pheller
UltimaDork
10/2/19 11:33 a.m.
I'm thinking of remodeling the bathroom in our new home. I'm a handy guy, with plenty of tools and don't mind doing the labor, but know when something sounds like a PITA.
It's a slab floor, not quite sure yet how the plumbing runs, but I can probably bet on it being in the slab.
Current setup (circa 1998) is a typical 64x38 bath with dividng walls on either end (one with plumbing) and a 34" wide stall with fiberglass insert.
Initial Rough Draft would be to either:
Cheaper Option: convert existing stall into a linen closet and turn tub into walk in shower with glass walls. This would maintain existing plumbing locations.
More Expensive Option: convert entire wall (98") into a walk in shower with plumbing in the long wall, two shower heads, all that.
From my reading, bathroom remodels never get much return on investment, so I'm leaning towards the cheaper option.
So, does anyone know (roughly) the cost breakdown of a bathroom remodel? For example, where can I save money on this, and where would it be worthwhile to hire a contractor?
I have just been thinking about this same thing, like almost down to the build date, tub dimensions, and possible options. My feeling is to go with tub to shower and shower to closet, but the stumbling block is the tub drain location.
I don't have answers, but I'd sure like to hear the same info.
pheller
UltimaDork
10/2/19 12:32 p.m.
I could probably utilize the same drain location for the tub, with the future shower pan sloped to one side.
I've heard (when asking on other forums) mixed feelings about "partially" doing a bathroom remodel. Some people (likely contractors) have said "I won't touch a project started by a homeowner. I'm not taking full responsibility for partial payment." Others said "depends how good the work is up to the point I take over" and a few said "I charge a little more to take over a project started by a homeowner to get up to speed on the quality of their work, but ultimately a paycheck is a paycheck."
The slab is relatively easy, diamond saw to cut it open, jack hammer to bust it into workable size chunks. Figure out where the pipes go etc relatively straight forward.
What is surprisingly tough is putting a bathtub in place. It’s heavy, awkward, and the final connection is typically done blind. When you’re all done with that make sure the bottom of the tub is on a nice solid base, otherwise you’ll be back doing the job again.
I paid to have both of mine done (they share a wet wall) a couple years ago, right before my wedding. Figured since we wouldn't be in the house much, it would be a good time to get them underway. Always thought I'd do them myself, but until recently I was always more of a car guy than a house guy, so I didn't have much in the way of skills/knowledge and often spent my free time on projects that I actually liked.
Because the house is a midcentury modern(and on a slab like yours) I didn't change where anything was. I did the "design" and sourced just about everything needed from tub to lighting to plumbing fixtures, so i could save money. I didn't save as much as I'd hoped. All said and done it took a bit under 2 months, and they're beautiful. Berk they'd better be, I think it cost over $25k.
You will save money by shopping around, and sticking with classic color combos. We went with black/white/chrome. White subway is classic and won't date itself out as quickly as all this goofy travartine/river rock/glass tile and costs less. Chrome Moen fixtures were found on Amazon very affordably—the matte black or brass versions of the same thing were minimum 2x as much. I found towel bars and other hardware that looked like the delta line I loved but was half as much. The American Standard "clean series" toilets look VERY similar to the higher end Toto Acquia II or Kohler units but were had for half or a third as much. The rest of it is just labor, so if you know how to work with PEX, drywall, tile and electric, it's just time.
pheller
UltimaDork
10/2/19 3:02 p.m.
So yours was $25k for two bathrooms?
Was that with glass shower surround, full tile shower and floors?
In reply to pheller :
Yep, both bathrooms. One bath with tub, one with shower. Full tile floors w/matching tile baseboards. Tub has tile all the way to the ceiling. Standalone shower has rainfall showerhead, tile all the way up to the ceiling(and on it) as well as glass (no door, just walk around it). The single biggest ticket item for the bathroom was that glass, BTW. Somewhere around 6 bills installed. From what I've heard that's usually the case.
pheller
UltimaDork
10/2/19 4:34 p.m.
Yea glass is pricey, but it doesn't need to be. I've read cases where people were able to source a full shower surround of glass for under $2000. Many companies now produce doorless (or frameless fixed) glass kits for even less.
This is what kind of bugs me about this topic: contractors are making a killing on it. I'm not sure if thats labor rates for installing tile being so high, or the tile itself being really expensive or what, from reading some stuff on say...Reddit, it seems like you've gotta go pretty high end to spend more than $5000 on materials (I started this thread to confirm those prices)...that means you potentially spending $5,000-$10,000 on labor. Yikes!
Can I please borrow this thread a tiny bit? This is the perfect place to get info about toilet installations from whoever the experienced guy was who commented before in a different thread, maybe a year ago? He clearly described a technique that worked for him, involving doubled-up 6x6s or something, and I'd love to have that info again.
Hive? TIA!
Yup, that's it. I appreciate it. Please resume remodelling.
pheller
UltimaDork
10/4/19 11:38 a.m.
Nobody else has paid someone "just" to tile their bathroom (no other costs) or "just" to replace a shower, but nothing else?
