Cost Estimate - Bathroom Remodel

6,582 Views | 55 Replies | Last: 12 yr ago by AgDrumma07
CapCity12thMan
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Agreed - main reason I did not go with this quote was due to the lack of itemization I requested.

I don't have friends in the trades, but do have specific ones I would like to use, which is what I plan to do.

[This message has been edited by CapCity12thMan (edited 7/16/2013 2:19p).]
dubi
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Ask your friends if they have friends in the trade. You will end of with a recommendation of a "friend of friend" type thing, but you know they did a good job at someone's house.

For example, the tile installer was a little mom&pop from Bryan. The big installers with a storefront cost 3 times more.

Also you will find folks who will work for cash on the weekend (they too have a full time job during the week).
The Fife
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quote:
responses specific to Fife:

DEMO - jacuzzi tub and everything else is going - too outdated to keep, so this is a given effort. How hard is it? Don't know yet. I don;t know anything about removing a jacuzzi tub...what do I do with all the pipes/jets and such. Do I cap things, cut them off an replace the piping with what is minimal? Probably all questions for a plumber.

The jets and whatnot come attached to the tub, so your new one will come with. Habitat will be able to handle 100% of the removal if you donate it to them. No need to cap anything - the only pressurized lines go into your valve which will need to stay in the wall until it's time to put the new one in. Removal is hard because they're so big and heavy. I would not try and remove one myself because the cultured marble ones weigh more than I do.

quote:
TILE - I would love to try and tile myself, if this was to be done on a concrete slab. This is upstaira...not sure how that complicates things or other things to consider. Not the place I want to try this for the first time, given the fact if done wrong, water may penetrate and end up downstairs. I don't know what the going rate for laying bath tile is. For my kitchen it was $10/sq ft installed - got different quotes all around that number.

Do you currently have tile, and if so is it cracked? Just checking the structure to make sure it's stiff enough... $10/sq ft is high IMO unless it includes things like demo and tile. Your biggest water worry will be the walls and shower pan. A good contractor will use Kerdi or Redguard, and make sure there are NO penetrations through it for any reason. They'll also know that greenboard and cementboard are not waterproof.

quote:
PLUMBING - replace toilte- easy, have done that. hoookups, easy. You say moving shower head is easy, but what if the pipe inside wall is metal/copper? is it PVC? If anything other than PVC that might include soldering/welding, right? Not skilled for that. To do this and move a sink I am anticipating $500-$600

It's probably copper unless your place is really new and then it would be Pex. It looks '90s so probably copper. The shower head line is just a straight pipe coming up from the valve with an angle attached to the end. Here's what they look like:

Since you'd have a valve and sink-related stuff to move you'll at least get your money's worth out of calling a plumber if you call them for that + putting the new tub valve in. Not a bad call to make.

quote:
CABINETS - I doubt we go with pre-fab since we have to have specific measurements for it to work. Hence, why I am using my cabinet guy (which is separate from the cabinet quote on this quote)...custom built oak, stained, glass doors for ~$7K. Specific area of bath room the cabinets HAVE to be a certain size in order for the tub and shower to fit properly. If this is off some, it might mean we have to move tub drain? These type of things are what I don't know.

Dubi mentioned the filler panels already...

quote:
COUNTERTOPS - agreed...just go find what you want, have them cut, delivered installed. If they do sinks too, great.

ELECTRICAL - this sounded outrageous to me too. I am not even convinced I want to move electrical around

PAINTING - would be something I can handle myself. This also probably includes a lot of sheetrock patching, texturing/floating too...which is not hard but not easy. We have a heavy texture...think it was referred to as Mexican something by one of my contractors. heavierand thicker than orange peel/knowckdown.

I had the same texture in SA. I think it showed up in the early '90s and has hung around ever since. That'll help make sheetrock patching easier. My advice though, if you're patching a lot of sheetrock in the ceiling you may want to find somebody for it. We all have things that we have little patience for and this one is mine.

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POCKET DOOR - reason for this is that the close door is two sliding doors. We were thinking of replacing that with a pocket door as long as we are able to put towel racks on the wall where the door slides into (the pocket). Don;t know if this is doable without better understanding the depth of each side of the pocket and whether it can hold towel rack screws/brackets and still be secure. Might just go with a single closet door or get sliding door that has a towel rack on the outside.

