Bathroom Remodel

[happybat4]

I am going to do a remodel of my master bathroom and I am not sure what price to expect. Does anybody here do contract work and can  give me a ball park figure.

 

I am somewhat handy and hope to do a lot of it myself. 

 

I am going to undo all the flooring and tiling and take apart the cabinets, counters and vanities myself. I also plan to put in a new toilet myself.

 

What I need help with is the following.

 

In the bathroom there is a huge bath tub that my wife and I don't want. The room is to small for a bath. This master tub is huge and will not fit through the door. I need someone to take it apart and take it out.

 

I have a pre made shower from home depot that I need installed. The shower head and shower knob I plan to keep from the original shower. All that I will need for the new shower is the drain relocated to match the new bigger shower.

 

The bathroom currently has one vanity. I need a plumber to come in and add plumbing for a second vanity.

 

I also needed someone to put new tile on the bathroom floor and also inside the shower. 

 

I have already purchased all the flooring tile, back splash, toilet, vanities and sinks.

 

I was hoping to hire a plumber to re arrange the shower drain and install the pre made shower.

Also have the plumber remove the old bath tub and cap off the old plumbing for the tub

Add second plumbing for the second vanity.

 

I than wanted to hire a handyman to install the new flooring tiles and shower tiles.

 

The rest I was hoping to do myself.

 

Is there anything with my logic I am missing out and also what do you expect this to cost for the labor from the plumber and handyman.

[happybat4]

Thanks!

[Hollyw00d]

I love happybat threads

[gotbeer]

Don't expect that the bath fixtures you bought will fit the existing fixture plumbing. In fact it probably won't. You can demo stuff yourself, but yes get a plumber for the bath, vanity and toilet installs.

You can probably handle the tiling yourself if you get a cheap wet saw. Watch a few YouTube videos on tiling, it's not that difficult and you possibly could save a couple grand.

Don't mess with any of the plumbing yourself.

 

You can also rent a wetsaw at Home Depot/Lowes.  

[yk9001]

My wife and I completely redid our bathroom two years ago.  From down to the studs.  The tiling was pretty damn cool.  We only hired an electrician for the wiring and a plumber for moving the toilet.

I have a wet saw you are welcome to borrow, if you don't want to purchase/rent.  PM me.

[Stradling]

I think he lives in Oregon, no Washington, no Florida. OK I don't remember where he moved to now, but I am pretty sure he lived in most of those places. He might live near DC.

[Blarg]

Your shower fixtures have to match the valve body that was originally installed. In other words Delta/Delta... Moen/Moen... etc. You cannot put Delta valves into what was a originally setup for any other brand. There is no compatibility in plumbing and if the house is older then invest the money in having a plumber install all new.

 

This is what we are talking about, the actual valve body installed behind the wall..

 

You can by the brightest and best looking faucets and this ugly thing behind the wall could fail and then you have to tear out your tile to get to it. They are supposed to last for decades and many do. Ours finally failed after 40 years an when it did we had to pay to have the water line capped off while we sped up our bathroom remodel plans.

 

You can DIY for many things but it is the little details that may drive you nuts later like a cabinet install then finding you didn't level them and the doors or drawers won't stay closed.

 

If you are going to have an installer for the tiles he should be doing the calculating of how many you need along with things like bullnose which can cost more than 4 regular tiles. Hopefully what you bought was appropriate for floor tile in wet areas.

[yk9001]

None of this is rocket science.  My wife and I did all this with no prior experience.

 

But weird to be a novice and buy all the stuff before even knowing who is going to install it all.

[NJHalo]

Just had mine done

13k soup to nuts

I did nothing other than write a check

[ten ocho recon scout]

I need to redo mine (2), planning on selling my place soon and the bathrooms are the last thing i need to update. Not looking forward to it. Thankfully i have a few buddies who know what theure doing because im useless with that kind of stuff. (And most other things)

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Just had mine done

13k soup to nuts

I did nothing other than write a check

 

This is where I am at this point in life. We just had two bathrooms retiled, and it took an expert tile layer with the proper equipment nine hours to finish the job - and he knew how to deal with the little glitches that he encountered along the way. It would have taken me at least two weeks with my lack of expertise and equipment. It was worth the money I spent to just watch it being done.

[mp170.6]

There's something gratifying about doing it yourself...kind of like working on your car.

 

Not sure what your building codes are like (wherever you live) but you might put some thought into that.  The work you are doing probably requires permits and a final inspection.  Nobody wants the hassle of dealing with city building inspectors but some plumbers are adamant that proper permits are taken out.  However you decide to proceed, make sure everybody is comfortable with the arrangement.  That's sort of a double-edged sword because the guys who work without permits are sometimes on the shady end of the spectrum.  Sometimes, not always. 

