well, had reasonable pricing, and executed flawlessly. And besides that - they are all good guys and a real pleasure to know.

Audrey and I highly recommend these guys!" - Best Regards, Jack

"I have a home that is 19 years old..it is a street of dreams 1991 issue..in the double master shower, the floor had white 1inch square tiles. Over the years..I would scrub..had a few different companies come out and clean and treat the grout..but it never looked clean..although it was...a friend told me about the shower floor covering this company provided. I went to the showroom and picked out a sample which would go with the decor..from start to finish the results were spectacular..wish I hadn't waited so long..I would recommend the company and their products to anyone and everyone."
- Marilyn

Three times a customer with the latest an application in a powder room using their new graphics
technology. Quality was excellent on all three jobs and they were all completed within the time
frame promised. I would recommend Designers Marble to anyone refurbishing a bathroom or
powder room. - Vaughn K

Our first encounter with Designers Marble was many years ago. We had them redo a shower and
counter top in a downstairs kid's bathroom. That bathroom still looks great. We were so pleased
with the job they did we had them install counter tops and showers in my mother in laws 40 year
old home. It was absolutely worth every penny. Last year they did an incredible job creating a
new bathroom in our cabin. And again, a few months ago they remodeled our two bathrooms
and a dressing area at our home. In every instance they were very friendly and easy to deal
with. They always showed up when they were scheduled and always made sure we were happy
with the results. They returned to our cabin three times (a two hour drive from Seattle) to make
sure everything was perfect. We will be selling our home in the spring and will absolutely call on
them to help us with any remodels in a new home. Designers Marble is a class act. I absolutely
recommend them. - Joy B.

December 20th, 2010

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to Everyone!
You can't have a great company without great employees. The energy, conscientiousness and dedication of our employees is beyond measure and I want to express my appreciation for the job they do.

In our shop area, Javier, our Production Supervisor and his brother Jesus are responsible for all the manufacturing and TruStone imaging work. They have been working for Designers Marble for a combined 18 years!

Heather is the first contact most customers have with Designers Marble. She runs the showroom, schedules jobs, orders materials and puts up with all the challenges of dealing with me and the daily challenge of keeping jobs on track. She has been with Designers Marble for over 13 years.

December 2nd, 2010

When considering whether to undertake a remodel, many people use the three competitive bid approach unless they have someone they've worked with previously or have been referred to a specific contractor by someone who's opinion they value. Getting competitive bids is fine up to a point, however, comparing estimates and selecting a contractor based on lowest price can lead to costly mistakes and major disappointments due to the following factors:

• Estimates vary greatly in their level of detail and the average person has limited ability in understanding much of the terminology, or knowing if all aspects of the job are covered in the estimate. We strive to itemize upfront every task, and product selection in our estimates to avoid costly surprises later on. With sixteen years experience in remodeling ONLY bathrooms, we've pretty much seen it all. Take advantage of this experience and know-how--it's free! And, if there is some form of re-design involved, in most cases, that's free as well.


• The price of product selections, plumbing fixtures, finishes,cabinetry, bath tubs, toilets, fans, etc. varies enormously. If the estimate just says "install toilet", there is no way of knowing if it's the cheapest available or a quality product like Toto. All the products we recommend are brands we can stand behind with proven quality and value for the homeowner.


• We establish a day by day schedule of the work entailed in the project and share it with the homeowner. Having done thousands of bathrooms over the last sixteen years, we know how long things will take. Once we start on a job, we are on that job everyday until it's finished per the schedule. A basic job such as replacing a tub, plumbing and new tub surround, for example, will take a couple of days. A total remodel in a larger bathroom may take 3-4 weeks. Of course, schedules can get derailed for a number of reasons, particularly in bathrooms where there may be unforeseen water damage, the extent to which may not be known until the shower is torn out. But, in each instance there must be a game plan. Ask your remodelor to provide you with a start and finish date for your project. If he hits it, great! If he's off a little, he ought to be able to explain why.


