Custom showers to boost your bathroom

After kitchens, there’s not a more popular target for remodeling than the bathroom. And that’s no surprise. It’s a room we use every day and a properly designed bathroom can have a big impact on your life.

One of the best ways to make a major change in the bathroom is with a new shower, and there are a wealth of options out there for homeowners these days. A new custom shower can help take your bathroom to the next level!

Curbless showers

One frequent move is to ditch the tub entirely and replace it with a high-end, curbless shower. Most showers, even those without tubs, require you to step up-and-in to the shower. A curbless shower eliminates that step, bringing the shower entrance flush with the floor of the bathroom.

This offers benefits both aesthetic and functional. Curbless showers can give your bathroom a sleek, modern, open look. For homeowners or guests with limited mobility, they are easier to use. This is especially important as we see more multi-generational homes and plan for aging in place. Fewer corners and crevices to deal with can also make cleaning easier.

Design it right

It’s important to work with a qualified remodeler to get your properly designed curbless shower. Several factors need to be considered, including the slope/drainage of the floor and proper placement of showerheads to ensure water doesn’t splash or flow outside the shower area. You can also get creative with drainage by using decorative tile, metal, or even wood features that hide the drains.

Frameless glass showers

One alternative to an open or doorless shower is a frameless shower. A frameless, glass enclosure can help keep water and heat in, but still give you that open look by eliminating the traditional aluminum framing support.

Whatever style you choose for your custom bathroom, showers are more than just a simple showerhead.  Features like bench seats, radiant heat under tile in benches or shower floors and recessed shampoo niches are additional popular shower options.  Atlanta Design & Build is ready to guide you through the design process for your custom shower!

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Custom tile in bathroom

What Are the Latest Tile Trends for Your Remodeled Bathroom?

Tile is a beautiful and luxurious finish for your newly remodeled bathroom. It is designed to create a spa-like aesthetic and easy to maintain. In the bathroom, tile works well for flooring, showers, backsplashes, and decorative accent walls.

Since your new bathroom needs to meet both form and functional needs, consider not only colors, patterns and textures that you prefer, but also consider your needs for safety and comfort. Accessible bathrooms can include large format tiles with slip resistant finishes. Radiant heat installed beneath tile bathroom and shower floors and shower bench seating can add a spa-like comfort to your bath.

Shapes, Patterns, and Finishes of Tile to Choose From

Currently, homeowners seek out a variety of shapes and styles. Adding a personal touch to your bathroom can be as easy as implementing one of these tile shapes:

  • Round
  • Diamond
  • Chevron
  • Herringbone
  • Basket Weave
  • Fish Scale
  • Fan
  • Hexagon
  • Lantern
  • Wave
  • Oval

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A Visionary Leader: Atlanta Design & Build President Dale Contant

Part 2: Kernels of Wisdom from an Industry Leader

According to Dale, the best advice he could give to someone just starting out with their own business is,

Stay focused on your core business. Be resilient and nimble enough to make changes. Be tenacious and persistent. Don’t chase rabbits, or ‘opportunities,’ because they may lead you down a rabbit hole. Stay focused.

In the past, he has witnessed people falling down various rabbit holes, to the detriment of their businesses. Staying focused on your core business purpose and message, and being the best at what you do, is a formula for success that Dale incorporates into his own practices. He also advises newcomers into business ownership to develop a value proposition to everything you do: whether it’s sales, service, marketing, or whatever you do, always look at your ROI. Above all else, treat everyone how you want to be treated: be respectful to everyone. Dale’s formula for success also includes happy clients, successful employees (in both their personal and professional lives), being consistent and persistent, not asking someone to do anything that you wouldn’t do (unless it’s something you do not know how to do).

Dale’s Sage Advice on Work/Life Balance

Early on in his career, when his four daughters were young, Dale worked many hours and a lot of weekends providing for his family. His advice is “Find a work/life balance, don’t sacrifice your family for your business.” He was able to take his family on vacations several times a year for quality family time, but if he had it to do over again, he would have made more time daily. Dale found more work/life balance when he joined NARI.  It was here he established peer relationships, and made friends who became mentors, among them, three fellow-contractors with whom he can share anything and ask any question he has. Currently, he works approximately 50 hours per week, spending his time working on clients’ files, meeting them face to face, and overseeing the entire business operation.

