Before & After: A Nepean
Primary Ensuite

1992 build, off Greenbank in Nepean. Original primary ensuite, never touched. The footprint was generous at 9 by 12 feet but the layout was the kind of thing that gets stamped into a thousand homes and never questioned: corner jetted tub on a tile pedestal, dated single vanity, builder shower stall with mottled glass, toilet right next to the shower in the worst possible sightline.

The owners had two non-negotiables. They wanted a freestanding tub under the window. They wanted a no-curb shower. Everything else was open.

The build took 7 weeks from demo morning to last bit of caulk, and the owners had a fixed written proposal in hand before we lifted a tool. Here is exactly how it went.

The new layout

The plumbing wall ran along the back of the room and continued through the wall to the powder room on the other side. We could move fixtures along that wall but moving them away from it would have meant breaking concrete in the basement below, which the owners did not want to fund.

The new arrangement, walking in:

• Door swings into the bedroom now (was inward), giving us 12 inches of additional usable floor
• Long left wall: 72-inch double vanity floating, mirror, sconces above
• Far wall under the window: freestanding tub, floor-mount tub filler in brushed nickel
• Right wall, far corner: walk-in shower, 4 by 6 feet, no curb, glass panel only on the visible side
• Right wall, near corner: water closet behind a 48-inch privacy wall that doubles as a towel hook station

The tub under the window is the move that made the whole project worth it. The window is 4 feet wide, north-facing onto a stand of mature trees. The owner takes baths in winter with the lights off and watches the sky. That memory is the reason this room exists.

No-curb shower: what it actually takes

Every bathroom client wants no-curb showers now and most of them do not understand what they involve or what they require.

To do it properly, you need to drop the floor in the shower zone by about 1.5 to 2 inches relative to the surrounding floor, slope it to the drain at minimum 2 percent, waterproof the entire wet area with a sheet membrane, and install a linear drain with a cover that sits flush with the finished tile.

In a renovation on a wood-frame floor, dropping the floor means cutting joists or sistering them with a notch, which is structural work. In this house we had 2x10 joists at 16 inches on centre. We could not safely notch them more than the existing top flange would allow, so we sistered each joist in the shower zone with a flush-cut LVL strip on each side, then installed a curbless shower pan on top.

That is a meaningful block of structural and waterproofing work that would not have existed if they had picked a 4-inch curb. It is the main cost driver behind a curbless shower.

The materials

The brief was "warm modern, calm, not cold." Cold bathrooms are easy to do by accident. Cold means too much white, too much polished chrome, and too little contrast.

• Floor: 24x24 honed travertine-look porcelain in a warm beige, micro-textured for slip resistance. Ran heated wire under the entire floor
• Shower walls: 24x48 vertical porcelain in a soft veined cream, three pieces per wall
• Shower floor: 2x2 mosaic in the same family, slip-rated
• Vanity: in-house cabinet shop, white oak slab fronts, integrated finger-pull bevel instead of hardware
• Counter: 3cm Caesarstone in a warm bone with subtle veining, undermount sinks
• Tub: 60-inch oval freestanding acrylic with a slim top edge
• Plumbing fixtures: brushed nickel throughout, single-finish to keep the room calm. The owners considered mixed metals and decided against it for this room
• Lighting: 5-inch recessed in the shower (rated for wet location) on a separate dimmer, wall sconces flanking the mirrors, 2-inch recessed pucks over the tub on a third dimmer

Heated floor: yes, do it

Adding an electric heated floor mat under the porcelain, including the dedicated thermostat and the 20-amp circuit, is a small line item relative to the whole job. The owners had it on a programmable schedule that warms the floor by 6:30 AM and turns off at 10 AM.

This is the single best small upgrade you can make in an Ottawa winter bathroom. Every previous client we have done it for says the same thing: they cannot imagine a bathroom without it now.

Heated floors do not feel like luxury after the first month. They feel like the way bathrooms should always have been.

Where the budget goes, line by line

Owners get an itemized written proposal before demo, so they know exactly what is included. These are the scope lines on a primary-ensuite gut like this one, ordered roughly by how much each drives the budget.

• Demo, dust protection, dump fees
• Structural floor sistering for curbless shower
• Plumbing rough (fixture relocations along the existing wet wall)
• Electrical rough (heated floor circuit, lighting circuits, GFCI runs)
• Insulation and drywall (new exterior wall insulation behind tub, blueboard at wet zones)
• Waterproofing system (Schluter Kerdi or equivalent across whole wet area)
• Heated floor mat and thermostat
• Tile and stone supply
• Tile install (skilled labour, this is where the room earns its look — often the single largest line)
• Custom vanity, fabricated in our shop
• Counter and undermount sinks
• Plumbing fixtures (faucets, tub filler, shower trim, toilet)
• Freestanding tub
• Glass shower panel (3/8 low-iron, custom)
• Lighting fixtures, mirrors, accessories
• Trim, paint, finish carpentry
• Permit, project management, contingency, final clean

The biggest swing factors on a bathroom budget are tile selection and the labour to set it, whether fixtures are relocated off the existing wet wall, the shower type (curbed vs curbless), and the finish level of the vanity and counter. We walk through each with the owner before the proposal is fixed.

The 7-week timeline, week by week

Owners often ask what 7 weeks of bathroom work actually looks like. Here it is:

• Week 1: demo, dust protection, dumpster on site, structural floor work begins
• Week 2: rough plumbing, rough electrical, structural complete, framing for new layout, inspection by City of Ottawa
• Week 3: insulation, drywall, taping, mudding
• Week 4: waterproofing system applied, heated floor mat installed, schluter inspection by tile setter
• Week 5: tile install (full week, this is the longest single trade phase)
• Week 6: grout, vanity install, counter template and install, plumbing finish, electrical finish, glass measure
• Week 7: glass install, paint touch-ups, accessories, final inspection, owner walkthrough, deficiencies fixed

Who this kind of project suits

Nepean, Barrhaven, Kanata, Orleans, and Findlay Creek are full of 1985 to 2000 homes with the same dated primary ensuite. The footprint is usually fine. The layout was always wrong. A full ensuite gut, done properly, is the single highest-impact renovation you can do in those houses for resale and for daily life.

We have done over 200 of these now. The math is consistent: ensuites that were unusable beyond function become the room everyone uses first in the morning and last at night.

What the owners would do differently

One regret, six months in. They picked a single brushed-nickel finish across the room and now wish they had introduced a darker accent on the privacy wall hardware (towel hook, robe hook). The single-finish choice reads slightly bland on a dark winter morning. We are swapping those two pieces this spring for a minor hardware cost.

One thing they would do again without hesitation: the heated floor on a programmable thermostat. They originally hesitated over the added line item. They now describe it as the cheapest luxury they have ever bought.

If your ensuite needs the same treatment, see our bathroom renovation service or call 613-862-4555 for a free in-home walkthrough and a fixed-price quote.