Two bathrooms in one rowhome: a tiled tub bath and a glass shower, South Philadelphia

Two rooms, two jobs

A house with one bathroom is a house where somebody is always waiting. This renovation gave the rowhome two finished bathrooms, built with the same materials and the same care, but planned for different jobs. The main bath has a tub for kids and baths. The second bath is a compact shower room that works for guests and for the morning rush.

Bath 1: the tub bath

• Tile: large-format marble-look porcelain on the floor and on every wall, floor to ceiling. Porcelain gives the look of marble without the sealing and the staining, and large tiles mean fewer grout lines to keep clean.
• Fixtures: an alcove tub with a tiled surround, a vanity with a quartz top, and a mirror with built-in LED lighting, which gives better face light than a ceiling fixture.
• Window: the small window above the tub stayed; it was replaced with a new vinyl unit and the tile returns into the opening so there is no wood sill to rot.

Bath 2: the shower room

• Shower: a curved corner enclosure with a low threshold, chosen because the room is narrow and a square enclosure would have blocked the door swing.
• Tile: grey porcelain on the walls and floor, continuous into the shower. One tile everywhere makes a small room feel larger.
• Sink: a wall-hung sink instead of a vanity, which keeps the floor clear and makes the room easier to clean. Storage went into a mirrored cabinet instead.

What is behind the tile

The parts you cannot see in the photos are the parts that decide whether a bathroom lasts:

1. Both rooms were stripped to the studs with the rest of the house, so the framing was checked and straightened before anything went on it.
2. Cement board on all wet walls, with a waterproofing membrane over the tub surround and the shower walls. Drywall and paint are only used outside the wet zone.
3. The shower pan was built with a proper slope to the drain and tested with water before tile.
4. Every room got a new exhaust fan ducted outside. In a rowhome with a shared wall, moisture has nowhere to go without one.

Expert notes for small bathrooms

Floor-to-ceiling tile on every wall is worth it in a tiny room. It costs more in tile than a half-height wainscot, but it removes the line that cuts the room in half, and there is no painted wall above a tub to peel later.

Pick the enclosure before the tile. The shower door decides where the curb goes and how the tile is cut. We order the glass first and tile to it.

Lighted mirrors beat ceiling lights. In both rooms the mirror is the main light source at the sink. It is a small upgrade that makes the room feel finished.

Timeline

Tile started in May once drywall and cement board were up. Fixtures, glass and mirrors went in during August with the final paint. Each bathroom on its own would be about two to three weeks of work; here they were scheduled inside the larger project.