Price estimating: REMODELING A BATHROOM?

[thespeakerbox]

In my last thread i asked about re doing the floors. We had them professionally done , and they turned out great. It just seemed that renting the tools and the time for 1000+ sq ft apartment would have been too much...

now onto the bathroom.

The next project we want to tackle is the bathroom. Consequently, we have less money and the same time - very little. We both work 45+ hours a week and school full time. Is redoing a bathroom feasible? How much would you estimate it costing?

It's about 10x10? pretty small. We would need new tiling, bathtub /shower door , fixtures, sink, toilet, etc.. Also repainting as well. Can anyone give me rough estimate about how much it would cost off hand? Maybe sometime here has done such a thing.

 

[Specop 007]

Its almost always cheaper to do it youself, as labor costs are outrageous.
That said, theres something to be said for someone else doing all the work.

I'm guessing your looking at 500-1000 in hardware alone for your bathroom, and close to that much again for labor on it.
But that could vary by another 500-1000 based simply on what you choose for your hardware.

Those are completely off the wall guesses though. I mean hell, your toilet alone could run between 100 bucks to like 1000 depending on what you choose, so its hard to give an accurate estimate. Then of course you have shower doors which could run the same price range, and tile which runs from cheapie to very nice...... etc etc etc

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Its almost always cheaper to do it youself, as labor costs are outrageous.
That said, theres something to be said for someone else doing all the work.
I'm guessing your looking at 500-1000 in hardware alone for your bathroom, and close to that much again for labor on it.
But that could vary by another 500-1000 based simply on what you choose for your hardware.

Exactly. You could spend $1000 on a shower alone if you wanted to.

 

[shimsham]

an apartment? why dump your money into something that isnt yours?

as far as doing it yourself you have to decide if you can do it right. the money you save in DIY may be swallowed up by having someone come in and fix your fvckups if you dont do it right.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: shimsham
an apartment? why dump your money into something that isnt yours?

as far as doing it yourself you have to decide if you can do it right. the money you save in DIY may be swallowed up by having someone come in and fix your fvckups if you dont do it right.

Yeah, I learned that when I ran a drywall screw through my plumbing lines.
DOH!

That really sucked.

 

[bctbct]

If you are doing a full facelift you are probably talking 4k base from a contractor. More if you choose designer fixtures. If you only have 1 bathroom I would hire a contractor to get in and out ASAP.

 

[SpongeBob]

I'm remodeling my full bathroom right now. Everything is gonna be new except the bathtub. I contracted out the shower(new plumbing/tiling) only because I only have one shower and couldn't afford to be w/o it for a long time. Trust me it's a lot cheaper to do everything yourself. Contracting out the tiling of the shower cost me $450 in labor alone. In contrast I tiled the floor myself for about $150 including all the materials.

 

[Apex]

Doing it yourself could very well be more expensive for you. If you're both working 45+ hours per week plus school, the opportunity cost of doing a bathroom is rather high. The value of your time is something people often forget to factor in.

 

[SampSon]

It's cheaper to do it yourself, but if you only have one bathroom then you may want to reconsider.

 

[KarenMarie]

i used to think it was cheaper to do house renovations/repairs ourselves... until i had to gut my house and rebuild it from the bare brick.

the b/f took almost 6 months off work to do the major. the money he lost from working and the time we wasted learning how to do stuff... well, what is your time worth? Is this something you would plan to do on your time off? If so, do you have another place to shower and another toilet?

We were warned that we would have dust in our underwear and be at each other's throats. We did not believe it, but that is exactly what happened. along with getting over $20,000 in debt cause we spent and spent and spent on materials and household bills, while 75% of our income was not coming in.

If you have the money to let someone else do it... i would suggest that. even if it meant putting it of for a couple of months to save for it.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Should be feasible. You need to break the project up into more manageable portions. Replace the shower/tub one weekend. The toilet and sink the next. Then do the flooring. Then the fixtures and painting.

If you are prepared you'll be able to glide through it, but preparation can take much longer than actually doing it, so give yourselves a few months to "prepare". Read up on how to do it and potential snags and pick out your material and colors in the meantime.

 

[vegetation]

Depends on how well your aptitude is for these kinds of things. There are always unforseen problems that arise, especially with older or messed up plumbing.

 

[Ornery]

The next project we want to tackle is the bathroom... tiling, bathtub /shower door, fixtures, sink, toilet, etc.

How bad is the stuff there now? With good planning, and tools, it could be done in a couple weekends. If you pull it apart, and buy things willy-nilly, it could be months of screwing around. Home Depot and Lowes sell good looking stuff that's pretty darn cheap. Quality is so-so, but the way everybody remodels everything every few years, it's perfect for the job!

All those fixtures bought at Lowes would total a couple grand. Tiling could be a can of worms. Why not just patch and regrout what's there?

 

[SilentZero]

Ours was redone recently and cost around $13,000 with labor. I would highly suggest doing it yourself (if you can do a professional job) as you can cut out the huge labor expense involved.