Dale and Keely Contant’s four daughters: Lindsey, Sydney, Ali, and Alex
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A Visionary Leader: Atlanta Design & Build President Dale Contant

Part 1: The Professional Side

Dale receiving a NARI Lifetime Achievement Award from Tom Miller, the National President of NARI, in April, 2018

Dale Contant is the President and Principal Owner of Atlanta Design & Build. ADB has been in business since 1996 and is one of the few National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) Accredited Remodeling Companies in the nation, and the only one in GA. Dale’s commitment to raise the level of professionalism homeowner’s can expect when contracting a remodeler has motivated his active involvement in the remodeling industry.

He is a licensed contractor in the state of Georgia. Dale holds NARI credentials for Master Certified Remodeler (MCR), Certified Remodeling Project Manager (CRPM) and Universal Design Certified Professional (UDCP). He has also served in leadership for NARI at both the local and, for 15 years, at the national levels; holding NARI National officer positions since 2013 culminating in 2018-2020 as National Chairman of the Board. He also spent 5 years on the board of Rebuilding Together Atlanta, an organization assisting elderly homeowners and veterans with major home repairs.

Formative Years: Raised on the Job Site

Dale was born in Ft Lauderdale, FL, and later his family moved to Boca Raton where he lived until his mid-20s. His father was a contractor, and he began spending time on construction sites helping his dad work on residential projects when he was 8 years old. Dale studied drafting in high school, and began junior college with plans to become an architect. His interest, however, changed to construction.

In his early 20s, Dale married and the couple decided to move to the North Carolina mountains. Dale built his first home there, and pursued the path of a contractor. Several years later, when the opportunity presented itself, he became a licensed insurance agent for a local insurance agency. He credits his sales acumen to his time spent in insurance sales; the company he worked with had extensive sales training based on well-honed, time-tested systems. Dale and his wife, Keely, remained in North Carolina for 7 years before accepting a regional management position with the insurance company and relocating to Marietta, GA in 1988. In 1989, having several years of sales behind him, Dale began using his knowledge of both construction and sales and returned to his field of preference as a salesperson for a sunroom company.    

This is the first home Dale built for his family over 35 years ago in Boone, North Carolina.
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The Skilled Trades: A Direct Path to Success

Now that a huge number of millennials are buying homes, the US is experiencing housing shortages in many parts of the country. Part of the reason there are more home seekers than available homes is the skilled labor shortage. The skilled labor shortage doesn’t just impact home buyers and homeowners seeking needed remodeling for their current homes, it has an enormous impact on interior designers, builders, and remodelers. Due to an inability to find professionals in the skilled trades, many building and remodeling companies feel their growth has been slowed. Some companies could take on more projects, and serve clients faster, if they had plentiful skilled trades to employ. Many companies have to pick and choose which jobs will be the most profitable, leaving homeowners with smaller projects at a disadvantage.

Times Have Changed: A Generation Disinterested?

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https://www.atlantadesignbuild.com/blog/infrar2020 Residential Coty award-winning bathroom

ADB Wins NARI Regional Contractor of the Year (CotY) Award for 2020

Atlanta Design & Build has been named 2020 NARI Regional CotY Winner, in Region 2-Southeast, for Residential Bath $75,001 to $100,000. Look at this amazing master bath transformation:

This elegant, spa-like bathroom also won a 2019 NARI – Atlanta CotY award.

2020 NARI Residential CotY bathroom vanity, water closet, heated towel bar
View of the water closet, built-in vanity, and heated towel rack

Winning a CotY Award is a distinguished recognition. We are honored to be in the ranks of the best in the remodeling industry. NARI received almost 500 entries valued at over $138 million, and our project stood out as the best in our category for our region.

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