Marble in a bathroom always comes with a trade-off: it’s the tile selection that makes the room look most finished, and the one that tolerates the least imperfection in the substrate. This 80-square-foot hallway bathroom in Holland used marble in two places at once — subway-layout tile on the tub and shower walls to the ceiling, and a herringbone pattern on the floor. Getting both right required the prep work to come first, not as an afterthought. Completed August 2026 at $11,000. See our bathroom remodeling services.
Scope of Work
- Full demolition
- Mold-resistant drywall and cement board
- New bathtub and tub/shower faucet installed
- Waterproofing in tub and shower area
- Marble subway tile on tub and shower walls — floor to ceiling
- Custom recessed niche
- Herringbone marble tile on bathroom floor
- Marble threshold at bathroom entry
- Toilet and vanity faucet installed
- Additional electrical outlets and vanity lighting
- Mirror or medicine cabinet installed
- Window sill and trim restored, sanded, and painted
- Baseboards, accessories, painting throughout
The Herringbone Floor: Why Prep Matters More Than Tile
A herringbone floor pattern is not difficult to tile — but it is unforgiving of a floor that isn’t flat. The angled cuts and consistent 45-degree alignment that define the pattern require every tile to land at the same height as its neighbor. On a floor with humps, dips, or residual adhesive from the old tile, the pattern reveals the problem immediately. The floor was evaluated after demolition before installation began. That’s not an optional step on this kind of layout — it’s the step that determines whether the finished floor looks like herringbone or like an attempt at it.
The shower and tub walls had their own substrate requirement. Smaller marble tile in a subway layout shows wall variation more clearly than larger format tile. The cement board was installed flat and the walls were prepped before any tile went up. Marble thresholds at the tub curb and the bathroom entry completed the floor transitions cleanly.
Tub and Shower Walls to the Ceiling
The tub and shower walls were tiled all the way to the ceiling in a subway pattern. Taking tile to the ceiling in the wet area serves two purposes: it eliminates the transition between tiled wall and painted drywall that sits directly above a shower, which is one of the most common places moisture works behind the wall surface over time — and it gives the bathing area a more complete appearance. There’s no line where the tile stops and the paint begins.
The recessed niche was framed and waterproofed before the tile installation began. A niche built into a marble-tiled shower wall has to be integrated at the same time as the surrounding tile, not cut in afterward. Getting the depth, positioning, and waterproofing right during the build phase is what makes the finished niche read as part of the wall rather than an addition to it.
Window Trim Restoration
Rather than replacing the existing window sill and trim, the project called for restoration: sanding back the existing wood, preparing the surface, and painting it to blend with the newly remodeled space. That’s a judgment call that depends on the condition of the existing trim. Here it was worth keeping — the wood was sound, and restoring it was more practical than replacing it. A window with restored original wood trim in a freshly tiled bathroom reads better than one where only the trim was obviously switched out.
Bathroom Remodeling in Holland, PA
Holland is a community in Northampton Township, Bucks County, with a residential stock that includes homes from the 1970s through newer construction. Hallway bathrooms in homes of that era often have the original tile and fixtures still in place, and the combination of dated finish and worn substrate makes a full gut the more practical approach than patching. Belmax Remodeling works throughout Bucks County. For more on our bathroom work, see our bathroom remodeling service page.
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