Pocket doors are great ,but keep in mind the length of the towel rack screws or you may get a nasty surprise. They're a bear to retrofit, moreso if it's going into a load bearing wall. I've inherited towel racks and holders that previous owners put into the sheetrock. Do yourself a favor and put some blocking in the wall to give the screws something to grab into.

quote:
MIRROR - I am not paying that much money for a mirror. Will likely get frames for mirrors but can reuse what we have no problem.

I can handle all the fixtures...for the other major areas - I don't know what I don't know and that concerns me with trying to do it myself.

Fixtures are easy to hang - your biggest trouble may be finding what's available and weeding down the options. For the fart fans, if you have some already do yourself a favor and have a look at what size the existing box is. We learned that one the hard way.

It sounds like you're already well on your way to finding a better way to go about this whole bathroom thing.
dubi
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quote:
custom built oak, stained, glass doors for ~$7K.


Hopefully I can be honest here.....there is nothing in my bathroom that I would want to view through glass cabinet doors!
CapCity12thMan
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concept on the glass would be something like this:

http://www.houzz.com/photos/1847914/Main-Bathroom-traditional-bathroom-new-york

and as my current design would go, like this: http://grab.by/owmy
JP76
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Capcity

How many linear feet of cabinets are in this bathroom both upper and lower?


Where are you located at?

Dubi


Your installer is doing showers for 1.35 sq ft ?

How long ago did they install your floor at that rate ?
dubi
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quote:
Dubi


Your installer is doing showers for 1.35 sq ft ?

How long ago did they install your floor at that rate ?


B/CS

2 years ago and they laid 750/sq ft of floors. We did cultured marble in the shower from Marble Craft.

I think we caught them at a slow time and provided for all the supplies. They just paid a poor kid with no english BUT excellent tiling skills to spend 4 days at our house.


[This message has been edited by dubi (edited 7/16/2013 7:47p).]
PabloSerna
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rule of thumb for estimating is: $ of materials X 2.5. What say the contractors?
PabloSerna
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Because I'm bored.. :-)


The quote you received is in line with what I am seeing now in the market. It is as much about the economy of scale as it is the cost for warranty for the work.


As pointed out earlier by Dubi, you could save 2/3 (I think that is high, but around 50-60%) if you do ALL the work yourself. If you have the time, tools and skills... indeed.


Some good news is that Bathroom remodels retain around 70-75% of their value (if done right). On the other hand if done wrong, could be disastrous!

Only a Kitchen has a higher cost per SF for a home.

If you go the DIY route, hire a license Plumber and Electrician. If you get these parts wrong, it could void any home insurance policies.


Good luck! I am a big time "Home TIme" and "This Old House" fan, but they rarely convey the effort it takes to do the job right, in my opinion.

-GIG'EM!!

[This message has been edited by PabloSerna (edited 7/16/2013 8:22p).]
CapCity12thMan
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quote:
The quote you received is in line with what I am seeing now in the market

I think those finding work for $1/sq ft are the exception, which you are somewhat verifying.

quote:
if you do ALL the work yourself. If you have the time, tools and skills...

going to be a challenge

quote:
if done wrong, could be disastrous!

Exactly - not sure I want all this risk

quote:
hire a license Plumber and Electrician. If you get these parts wrong, it could void any home insurance policies.

Was already going to do this


thanks for your input.

I think what I would like to do, which would minimize cost and risk is the following:

a) play project manager/GC
b) perform demo myself
c) hire plumber, electrical, tile labor and shower/tub install
d) measure, install cabinets my self
e) purchase counters and have installed
f) install fixtures, mirrors, racks, etc myself
g) patch, texture, paint and finish myself
dubi
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Proper cabinet install is tricky if you have never done it. Get a qualified friend to help with the first few cabinets. Plus it is a 2 person job, especially on top row.
CapCity12thMan
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there's no top row - this is for a bathroom
dubi
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Top cabinet in pic with glass door front?

[This message has been edited by dubi (edited 7/17/2013 3:05p).]
CapCity12thMan
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believe that would be resting on the counter, rather than say in a kitchen where it is free hanging from the wall...no?

probably is a two-person gig...again I am early into this, but this is helping
dubi
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All cabinets are mounted on the wall, even the bottom ones since floors are not completely level. You need to find the 'high point' on your floor and level out from there.

