Aug

14

What’s It All About, Shluter?

Filed Under Designer's Corner, Product Spotlight | Leave a Comment

As a frequently experimental designer, I often want things to look a bit differently than the manufacturer intended, especially when it comes to bath lHB Building and Design tries out Schluter!ayouts, materials, and tile. And then just this week, two of my tile reps both, in one day, said, “Well, then, what about Schluter?” Don’t think for one moment that you’re not as interested as I am in a better way to prevent mold and disintegration of caulking and grout in bathrooms! I know you are, because it is the BIGGEST question I get when working with a client on Tile Selection and Installation.

People HATE grout lines! More and more, the clean cut lines of porcelain tile are being used with 1/2th + 1/16th grout widths, instead of the old Kitchen Countertop 4×4 white tile with grout lines of 3/4″. Selecting grout for a tile project is a fine art, unless you go with the every popular “Classic Bone” from Mapei, which works with almost everything. But danger awaits the inexperienced grout selector – what should look like beautiful lines can wind up looking like mud if the grout color isn’t right. One experience HB Building + Design had was with setting stone tile on the shower floor - the color was greenish pebbles. The tile setter used a dark green grout, and yes, the floor looked exactly like mud on the ocean floor. But, removing the tile and using Classic Bone made the stones pop, and we got Beachy, not Nitsche – a beautiful shower floor.

Shluter is a company that not only loves tile, but wants to help you keep your tile intact for as long as possible with special, invisible caps that watertight the edges between the tile and a bathtub or shower floor. That’s just for starters. I found them because I needed a stainless steel finish piece for a back splash. They have that, and more. One other item I found that will help improve our finished product is an edge band that can be used with countertops made from tile. I often use large format tile (24×24) for bathroom countertops. You usually only need a couple of pieces, and your tilesetter can fabricate it, instead of having to outsource to a countertop vendor/installer.

http://www.schluter.com/  is the link. Schluter countertop/backsplash transitions use a ®-KERDI-BAND waterproofing strip is to seal seams and countertop/backsplash transitions. They also provide the edge banding for countertops.

Enjoy perusing, it is a site chock full of ideas and products. And now you and I both know, what Schluter’s all about.

Jul

29

NEW AIP Showers + Pans: Well Priced + Pretty

Filed Under Aging In Place / Aging At Home, Designer's Corner | Leave a Comment

Got a note from my bath distributors the other day to tell me about some new options for pre-made shower surronds, easily available to me through distribution. (Other people can pay retail off the rack!) But we know HB Building + Design is all about getting you the most beautiful results and saving you the most money.

Lauren said as she knew I worked on Aging in Place, I should make their brochure available to you. I will, in our next newsletter! In the meantime, I’ll just say that they are working on the warmth of the bather issue that I contend is not the best for anyone to have to sit in cooling air, wet, while the tub empties!  They DO have amazing barrier free design shower bases, and beautiful glass doors. Following are some examples of their new hardware and design samples.                                                                   

Prior to the last few years, if you desired a premium-looking shower enclosure, you would have to go to a “custom glass house” for the design, fabrication and installation of your enclosure. Very upscale, and also very pricey. MTI offers a great alternative with its line of enclosures, making it easy for you to have the beauty and fit of custom-made enclosures, without the custom price.  

Shower enclosures from MTI are the perfect complement to MTI’s fine line of high-quality showerbases and tubs. MTI shower enclosures are designed specifically to fit MTI shower bases in the various sizes and configurations. Two Series are available: the Nordic Series and the Teutonic Serie The Nordic Series of shower enclosures features true frameless design, with no old-fashioned headers. Glass doors and panels are constructed of substantial 10mm-thick tempered safety glass, whose corners have finely beveled edges for upscale appearance. Hinges and handles are made of cast brass, and hinges are attached through the glass to ensure security and long-term proper alignment. Incorporating magnetic door closures and the newest plastics technology in co-extruded seals, these shower enclosures are designed for years of trouble-free, watertight performance.

Installation is made easy with adjustable mounting extrusions that allow for +/- ¾” adjustment in the width of the enclosures for both sides. This flexibility compensates for variances in tile thickness and walls that are out of plumb. The Nordic Series provides the beauty and fit of custom-made enclosures, without the custom price, saving thousands of dollars. The Nordic Series also offers tub enclosures for tub / shower combination applications, such as the Tub Shield shown to the left.

The second series of frameless shower enclosures from MTI is the Teutonic Series, which suggests motion even while stationary. Rugged, industrial-looking rollers glide along a rock-solid stainless steel track, allowing the 12mm (1/2″) -thick, 200-pound sheet of tempered safety glass to effortlessly slide. Available in two finishes, natural and high-polished, all hardware is constructed of premium, solid stainless steel. This formidable combination of design and construction makes a definite statement and helps create a spa experience like no other. The Teutonic Series also includes enclosures for tubs.

Shower enclosures from MTI are characterized by clean designs, unsurpassed quality, extreme durability, smart engineering and value. Whether the bath construction is a new-build or a remodel, these enclosures are the perfect complement to MTI’s wide range of shower bases and tubs in acrylic or Engineered Solid-Surface materials

So before you commit to a custom glass house, look at MTI’s selection of Tub and Shower Enclosures and see how you can have the beauty and fit of custom-made enclosures, without the custom price. Cool!

(some parts taken from the article “Open Confinement” from MTI Whirlpools web 7-22-10)

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