laurelhurst, seattle / January 2025
Permitted wet-room layout with a freestanding soaking tub, walk-in shower, marble hex flooring and brass linear drain, added transom windows, scenic wallpaper, wall-mount plumbing after major reroutes, and a pocket door—completed in five weeks. A Laurelhurst primary bath remodel built like a small spa: permitted rough plumbing and window work, a wet room pairing a freestanding tub with a walk-in shower, brass plumbing on marble hex floors with a linear drain, scenic wallpaper moments, and a pocket door so the floor plan actually breathes.
Case Study
Major plumbing relocation is the silent budget driver. Moving drains and supplies for a freestanding tub, linear drain shower, and wall-mount faucets is not a finish swap. Added windows touch the building envelope and SDCI review scope. Wallpaper behind wall-mount trim demands flat walls, sequenced priming, and protection during fixture setting. A pocket door needs a clean rough opening, straight framing, and hardware alignment so it does not scrape after tile and casing land.
We ran the project under permitted plumbing and appropriate electrical updates, coordinated window openings with tile layouts so returns and sills read intentional, and sequenced waterproofing before tile in the wet room. Glass was field-measured after tile and curb or linear-drain geometry were finalized. Wall-mount faucets received proper backing and verified centers before wallpaper installation in the feature zone.
The finished bath delivers a true wet-room experience with spa-like materials: sage and blue-gray vertical tile, brass accents, marble hex underfoot, added daylight at the shower and vanity walls, and bold wallpaper that feels designed rather than decorative. The pocket door and rerouted plumbing support daily function without the layout fighting the architecture of an older Laurelhurst home.
Gallery
A strong project page should show the room from more than one pretty angle: wide context, material detail, and the way the space actually reads.
Material Read
These are visual, technically informed material assumptions. Exact product names require invoices, box labels, or supplier records.
Tile / ceramic wall tile
Vertical orientation exaggerates ceiling height. Handmade-look bodies vary in thickness; wider grout joints or tighter joints must be chosen deliberately so walls still read flat.
Tile / stone mosaic flooring
Small hex increases grout but improves grip and allows pitch to a linear drain when the shower area is open to the tub zone. The brass drain channel becomes part of the trim hierarchy with wall brass fixtures.
Plumbing fixtures / tub fillers
Wall-mount tub supplies require internal blocking, precise valve depth, and coordination with tile joints so escutcheons sit cleanly on finished walls.
Plumbing fixtures / wall-mount lavatory faucets
Major relocation work often moves supplies into the wall cavity for wall-mount faucets. Wallpaper sequencing matters: primed surfaces, cutouts, and protection during trim installation.
Windows / new or enlarged openings
New transom or clerestory units bring daylight but must meet egress, privacy, flashing, and tempered glass rules adjacent to tubs and showers per applicable code.
Doors / pocket or slider hardware
Pocket doors save swing space but require plumb jambs and coordinated casing against tile and wallpaper returns.
Wallcoverings / printed vinyl or coated papers
Illustrative scenic papers need careful seam alignment and adhesive suited to bathroom humidity, especially outside direct spray zones.
This Laurelhurst primary bathroom was completed in January 2025 for approximately $67,000 on a five-week schedule. The scope is intentionally heavy on systems: major plumbing relocation, permitted window additions, a wet-room layout with both a freestanding tub and a walk-in shower, wallpaper-forward walls, and a pocket door. Those items do not photograph equally, but they explain the budget as clearly as the marble hex floors and brass fixtures.
The wet zone behaves like a single waterproof shell even though it contains two focal fixtures. A freestanding oval soaking tub sits adjacent to a walk-in shower area that uses vertically stacked handmade-look subway tile in muted sage and blue-gray fields, white grout, and marble-look hex mosaic at the floor. A brass linear drain reinforces the curbless or low-curb intent: water management needs reliable slope, a correctly embedded drain body, and a waterproofing membrane continuity plan that does not stop at the glass line.
The shower includes a ceiling-mounted rain head, a handheld wand on a vertical bar, and a long recessed niche sized for real bottles rather than a token shelf. Frameless glass lands on a knee wall capped with stone or quartz, which is a practical way to stabilize glass without channel clutter. Glass measurement happens late, after tile planes and hardware heights are firm.
When homeowners ask for a different tub location, a linear drain layout, or wall-mount faucets, the conversation is not cosmetic. Drain paths, venting, and supply routing may need to move through framing spaces that were never designed for today’s fixture geometry. That is why this project highlights permitted plumbing work: the outcome must be inspection-ready, quiet, and serviceable. Wall-mount tub fillers and lavatory faucets require blocking and depth discipline so valves land where tile and wallpaper expect them.
New horizontal transom-style windows appear at the shower wall and above the vanity mirror wall. Added glazing improves daylight and reduces the cave effect common in older Seattle bathrooms, but it also triggers envelope detailing: sill flashing, integration with WRB, interior tile returns at jambs, and tempered glazing where code places glass adjacent to tubs and showers. Those steps belong in the plan before tile starts, not after a rough opening is guessed.
The finish story mixes practical wet-area tile with expressive dry-area materials. A scenic wallpaper with illustrated mountains, water, and trees sits on a deep blue ground, paired with saturated navy or teal painted walls in adjacent planes. A floating vanity zone uses a wall-mount brass faucet punched through wallpaper into a marble or quartz counter with a short backsplash—an elegant look that punishes sloppy rough-in. Separately, a double vanity run uses dark fluted or vertically textured cabinetry, brass towel bars and sconces, pivot mirrors with slim frames, and a second high window that borrows sky and tree views.
In period Seattle homes, swing doors steal space from circulation and tile layouts. A pocket door returns square footage to the plan when the wall cavity is available and framing stays straight. Hardware quality matters: soft-close or concealed systems reduce rattling against adjacent tile or casing.
Five weeks is achievable when demolition discoveries are controlled, lead times are respected, inspections are scheduled intentionally, and wet-work sequencing stays disciplined: rough plumbing and electrical, waterproofing, tile, glass measure, then trim and wallpaper in protected phases. The schedule slips when rough locations keep moving while finishes are trying to lock.
At roughly $67,000, this project sits where many full primary baths land when plumbing moves, windows are added, tile labor is real, and brass plumbing plus glass are non-trivial lines. It is not only material photos that justify the number; it is rerouted drains and supplies, permit fees, inspection-ready work, and careful integration between waterproofing, fenestration, and decorative surfaces.
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