I often learn of new ads on RemodelingGuy the same way you do, I see them on the site. So I didn’t know an advertising campaign for Wilsonart HD was about to start. I just looked at the site one day, and saw a new ad in the background.

Wilsonart HD

I thought I’d take a minute to write a short post simply to tell you this: I’ve used this stuff and it’s really awesome.

Does this look like any laminate (mica) countertop you've ever seen?

What Is It?

Essentially, it’s a plastic laminate surface material. Wilsonart is one of the largest manufacturers of this material and probably the one I used most frequently when in the construction business. Another brand you probably recognize the name of is Formica. Everyone’s heard of a house with “Formica Countertops”, right? It’s often not actually Formica brand.

But Wilsonart HD is different. That’s why I’m stopping to tell you about it.

If you’re planning a kitchen or bathroom remodel, you probably go through the options in your head and when you get to the countertops you might tend to blow right by the “plastic laminate” option in favor of granite, marble, or solid surface (such as Corian).

Once you’ve seen the selection of this product line, you might pause a little longer on the plastic laminate option.

Bottom line: The stuff looks incredible. The patterns, the colors, the surface textures, the sheen (how glossy it is, or isn’t)… all of it. Just great great options.

That’s Laminate?

This picture shows all of the subtle advancements of Wilsonart HD - Color, Pattern, Texture, Sheen

I still remember, a few years ago, I was designing a mud/laundry room for a really nice home and was talking with the cabinet maker in their office. They wanted to sell me countertops to go with the cabinets and I said… “we’re using granite.” I didn’t even give a thought to laminate tops.

Then she threw me a chain of sample chips. And my reaction was quote: That’s Laminate!?

A few advances this product exhibits:

• Patterns – I’m not sure how they do this, but the technology for making better patterns on the material has changed dramatically. They can very accurately reproduce stone, wood, or other natural products.
• Colors - The colors have more depth, and most importantly, more subtle variations, which is really the hallmark of natural materials. They can reproduce that very well. I guess that’s the idea behind the “HD” because it’s much like the way an HDTV reproduces a live scene.
• Texture – They’ve always been able to put texture in laminate. You probably remember counters that felt like a plastic copy of leather, or of a natural stone surface like slate. This isn’t like that. The texture they can add to this is subtle, you see it more than feel it. But it adds to the look in a big way. (without making it impossible to clean)
• Sheen – Another advancement in subtlety. The sheens available in laminate used to be either high-gloss (which would blind you and scratched easily), or matte, which had no gloss at all and had a minute little texture to it that let you know what it was. No more. Now you can get a wide variety of sheens and in this particular line of material they look great and make you reach out and run your hands over the surface to see what it feels like… and it feels nice.

Why Go On and On?

I guess I’m ranting about this because I’ve used it myself and have been impressed. And it has the same advantages laminate has always had:

• Cost – It’s cheaper than granite, marble, or solid surface (for the most part).
• Availability – Most colors are in-stock right now.
• Predictability – When your counter is done, you can throw your color chip in the middle of it and it’s going to match. Try that with granite.
• Durability – My mother-in-law (bless her soul) still has the same laminate counters in her kitchen from almost 40 years ago when the house was new. The stuff lasts. (usually…it is possible to damage your mother-in-law’s counters, but we won’t get into that)
• Flexibility – You can design any shape for laminate and you can cover much greater areas without seams. It can also be heated by those with the proper equipment to conform to custom shapes, such as a fancy edge on a counter.

Did you know you can get fancy edges like this with laminate?

Check It Out Yourself!

Just go into any local custom cabinet manufacturer and they’ll have samples. You can also find samples at Home Depot or Lowe’s (I think). The Wilsonart HD Website has pictures and dealer locators.

If you’re doing a new counter in the kitchen, bath, or wherever, you should at least take a look at this. I’m not saying it’s what I would choose for my kitchen if money were no object, I saw an amazing blue granite a few weeks back that currently holds that fantasy distinction, I’m saying the stuff is really great and you should check it out.

Have fun remodeling!

