mill creek, wa / 2025
Full-height onyx-look slabs, electric heated floors, frameless glass sliding shower door, corner bench and recessed niche, brass linear drain and trim, smart tankless toilet, and a chevron double vanity—documented from dated before conditions through waterproofing and heat wire to finish (Seattle metro service area). A Mill Creek primary bathroom taken from a tired tub alcove and ornate vanity wall to a spa-level finish: full-height stone-look slabs, an accessible-minded walk-in shower with sliding glass, bench and niche, brass hardware throughout, heated floors, a smart tankless toilet, and a chevron double vanity—shown honestly with before, during, and after photography even though the work is marketed on the Seattle bathroom remodel page for metro-wide RENOVA clients.
Case Study
Large-format polished tile tolerates almost no lippage, so subsurface flatness, leveling clips, and sequenced cuts around valves and outlets had to be disciplined. Adding electric heat under a mosaic bathroom floor meant planning membrane layout, cold tail routes, and thermostat location before the mud bed or thin-set locked everything in. The ADA-minded shower still had to drain predictably with a linear drain, bench waterproofing, and glass measured only after tile planes were true.
The gallery shows the actual build path: demolition and rough plumbing on PEX with blocked valve depth, liquid waterproofing over fiber-cement backer, self-leveling where needed, heat wire in uncoupling mat, then full-height setting with brass edge profiles. Sliding door hardware was coordinated with curb height and interior clearance. The smart toilet and heated floor controls landed on finished walls with GFCI planning at the vanity.
Homeowners get a bathroom that photographs like a showroom but is backed by visible rough work: RedGard, heat wire, levelers, and clean large-format corners. The walk-in shower feels open, the bench and niche make daily use practical, and the warm brass package ties the toilet alcove, shower, and vanity into one language—appropriate for Mill Creek while still discoverable under Seattle bathroom remodeling for homeowners comparing regional crews.
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 / large-format porcelain wall tile
Book-matched or continuous veining at corners increases waste and layout time. Polished finishes show every planar defect, so subsurface prep and lippage control systems matter more than with matte small tile.
Radiant heat / electric floor warming
Heat wire is embedded in uncoupling membrane or comparable system, tested for resistance before tile, and controlled at a GFCI-protected circuit with a line-voltage thermostat placed outside direct spray.
Shower glass / sliding enclosure
Sliding panels reduce swing conflicts in tighter plans. Brass tracks and rollers must align with curb level and tile reveal after final adjustment.
Plumbing / linear shower drain
Linear bodies need precise height setting relative to mosaic pitch so water moves to the channel without ponding at the bench toe.
Tile installation / shower bench and niche
Bench blocking, slope at niche sill, and continuous waterproofing behind large-format cladding are inspection-critical details for durability.
Plumbing fixtures / smart toilet
Requires nearby GFCI outlet planning, water supply pressure within manufacturer spec, and wall space for remotes or controls.
This portfolio set is intentionally sequenced as a story. It opens on dated before conditions—an L-shaped double vanity with drop-in sinks, heavy mirror frames, and a tub alcove with a curtain and small square wall tile—then moves through rough plumbing on PEX, liquid waterproofing over USG Fiberock backer, self-leveling underlayment, uncoupling membrane with visible electric heat wire, and large-format wall setting with leveling clips. The after photographs show what that discipline buys: full-height polished blue-grey slabs with dramatic gold and rust veining, brass metal trim at every outside corner, a walk-in shower with a frameless sliding glass door on brass hardware, a floating corner bench, a tall recessed niche, a brass linear drain in hex mosaic, and a ceiling rain head with matching handheld trim.
Accessibility language gets misused in marketing. This shower is better described as ADA-influenced: a wide approach, a low curb that still provides water containment, a built-in bench for seated bathing, a handheld wand, and clear maneuvering room at the door plane. Those choices help aging homeowners, athletes with injuries, and families who simply want a bench for shaving legs or rinsing kids. The details that make it work are not glamorous: correct pre-slope or flat substrate planning under the linear drain, continuous waterproofing behind the bench blocking, niche shelf slope so bottles do not sit in standing water, and tempered glass sized after tile is complete.
Running polished slabs floor-to-ceiling changes the lighting behavior of the room. Reflective grout lines disappear when they are tight and tone-matched, but the installer pays for that in flatness and clip labor. Brass Schluter-style profiles give a clean stop at door jambs, niche edges, and bench noses while repeating the finish of the faucets, towel ladder, and shower door hardware. When every transition uses the same metal family, the bathroom feels designed rather than assembled.
Electric heat under hex bathroom tile is one of the few upgrades homeowners still thank you for years later. The in-process photo of orange uncoupling membrane with red heat cable is the proof layer: it is not enough to claim heated floors in copy if the build cannot show the mat. A wall thermostat lands where users can reach it without leaning into wet zones. The brass heated towel ladder is a separate circuit conversation but matches the spa positioning of the room.
The toilet reads as a single sculpted volume with integrated wash features, lighting accents, and a wall remote. Rough-in location, supply pressure, and GFCI proximity need to match the manufacturer manual, not guesswork at trim. That is part of why this scope belongs in a mid-upper investment band for the Seattle metro, even though the jobsite is Mill Creek on the Eastside.
RENOVA serves a broader Puget Sound footprint than the city limits. Homeowners in Seattle often compare portfolios across the metro when evaluating waterproofing discipline, large-format tile competence, and accessible shower design. This Mill Creek job is a strong reference for those technical categories even though the address is east of the lake.
Exact invoices vary with existing plumbing condition, panel capacity, glass lead times, and slab pricing swings. The numbers shown are a defensible comparable range for a full gut with heat wire, large-format wet walls, sliding glass, smart toilet, and premium vanity lighting—not a quote. Timelines stretch when inspections stack or slab shipments slip; six to eight weeks is a realistic planning window for similar complexity when rough work stays clean.
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