What should you do after a shower leak damages the walls and floor?

Open it up and find out how far the water went. Here the leak had damaged drywall, baseboards and floors inside and outside the bathroom, and once the walls were open we found mold throughout the wall studs. That had to be treated and removed before any rebuilding started. New finishes over it would only hide the problem.

How do you make sure a rebuilt shower won't leak again?

On this job, our standard process: a Schluter Kerdi waterproofing system, with the shower pan flood tested for a full 48 hours. For clients who have already been through a leak, we also walk them through every step of the waterproofing, so they can see what is behind the tile instead of taking it on faith.

What is epoxy grout, and why use it in a bathroom?

Epoxy grout is a resin-based grout rather than a cement one. We used Laticrete SpectraLOCK throughout this bathroom, a high-performance grout chosen because it resists staining, cracking and wear over time, which matters in a room that gets wet every day.

Can large-format porcelain be used as baseboard?

Yes. Here the 24×48 porcelain ran from the bathroom into the attached closet and was also used as the baseboards, so the floor and the base are one continuous material.

CONTACT

HOME/PORTFOLIO/NORTH LA BATHROOM

BATHROOMS

Large-Format Porcelain Bathroom Remodel
in Northeast Los Angeles

24×48 Porcelain Primary Bath

LOCATION: Northeast Los Angeles, CA

PROJECT NOTES

24×48 Porcelain Primary Bath

A primary bathroom in a 1950s single-story home in Northeast Los Angeles, rebuilt after a shower leak damaged the drywall, baseboards and floors in and around it. Slow Hand Remodeling treated and removed the mold found in the wall studs, waterproofed with a Schluter Kerdi system flood tested for 48 hours, and finished the room in 24×48 porcelain, SpectraLOCK epoxy grout and gold Delta fixtures.

LOCATION: Northeast Los Angeles, CA
YEAR: 2024
SCOPE: Full bath remodel
THE HOUSE: 1950s single-story home
MATERIALS: 24×48 porcelain slab tile on the floor, the walls and the baseboards, carried into the attached closet · matching 2×2 mosaic on the shower floor · Laticrete SpectraLOCK epoxy grout throughout · gold Delta plumbing fixtures · Ariel Bath double vanity with matching gold trim
WATERPROOFING: Schluter Kerdi system, our standard process, with the shower pan flood tested for a full 48 hours

BEFORE / AFTER

The transformation.

Before: the original speckled granite shower with its sage glass mosaic stripe, opened up at the base to expose the studs and old plumbing.

24×48 Porcelain Primary Bath in Northeast Los Angeles, CA, after

Double white oak vanity with brushed brass fittings and a white quartz top, in a Northeast Los Angeles primary bathroom.

Large-format porcelain running up the shower wall with a recessed niche cut into it, brass trim, and few grout joints to interrupt the surface.

The vanity wall from the far end, brass towel bars and robe hook against white walls and large-format floor tile.

Low-curb walk-in shower in large-format porcelain, with a recessed niche, brass drain and built-in shelving alongside.

Shower floor in matching mosaic, sloped to a patterned brass drain, with the low curb and the wall tile meeting cleanly.

THE SITUATION

This project was in an older 1950s single-story home in Northeast Los Angeles. Our clients were dealing with a leak from the primary bathroom shower, which had damaged the drywall, baseboards and floors both inside and outside the bathroom. That made it a great excuse to remodel the entire bathroom.

The vision for the new room was simple, clean and seamless. The biggest concern was the waterproofing: our clients had already lived through the nightmare that is a shower leak, and did not want to live through it twice.

WHAT WE FOUND ON DEMO

Upon opening up the walls, we found mold throughout the wall studs, which needed to be treated and removed before anything new went in. Water that gets behind a shower wall does its damage where you can't see it, and this was the proof.

HOW WE BUILT IT

We waterproofed the new bathroom using our standard process: a Schluter Kerdi system, with the shower pan flood tested for a full 48 hours.

For the primary floor and wall tile we went with a 24×48 porcelain slab. These large-format tiles run from the main bathroom into the attached closet and were also used as the baseboards, so the floor, the walls and the base read as one surface. For the shower floor we used a matching 2×2 mosaic tile sheet. Throughout the bathroom we used an epoxy grout, Laticrete SpectraLOCK, a high-performance grout that resists staining, cracking and wear over time.

We also updated several other elements in the bathroom, including new gold Delta plumbing fixtures and a new double vanity with matching gold trim from Ariel Bath.

THE HARD PART

Our biggest challenge on this project was helping our clients feel secure that the bathroom we were building them was essentially indestructible. After experiencing water damage and mold in your home, it's crucial when choosing a contractor to be sure you won't be revisiting the same problem in five years, two years, or less. We walked them through every step of the waterproofing process, chose the highest-performance materials we could, and, as always, the work is covered under our warranty.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Questions about
this project.

What should you do after a shower leak damages the walls and floor?
Open it up and find out how far the water went. Here the leak had damaged drywall, baseboards and floors inside and outside the bathroom, and once the walls were open we found mold throughout the wall studs. That had to be treated and removed before any rebuilding started. New finishes over it would only hide the problem.
How do you make sure a rebuilt shower won't leak again?
On this job, our standard process: a Schluter Kerdi waterproofing system, with the shower pan flood tested for a full 48 hours. For clients who have already been through a leak, we also walk them through every step of the waterproofing, so they can see what is behind the tile instead of taking it on faith.
What is epoxy grout, and why use it in a bathroom?
Epoxy grout is a resin-based grout rather than a cement one. We used Laticrete SpectraLOCK throughout this bathroom, a high-performance grout chosen because it resists staining, cracking and wear over time, which matters in a room that gets wet every day.
Can large-format porcelain be used as baseboard?
Yes. Here the 24×48 porcelain ran from the bathroom into the attached closet and was also used as the baseboards, so the floor and the base are one continuous material.