- RG

This is a recipe for happiness:

1. A Towel Warmer

I’ve always wanted one of these towel warmers. That just sounds like a really luxurious thing to hop out of the shower or tub and have a nice warm fluffy towel. (please don’t let my use of the word fluffy mislead you in any way, I limit such usage to very unique situations)

2. A Big, Old, Clawfoot Tub

An authentic clawfoot tub from way back when they made them solid and to last forever would be so cool. If I could have one of the rare versions more than 6′ long I’d be even happier. It drives me nuts when there is no way to get my body and water both in the same tub. I’m no size 5. (This post is just going downhill fast)

3. Make it All French

I’m from Florida, so the native language here is Spanish. Here, the sign would say “El Bano” (… or is it La Bana) But I think the whole thing situated in a nice Chateau on the French Countryside sounds nice. Then the sign that says “Le Bain” would fit right in. Wii? (That is le joke about le video game, in case you didn’t le get it)

Bonne journée ! – RG

Take a look at this cool bathroom:

I see at least six great DIY bathroom remodeling ideas in this shot.

1. Easy DIY Paneling – This bathroom achieves a classy level of rustic with the white painted horizontal 1-by paneling. The great thing about paneling like this is that it can be installed right over top of your current ugly wall with ease.

(questions about how to do that? Ask them at my remodeling Q&A section.)

2. Simple Door Casing – If you do add paneling to your walls, you’ll need new door casing on that side. This bathroom uses a simple 1×4 casing with a plain back-band to create a great looking opening even a beginning carpenter-in-training can make good on.

(See more recent posts tagged “Trim” here)

3. Custom Mirror Using Beadboard Trim – Take a close look at that mirror. Then take a close look at that ceiling. See the similarity? They’re the same material. A creative carpenter or designer decided to take some of the ceiling beadboard 1x material and create a picture frame with it. They made it look totally unique by adding an extra piece of trim (maybe a small solid crown molding) around the outside edge. Stain the whole thing rather than paint it and you’ve got a great looking mirror that makes people stop and think: “that mirror is perfect for this room” without knowing why!

(lots of inspiring beadboard pictures here)

4. Speaking of Beadboard – Gotta love that ceiling. Easy DIY project. Just make sure you start in the right direction so you can nail the ceiling in the tongue rather than the groove. Nails in the groove can cause uneven seams between boards.

5. Add Variety to the Floor – I’m not sure my heart is in this one. It’s a cool idea to stripe the floor and it’s easy enough to do if you’re refinishing the whole thing anyway, but I’m not sure this bathroom wouldn’t have looked even better with a one-color floor. I’m thinking the dark would have been better. What do you say?

(Give your two cents in the comments!)

6. Awwwwwesome Cabinet-ish Thing! - OK, so maybe it’s not an easy DIY thing, but you could do it if you really wanted to! And even if you have someone else do it for you, this is one rockin’ vanity base.

Or is it that counter I love the most? Tough call. (I think it’s concrete btw)

So what did I miss? What do you like best? What would you do differently?

Also check out this post: 10 Bathroom Remodeling Ideas in One Picture
Image: HouseBeautiful.com

I’m struck by two thoughts at once (which is overload for me). First, I’m thinking how tough it is for companies to get the word out about things. Second, is an awesome new-ish product by Caesarstone. It’s a pattern-textured solid surface called Motivo from Caesarstone.

You might be thinking that this looks no different than thousands of textured wallpaper products you’ve seen forever. At first glance, they are similar. But there are oh so many differences, the most useful of which is that this material is waterproof. Hello new shower!

Potential Uses Include

• Shower walls
• Tub Surrounds
• Backsplashes (Kitchen or bath)
• Custom Vanities (see photo right)
• Fireplace surrounds
• Exterior Surfaces
• Custom design accents anywhere

Really, the uses are only limited by your imagination and, maybe, your budget. My bubble of excitement burst a little bit when I found out the price is close to $100 per sf. That adds-up in a hurry!

What About That First Thought?

Right, about how tough it is for companies to get the word out.