• I often get asked the question, "do you have your own employees or do you use subcontractors?", as if this is a negative. We do not "bid out" your project. Although, our employees do a lot of the work, we do use subs for specialty work when they can do the job more professionally and efficiently. Virtually every remodelor does the same, as it is economically impractical to have full time plumbers, electricians, painters, tile-setters, etc on your staff. Our success is in having reliable, skilled subs available who meet our high standards of workmanship.


• Finally, we listen to you and what you are wanting to do with the space, given your budget constraints. We don't just offer a "formula" remodel.

Hopefully this is a helpful overview. If you have any questions, feel free to email or call us. I will do my best to answer your questions, even if you're not using Designers Marble for your project.

November 19th, 2010

This project comprised removal of old white tile in the shower, tub and vanity areas; enlarging the shower by removal of a bench seat, installation of new shower fixtures, TruStone "Sahara Travertine" in the shower, tub and vanity top and a heavy glass frameless shower enclosure. To help meet their budget, we were able to re-use the existing tub and plumbing fixtures. The project took about 2 weeks from start to finish. The homeowners love the warm look and easy maintenance of the "Sahara Travertine" versus the stark white tile with all the problematic issues associated with grout.

September 23rd, 2010

Here is another TruStone bathroom remodel. As with a lot of our jobs, the homeowner wasn't happy with the standard spec home bathroom design and wanted a larger shower and less space devoted to the tub. We do this kind of job all the time. I don't know why home builders continue to devote so much space to a tub which is often seldom used in the Master Bath and most people want a nice big shower.

Anyway, the main thing I wanted to highlight is the TruStone color here, since the photos were taken prior to the project being finished. It's called "Yellow River" and it is personally one of my favorites. It is in our top three in popularity. You can get a more detailed picture by going to the website www.trustoneproducts.com, click on "images" at the top, then click on "Yellow River", or better yet come to our showroom to see what it looks like "in the flesh".

May 10th, 2010

For those of you who can't make it to our showroom in Woodinville, we have just completed TruStone displays in Kirkland and Shoreline. In Kirkland, you can visit the Rosen Supply Showroom in the Totem Lake area featuring tub shower walls with trim in Elite Latteo. www.rosenplumbing.com. The Shoreline area display is at Ivy Kitchen and Bath and features a shower pan, walls and trim in Breccia Paradiso. www.ivybs.com. The sales personnel at both these locations will be happy to answer your questions.

April 22nd, 2010

We recently completed a Master Bath remodel in a fifth floor belltown condo with stunning views. The project involved a complete demo of the existing bathroom, enlargement of the existing shower to incorporate a bench seat, TruStone shower pan, walls (with mosiac tile TruStone accent trim) and vanity top in Breccia Paradiso. The existing tile fooring was replaced and under floor heating added. Since storage is always an issue in condos, we removed the existing and rarely used 72" jetted tub and installed custom floor-to-ceiling cabinetry in its place. While the logistical and parking challenges were a major issue, we were able to complete the project on schedule and on budget.

April 7th, 2010

Adding some bathroom humor....we recently completed a bathroom update for a retired couple that included replacing two old and "unreliable" toilets with the highly rated and our recommended Toto Drake toilets. The bewildered, but satisfied customer's wife called us a few days after the project was completed to say that her handyman husband had "spent hours" trying to figure out how the toilets could possibly work so well!

March 31st, 2010

Thought I'd get off the TruStone soapbox and offer a little humor with this gem from
the New York Times:

How to drive a contractor crazy

1. 1 Avoid making decisions.
2. Change orders frequently, then become outraged by the additional costs and delays.
3. Ask a contractor to provide a solution to a difficult design problem, then use a different contractor for the job.
4. Challenge a contractor's expertise with sentences that include the words "my brother-in-law thinks," "my neighbor thinks" or "I took a shop course when I was in 10th-grade and this is what I think." If your brother-in-law was that good, why didn't you hire him?
5. Withhold final payment for months because of minor problems like missing fixtures that are on order.
6. Cling to the belief that contractors have X-ray vision that enables them to see into walls, and thus are aware of faulty wiring and plumbing or rot before the start of a job.
7. Attempt to poach the contractor's workers by taking them aside and asking them to come back when the job is finished to do another job.
8. Buy appliances or building materials online or from a discount house to save money, then expect the contractor to make everything work when the products are damaged or don't arrive on time.
9. Call the contractor in the middle of the night and on weekends about problems that can wait until Monday.
10. Hover about a job while murmuring tragically: "It doesn't look finished." It's a job site. It doesn't look finished because it's not finished.