 

If you purchased your sinks and toilets at Home Depot or Lowes, do some serious homework to determine if you want to keep/use them.  More and more custom models are being tailored to specific price points, meaning they cut corners to appease HD, Lowes, etc.  For example:  say the professional model faucet is the 430.  The manufacturer might use cheaper parts to sell a cosmetically identical 430H at Home Depot or a 430L at Lowes.  Parts for these orphan models are difficult to obtain, even for a professional plumber.  We have a couple Price Pfister faucets and a Kohler toilet where parts are ONLY available from the manufacturer because these are the Home Depot variants.  These decisions have proved much more costly over the years.  I really regret it. 

 

As others have said, doing your own tile work isn't hard.  The hardest part is the pre-planning and layout to make sure everything fits.  Steer clear of using smaller tiles in the bathroom...much harder to keep clean because of the extra grout lines. 

[Adam]

There's something gratifying about doing it yourself...kind of like working on your car.

 

 

 

It is more gratifying to go to the track while someone else does it for you. 

[happybat4]

We just don't have a lot of cash at the moment to do any of this and it really needs to be done. 

 

I told my wife we should wait to purchase, but there were great deals and she insisted.

 

This is definitley overwhelming.

[happybat4]

I think he lives in Oregon, no Washington, no Florida. OK I don't remember where he moved to now, but I am pretty sure he lived in most of those places. He might live near DC.

Correct near DC now.

[halobob]

I have a home depot gift card I was looking to sell on ebay, wanna purchase from me instead?

[happybat4]

Can I see a picture of it with all the numbers listed so I can verify the amount on the card

I have a home depot gift card I was looking to sell on ebay, wanna purchase from me instead?

[Crampknees]

I did two bathrooms probably 85% myself and about to start another.  One of them I busted out the tile floor and put new tile.  It is a dirty job but a small sledge and just start breaking up the old tiles hitting them in the center and I bought a grinder with a bag on it and there are discs to attach to remove the old mortar. yk mentioned a diamond blade wet saw and I always rented one but wished I had just bought one. If you do things yourself you will need to buy some tools along the way.

 

As far as the tub, depends on what type it is.  Most of them if they are not an old cast iron one you can get a 10 lb. sledge and hit the top of the front edge and then into the face and it will break up in pieces to remove. 

 

My showers I did all the demo myself to save money.  If it is an older house the shower tiles are likely just mortared to sheet rock so breaking the tiles I just ripped out sections still on the old sheet rock.  You want to use Hardiebacker to replace any old sheet rock. It is not hard to cut to fit but buy a $40 respirator when doing it. Use the screws for hardibacker and screw into the studs.  Mortar the edges and there is a paint on membrane you can use to cover the screws and mortar seams. Luckily i didn't have to move any drains but did bust out the old shower pan, all the way down to the ground and replace the drain top.  The new shower pan has to be attached to the studs and the hardieboard goes over it then mortar with a slope toward the drain.

 

If you are moving the drain, then get a plumber.  Just have to shop around to find one that will not gouge you. The things I had done were replacing the shower valves from two handle to one handle. Does not matter the brand you buy and with everything exposed a plumber can install the new valve where you want it.  After I did all the hardie backer and had ready for tile I did find a guy to tile the shower walls because he did great work and he wanted a couple hundred for each shower.  I just bought the tile, mortar and grout and let him go.

 

If replacing a toilet in the same spot it is very easy.  Unbolt it, clean around the seal, replace the wax ring, bolt it down and caulk around the base.

 

Good luck. 

[NJHalo]

I used to be more of a do it myself type of guy, but bathrooms and kitchens must be done right. Cannot be a half ass, learn as you go job. Things must be done right or else you will pay dearly down the road correcting it.

 

I am in the middle of changing the kids playroom to a home office. Definitely within my range. (build closet, hardwood laminate floor, paint) Right now I am ready hang myself painting the trim and molding. My hand shakes too much lately, so keeping an even line is impossible. Massive tape job waiting for me tonight. Yeah!

[Crampknees]

He said he was handy, so depends on how handy you are.  NJHalo, I Would rather bust out a tile floor than tape and paint. Drives me crazy. 

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Happybat said they don't have a lot of cash at the moment but it really needs to be done which means it could turn into a nightmare if he gets in over his head.  We watch some HGTV shows and a lot of the ones where a homeowner starts a project themselves and bites off more than they can chew usually snowballs into an incomplete project months later.  Someone that is handy and dedicated can get a project done but personally I had no interest in trying to do the tile in our kitchen and downstairs bathroom so I had someone else do it while we got everything else done.    

[yk9001]

I can't do anything more challenging than change an air filter in my car, and I am not that handy woodworking.  But every time I go into that bathroom, and see the tiling work we did, or the walls, it makes me happy.

[mrwicked]

I am a year deep into a gut remodel on my 1908 edwardian penthouse.

My words to you if you are doing it yourself: good luck.

Remodeling is no joke.

I am plenty handy but I couldn't fathom doing it myself.

[Hollyw00d]

We're all praying for you happybat

[Lou]

i remodeled the inside of my toilet about 45 minutes ago