While I’m not instantly buried in every design magazine and blog the instant a new bit of material is published, I do pay pretty close attention to design “stuff”.

Yet I’ve missed this for awhile. In fact, the funny thing is that I’ve missed it and it has been constantly advertised on my own website! I think the ad they show through Google uses a black textured product with a leather/snakeskin like texture and it does nothing for me, so I miss the ad completely. I noticed the white yesterday in a magazine and that caught my eye.

I guess it just reinforces what I’ve always known. To stay ahead of the trends, pay attention to the ads.

Here is a link to the Motivo Collection at Caesarstone … do you like it? Would you spend the money? (or do I need to keep my feminine side in-check and NOT say anything when I like something like this!)

This picture made it into a magazine…

I’m really not sure how, because I would have torn this shower out completely. Take a close look at the grout lines, and notice the size of the tiles.

There is no dependable (and reasonable) way to get a smooth cut on glass tile every time. If you plan to use glass tile, it’s ultra important to lay out your work exactly before you start so that it works out to exact measurements with no cuts at all.

Move a whole wall if you have to to avoid having cuts in your glass tile installation. It’s usually not a big deal to add a layer of cement board to a shower wall to get it to work out.

Tile backer boards such as “durock” or hardi-board come in a wide variety of thicknesses. Combining them can usually make the measurements right.

A glass tile job (I’m talking evenly shaped tiles like above) will look infinitely better if you follow this advice.

Believe me, I learned the hard way.

As usual.

I worry sometimes about my fascination with Outdoor Showers, and now with a tub which completely opens up to the exterior. It’s the culture, man. I’m a tropical dude and the weather outside is delightful. The tropical plants are all jungle-ish and we even have parrots flying overhead. It’s enough to bring the Blue Lagoon out in anyone.

So when they built a new house on the vacant lot next to our home they created a new level of privacy on our side yard. The side that the master bathroom is adjacent to. I’m looking at my little bathroom window thinking some changes are in order.

It really wouldn’t be that hard.

Standard Bathtub Area with Small Window

Our current situation is standard late 40′s early 50′s. Just a regular tub/shower with a small window up-high. From the exterior, it looks something like the drawing below. (the area wasn’t in the mood for a photo at the time of this writing)

If I decided to put in a slider something like the top picture, I would need to accomplish a few simple steps:

• Move the fence forward to get the window into the backyard for privacy.
• Tear-out a section of wall from just above the tub to just above the existing window, essentially the part of the wall area covered by tile on the inside of the shower.
• Remove the header (concrete lintel in my case) above the window while temporarily shoring-up the structure. (don’t want the roof coming down)
• Beef-up the wall under each end of the new header (lintel, steel beam, wood beam, etc.) to support the weight of both the header and the roof above. How much beefing up depends on a number of factors, so you would want to talk to a pro about that. (engineer, contractor, architect)
• Install a new (probably custom made) sliding window. It would need to be tempered glass and I would probably ante up for safety glass (laminated glass) since we’re in a wet area used as a shower. Don’t want to slip and go through the glass now do we?
• Finish-up the exterior and install a bunch of lush jungle landscaping.

Relax, and enjoy!

Sound like a plan?

~RG

If this fires you up, you might like this post on outdoor showers:

Inspiring Outdoor Showers

Photo courtesy: Sunset.com – speaking of the photo, I saw the picture on day one, I wrote the post on day two, I proofed the post on day four. Only after all of THAT, did I realize that you can walk between that tub and that glass. So my whole premise is based on a lie. I’ve got an appointment with the eye doctor on Friday.

I’ve done a whole lot of remodeling, and I’m pretty sure I’m about to share the absolute fastest and easiest home-improvement project I’ve ever completed. And the difference is amazing.

I was recently at the Delta Faucet headquarters in Indianapolis to learn about some great new things they’re doing in terms of design and technology. When I left, I snuck out with a showerhead. (couldn’t figure out a way to stuff a new touch operated kitchen faucet in my shirt)

Here’s the showerhead I grabbed:

This awesome showerhead is part of the Addison Series by Delta Faucet. You can buy just the showerhead for $87.00 (list) or the whole new valve and trim.

