Yesterday I spent 8 hours sourcing tile for our baths with a concentration on the small guest bath/laundry room. I visited every place I knew to visit that could possibly have tile in stock. At 5:20 yesterday afternoon I finally stumbled upon a new shipment of 12×24 tiles just displayed at Lowes that will suffice.
Here’s the deal…we’re running out of money, plain and simple. The stone basket weave mosaic tiling I had originally chosen is 4x more expensive than what I settled on. I’m hoping to achieve a similar retro style with ceramic faux marble and a ceramic black and white border. Black and white is a must – the new black and white laundry sink is dictating the period and style of the small room much to the chagrin of “Debbie” at WNC Tile in Asheville. She tried helping me match up discounted tile with the black and white border yesterday – we were not successful. Her words exactly, “That tile is dated and ugly. I really dislike it and if you come back, don’t bring that tile with you.” Mind you, they sell the same tile…but obviously, she’s not a fan. Even though I wasn’t successful at WNC Tile and Debbie was brutally blunt (which I appreciate, actually) I highly recommend this store above all others for local tile options. You can find them at 508 Swannanoa River Road in Asheville.
The master bathroom tiling is next. I’ve budgeted a bit more for this room, but we’re still having to economize. Just Keith’s shower was going to be $1250 for original tile plus another $2500 in labor! In order to get a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) we only have to have one working bathroom which will be the guest bath/laundry room. We’re contemplating having only the master bathroom floor and shower floor tiled before inspection and finishing the rest ourselves to save money. Yet, we’ve got a tremendous amount of finish work on our plates as it is…we’re doing all the exterior/interior painting, all trim work & landscaping. We had hoped to be moved in mid-June, but it’s looking more like mid-July at the soonest.
At any rate – here’s the tile I chose for the guest bath/laundry room…$2.29sf vs $12.95.