- New York Times News Service

March 3rd, 2010

As part of a larger bath remodel, we replaced a 10 foot long vanity top that was too large to be brought into the home in one piece. The solution was to make it in three separate pieces with decorative 1/4" wide metal spacers in Oil Rubbed Bronze to match the plumbing fixtures. Not only was this a practical solution, but it created added design appeal for the homeowners. The vanity top is in our TruStone Vanilla Travertine.

January 21st , 2010

Just finished a complete remodel to a Master Bathroom and Powder Room in Snohomish County. The house is a unique log home and provided a number of challenges from both the design and construction standpoint. The existing sheetrock was removed and replaced with tongue in groove planking and stained to match the existing ceiling. The former toilet/bidet area was transformed into a large custom shower using our new TruStone Breccia Paradiso product and a distinctive heavy glass frameless shower enclosure. The area previously occupied by an enormous jetted tub was replaced with a double sink vanity and cabinetry providing lots of needed storage space. New heated tile flooring provided the finishing touch. The change from the Before photo is pretty dramatic. The homeowners were delighted with the transformation to their bathroom and the fact that we completed the project at a signicant cost savings compared to other bids they had received. They plan on having us remodel two more bathrooms this spring.

Dec 17th, 2009

Here are a couple of photos of a recently completed project from a long-time repeat customer. This was one of our first bathroom remodeling projects using the new TruStone product line which has just "wowed" everyone. The vanity and shower in the Master Bath are in TruStone Seafoam and the Powder Room Vanity top is in TruStone Breccia Paradiso.

August 18th, 2009

We've recently completed our first custom image in TruStone. On a Mocha Travertine background in matte finish we've photofused my black lab AKC Master Hunter "Jet" onto a cultured marble piece that is now serving as a conference table at a hunting lodge in Monroe.

August 10, 2009

We are just completing a major bath remodel in Bellevue. The homeowners were anxious to update their 60's bath with modern features, while gaining an elegant and far more functional space. We gutted the room and spent several days reframing for the new shower, bench, moved doorways, replumbed for a new vanity area, lighting, tile flooring, added an additional electrical circuit and switches, etc. However, once the walls were opened up it became obvious that the galvanized steel piping was in a sorry state. For a couple of hundred dollars, all the accessible plumbing pipes were replaced with copper. If this had not been addressed, the old corroded pipes would surely have failed , resulting in thousands of dollars in damage. The delighted homeowners are now enjoying a luxurious new bathroom suite...

July 30th, 2009

Our new product- TruStone is truly exciting. You need to visit the showroom to see the natural beauty of this material and to see how affordable this product is compared to natural stone. Take a few minutes to check out the TruStone website. Not only will you see the various images available but you can check out dozens of installations. I recently got a kick out of the beach scene shower surround, however, I would have incorporated the sand and water into the shower pan as well.

This is amazing stuff.

July 7th, 2009

I am no economist, but I feel confident that we have likely bottomed out and we'll see our local economy start to rebound by the end of summer. It's been a challenging year for the construction industry and unfortunately we've seen some of our long-time construction customers unable to survive in these challenging times. But... finally the phones are beginning to ring again and I'm optimist about our economic recovery. There is no better time to remodel: bank financed interest rates have lowered, labor rates are slightly down and we've recently lowered our cultured marble pricing to mid-'90s levels due to the reduction in some raw material costs. Some of our other product suppliers have also lowered costs, for example some cabinet lines have announced price reductions as well as lower fuel surcharges on shower doors.

There really is no better time to start your bath remodel projects.