So here’s the big deal: I unscrewed the old showerhead and screwed this one on. Elapsed time: about one minute max.

I liked my old showerhead. It had good pressure and a nice spray. I was skeptical that I’d be wanting to leave the new Delta Showerhead in place, even after an impressive demonstration at Delta HQ.

That thought changed pretty quickly. As soon as the new head was installed, I thought “wow, that looks great”. It’s really a very nice looking piece of plumbing hardware.

But when I first took a shower with this new head, I was instantly converted. This showerhead uses a new Delta Faucet technology they refer to as H2O Kinetic. It’s not an easy thing to explain, but I’ll give you the highlights:

• The size of water droplets is controlled and varied
• The direction of the water spray is not static…it moves.
• Their is no induction of air into the shower spray so the water stays warmer.

I’m telling you what, it feels like twice the volume of water (even though it actually uses less than my old showerhead at only 2gpm flow) and the temperature difference is significant. I can literally compare it to a waterfall, just with less water.

I think what I’m trying to put into words is that there is a noticeable difference in that you instantly recognize the lack of voids in the water spray. I didn’t realize they were there, until they were gone.

I honestly can’t think of any project in your house that can make more of an improvement in your life with anywhere near so little effort. Again, this took less than one minute to accomplish.

If you’re doing a whole bathroom remodel you should also consider changing to a new shower valve. You’ll get better temperature control (especially when someone flushes a toilet!) and the full Delta warranty. If your walls are open anyway, it’s not a big job to change the valve.

We’ve had some rough, rough times lately with one of our sons spending way too much time in hospitals and doctor’s offices. In times like that, showers have always been a nice few minutes. This showerhead has made that few minutes of quiet so much better.

You should give it a try.

I’m heading off in the morning to visit the headquarters of Delta Faucet Company in Indianapolis. I’ll have the opportunity to meet a number of bloggers from across the remodeling/home-improvement, kitchen & bath, and DIY circles. I’m really looking forward to it!

But truthfully, I’m oddly excited to get to gawk at all the cool faucets of both the Delta and Brizo lines. I’ll see what’s hot and report back!

In the meantime, check out this hot new item from Delta:

White Marble is SO Back!

Look, I have to tell you, I’m not really on the very cutting edge. I’m usually a little “slow on the uptake” as my good old Dad always encouraged me as a child.

I say that in preemptive response to those of you sitting in your ultra-cool chair looking at your super hot Mac, going “uh, hello, that’s yesterday’s news” in response to opening line.

Whatever. I noticed awhile back but then I forgot. So this is all new to me again.

White on White Just Ain’t Right

Here’s the thing. Magazines are always showing these white counters on white cabinets with white backsplashes covering the whole wall. I’m not sure about you, but for me that’s too much white for actually living in. Works great for a magazine layout however. If that’s your main use for your kitchen… then by all means yes.

Redirect Your Attention to the Top Photo

See, now there is a kitchen that works. You can do your magazine photo shoot in the nice morning light and then live a normal life like me the rest of the day.

This photo is an example of a perfect blend of beautiful wood (I’m thinking that’s Maple), really cool cabinetry (Kraftmaid…love those upper cabinet doors), and a rockin’ backsplash tile. Oh, and white marble tops. (almost forgot)

Don’t Be Afraid To Mix Colors!

I just love the way the kitchen in the above photo makes use of a few different tones. The white marble top on the island has a beautiful scalloped edge detail making it look like a huge farm table in the kitchen. The white top looks great against the painted black cabinet base.

And just how cool is that benchy stool thingy?

This kitchen has so much going on that makes it perfect. I can’t help myself but to point out a few of my favorite things:

• I’m in love with the ceiling… flat out. Pure. (at first sight)
• The light fixtures are the perfect adornments for my ceiling (it’s mine now)
• How imaginative and perfect is the greened-out pantry? Is there even a door?
• Don’t miss the arch-top doors. (and the light pattern on them)
• On the negative side… the more I stare, I’m not sure I love those open shelves?