Cabinets are a 2 person job!
PabloSerna
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I have advised clients to go "cost plus". That process is more transparent and you agree upfront with a contractor on a negotiated profit margin (10-15%). He/She baby sits the subs, you buy everything.

Another route is to supply material and get quotes JUST for labor. Seen that work.

DIY is a whole other ball game. But again, if you can, you will save the most in that scenario.

-GIG'EM!

ps: "RTA" is the term referring to Ready To Assemble cabinets.
dubi
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Our last bathroom remodel at the rent house was 'RTA' cabinets. Purchased them in Houston and they were very nice (probably too nice for rental).

Note filler strip on the left.


Before and After (missing mirror)



Tile in progress by Mr Dubi


[This message has been edited by dubi (edited 7/17/2013 3:49p).]
martin89
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Wow sounds like a great project. I am envious! With bahrooms and kitchens SO much of the cost is the materials you pick..you can pick $1 per square foot tile or $10, a $30 faucet or $300 or more! For a remodel cost estimate i use this calculator http://www.remodelormove.com/bathroom-remodelling which also gives a breakdown by labor and materials so i can tweak the estimate a bit for my project. As far as contractors - call 15 (!), of those 5 or so will come out and look at your project and you can get 3 quotes..call different types of contractors..some who work local and some that are 30 minutes away and work in a lower cost neighborhood. You are looking for someone who you can communicate with = and has a great reputation and work ethic
AgDrumma07
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My master bath remodel...still going though...

http://forums.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1847296&page=1&forum_id=61
Random Ag
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Just finished our bathroom remodel. We did everything ourselves (read: my husband did everything) except installing vanity top/sinks and frameless shower door. Took everything down to the studs and spent about $8,000. Stand-alone shower and double vanity, room size is about 5 x 10.

Here were our approximate costs:
Vanity $450 (Ballyntine Lowes)
Marble top + sinks + installation $1250
Shower door + installation $1300
Marble floor tile + shower tile + shower floor tile $1800
Toilet $200
Kohler shower (2 heads) + sink (2) fixtures $1200
Mirrors that match vanity $300
Light/fan fixtures $300
Drywall + greenboard + cement board $600?
Random crap including groute and thinset $300
Westicles
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quote:
Aggiemike96
posted 12:44p, 07/13/13



Oh, one more thing, I'm about to do a similar, but much smaller remodel, in a 2nd bathroom in our 2nd home. This one is probably 10X6 or so and my budget is $1,500 (doing it myself), including new tub, vanity and floor. Not looking for any wall, electrical or plumbing changes though. Your costs will rise fast when you need the technical/skilled labor that you aren't comfortable doing.

I'm curious if you ever did this project and it actually costed you for the 10x6? I'm currently about 10 days in on a complete gut of an 8x8 bathroom. Only thing that stayed was the tub. I've done and am doing everything myself, including electrical and plumbing, except for drywall and I'm currently at around 3.5K and don't expect a whole lot more expense except on door trim and baseboard which I have not purchased.

I think you're grossly underestimating how much you're going to end up spending on miscellaneous items you don't even think about when you're budgeting (thinset, grout, lights, toilet, trash disposal, etc). You're going to end up at Lowes or Home Depot no less than 15 times to buy even the littlest crap. I burned through a blade and a half of cement fiber blades (~$20 per) cutting the hardi-backer for the tub/shower. That sure as sh*t wasn't specifically in my budget.
AgDrumma07
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quote:
My master bath remodel...still going though...

http://forums.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1847296&page=1&forum_id=61


Ok, sorry I suck. I missed the part about costs. I think there's info on my thread but I'll break it down as best I can here:

Demo/trash - $0 (DIY)
Drywall (materials) - $150
Drywall (install) - $250
Cement (materials) - $150
Cement (install) - $0 (DIY)
All tile and Prova (materials) - ~$1500
Shower tile (install) - $0 (DIY)
Plumbing (replacing all with PEX, raising shower head, and centering drain) - $1600
Electrical (install and materials) - ~$150 (DIY)
Lighting - ~$100
Floor tile (install) - $400
Toilet - ~$300

Vanity and paint aren't done yet. Both will be DIY, so hopefully materials cost will be minimal.
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