Florida
Remodeler
of the Year

(Originally published in Remodeling, April 1999)

When Ocala, Fla., remodeler Ed Ferrentino tells potential clients that their peeling, leaking bathroom can be replaced in a week, they often balk. "They ask, 'Are you sure?'" Ferrentino says. He's sure. In fact, he guarantees it - a promise that helps him land the jobs he bids on.

Seven or eight years ago, Ferrentino got the process of replacing bathrooms in a week down to a science. Of course, that's not every bathroom. Forget the ones where "we're moving walls or reconfiguring space." he says. Those he can do in a week tend to be in developments built a decade or more ago, and many of his clients are seniors. "People have been in them 10 or 12 years and can't step up to the tubs anymore," he says. Typically, Ferrentino takes out the tub, replacing it with a walk-in shower.

Planning begins several weeks before the job starts, when the remodeler, having inspected the bathroom, agrees on a date to begin construction. He usually starts about two weeks later. Once the date's set, Ferrentino calls his plumber, so he can be there immediately after demolition to replace pipes or anything else that requires a plumbing license. He also contacts his suppliers and sets a date for delivery and installation. "All the material is in our possession before we start," Ferrentino says. Components are standardized in the company computer and usually vary only by size and color. Ferrentino's crew will do everything but the plumbing, electrical, and tub or shower installation. Once the footwork is completed, the week's work goes something like this:

MONDAY: Start demolition. "We've got it gutted by 10 or 12," Ferrentino says. Once the fixtures are out, the plumber comes in to install new valves or pipes, or, if a shower's going in, he installs the shower pan. When the plumber is through, the crew hangs drywall. By the end of the day, "if we're really lucky, we've got the first coat of mud on the rock."

TUESDAY: Finish the drywall.

WEDNESDAY: This is the marble man's day. Ferrentino often replaces an old tub or shower with a cultured marble tub or shower surround. "We make the marble panels 3 or 4 inches bigger than we need, then cut to fit," he says. The marble fixture manufacturer delivers the product on its own truck. Ferrentino favors the one-piece molded marble pan because "it can't leak. I've done two conventional shower pans," he says, "and had to replace them both." Ferrentino has the manufacturer install both the marble shower and any glass that goes into it, such as a shower door. He does so for two reasons: "It's fairly heavy," Ferrentino says, and "the breakage factor."

THURSDAY: Painting, flooring, setting the vanity.

FRIDAY: Re-install the commode, along with the sink faucets and shower valves. At this point, the plumber may have to make a return trip.

SATURDAY: Wipe down the floors, polish the fixtures, peel the labels off the marble, and turn it over to the homeowner. "Oh, and pick up my check," Ferrentino adds. Ferrentino points out that the key to turning around a faceted thinking. "My dad taught me to build it in my mind first," the remodeler says, "from digging the footers to putting the key in the front door." Planning and scheduling weeks in advance are more critical than ever due to the current volume of work in northern Florida. "Up until this year, you could call a subcontractor or supplier and get him there on a day's notice," he points out. Now, "we're feasting on jobs."
When similar bathrooms take two or three weeks to complete, Ferrentino says, it's because the contractor doesn't call subs or suppliers until he himself starts tearing out the old fixtures. Ferrentino's cookie cutter bathroom comes with a standard price: $7,500. Five years ago, bathrooms accounted for between 8 percent and 10 percent of Ferrentino's business. Last year, 24.8 percent of his $1 million annual revenues came from bathroom replacements. The quick turnaround sways potential clients who have "heard the horror stores of bathroom replacements that took two or three weeks, with the room torn up and nothing done for days on end," Ferrentino says. "We guarantee them we'll be done on Friday, barring no unforeseen circumstances."

And those, of course, do happen. Once a marble shower surround cracked while being unloaded off a truck. Sometimes rotted out floor underlayment or studs have to be replaced. Recently, the contractor pulled down the tile in a shower he was replacing to discover there was nothing behind the tile but grout, and nothing behind the grout but dirt. Ferrentino has a policy of personally looking at every bathroom before signing the contract. If he determines it can be done in a week, he promises that it will be. But that's not in writing. "We back it up with our reputation," he says.