Black Cabinets, White Tops, All Good

This is the kind of thing that YOU can do in your kitchen. You can paint your existing cabinets black and get new counters and fixtures and you’re stylin’. This room looks sharp. Is it too masculine?

I love the overall color combination and I think the earthy wall tile brings it all together. Notice how this counter uses a “straight polished edge” rather than any decorative edge treatment. It would be very easy to let the countertop guy (who may or may not have any reasonable taste) convince you to go with a shaped edge. It would change this look completely. Don’t do it here.

Look Closely At This Inspiring Photo

I have the hardest time staying “on task” when I try and write about one subject at a time. It’s not my fault… who wouldn’t be distracted by the paneling in the back room shown above? I’m only human. A red blooded American man. Not immune.

And those doors… what curves.

Oh yes, white marble. (check out the floors) The counters look great against the painted cabinets. I read at the source of the picture (linked below) that the cabinets are painted with Ralph Lauren Paints… still my favorite.

Not so sure I love the butcherblock counter… those things freak me out and make me all Monk-ish.

Let’s Not Forget The Bathroom

I found this picture at the website of Delta Faucet (don’t miss the link below to the photo gallery). They might have been trying to show off the cool faucets, which are very nice, but what I was looking for was white marble on dark cabinets and I found it. Looks great.

White marble has always been a common material in bathrooms.

But Lets Not Get Crazy

It is possible to overdo it a little, dontcha think? Though I must admit that this room does have some endearing features. I love the vanity cabinets with the open towel storage above the doors. I like the framed tile mosaic that nicely surrounds the really cool showerhead.

NOT sure I could handle the location of that toilet though. That would just be too odd for me. Way too big of a room there. Anyway, on that note… we’ll roll this up.

What say you? Thoughts? Links to other great white marble pictures?

Hi Tim,

It’s me, Michelle, again. I promise not to drive you nuts with lots of questions, however, I have another bathroom with a window right next to the tub. I see this all the time in magazines.

What keeps the window from rotting out?

Surely water gets on the window when people take showers. Does one use an exterior paint on the window and caulk the heck out of it? I’ve seen where people put the surround shower curtain hanger so that it protects the surrounding area, including the window, but

I’ve also seen pictures where there is the tub/shower and a lovely wooden window just waiting to be poured on by many long showers (with no protection of a shower liner). ???

——————

Hi Michelle,

No problem! I love answering questions, just wish I was faster at getting to them!

My first thought in response to your question is: who says they don’t rot out? My guess is that windows with wood trim that get wet in showers do, eventually, rot. Almost invariably.

But, there are a number of things you can do that will make your window more resistant to water and might actually make it last for many years, if not decades.

1. Use waterproof materials for the trim – The best bet would be to go to something other than wood. Like a pvc material (I wrote a post on Azek) or something like a composite (sort of like Trex decking). These materials won’t ever rot and some can look just like wood when painted.
2. If wood, go with pressure treated – pressure treated lumber will withstand a serious amount of moisture, some is even rated for permanent use underground or underwater (think about dock pilings). Showers add in a factor of steam and heat that really pushes the envelope. Pressure treated is made for a wet environment.
3. Seal it all up extremely well – The thing you don’t want, is water getting between the gaps in the wood into the wall. Wood expands and contracts with fluctuations in temperature and moisture content. For this reason, you need a sealant that is very flexible. The same area where they stock caulking at the store, they usually have a selection of high-quality super-sealants. These can be a little tough to work with and make a nice smooth joint, but in a shower it needs to be good stuff.
4. Paint it with good quality paint, and paint it well.
5. Pay attention to your window itself – windows are made to shed water OUTSIDE, not inside, so you want to understand (by looking at the window) where the water that hits it is going and make sure it has an escape route. A small hole in the track at the bottom might be needed.

The bottom line is that they look you’re referring to isn’t what would be called maintenance free! But the look might just be worth the extra effort! The photo at the top is one of my favorites, so I’d be willing to go through some trouble to get a tub/shower area like that!