Has anyone every remodeled a bathroom?

LauraMax

LauraMax

Cathlete
As in completely gutting & re-doing it? I'm looking at buying a house that I absolutely adore, except the bathroom is the most freakin hideous thing I've ever seen. It's all black tile with flowered pink wallpaper, and to make matters worse there's a separate shower stall with a PINK FLAMINGO on the door! EWWWWW!!!!!

So I'm wondering what it'd cost to gut & redo the whole bathroom. I think I could handle $10K, maybe $15K but it'd be a stretch. If it's more than that I'm gonna have to pass on the house. :-(
 
We remodeled our bathroom last summer. It was a mess. It was around 5K by the time we got done. We did some of the work ourselves, but mostly hired it out. It was a small bathroom that we made much bigger. The biggest expense was the plumbing. We moved the fixtures around so that cost more $$. It was well worth the money. We bought our materials and paid for labor.

I read once that you get a 90% return on the money you spend remodeling a bathroom. ;-)
 
Funny you asked...


I am sitting here in my office where I can see my partially gutted bathroom from a big whole in my wall - we are in the process of doing it right now.

We were careful to measure so we did not have to move the plumbing, it is less expensive and easier since we are doing our own work.

If I loved the house and hated the bathroom, I would probably move forward with the purchase and redocorate as soon as possible, you could factor your costs into your offer and see what happens.:)
 
We have just about redone our whole house. If you love the house and the bath is the only thing, go for it. You s/b able to easily do it for the amt you said, especially if you do much of the stuff yourself. We, ok, my dh did all of the work except for the plumbing, elec, and the tile floor. We bought all of the stuff at menards.
 
Just finished a complete bathroom reno in the last 2 months. We did most of the gutting ourselves, the rest was contracted out to the tune of about 7K (Canadian). 10 - 15K should get you a beautiful bathroom with extras. In amongst the pot lights we had a heating lamp put in and it's wonderful, no shivers when emerging from the shower:)

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
We bought a house last year and HAD to re-do the bathroom. It had mint green tile and awful pink & blue flowered wallpaper. The vanity needed to be replaced as well as the top. Also the floor. Other than a light fixture and replacing the toilet we have re-done the whole bathroom. Estimates varied so much for the tub and tile part. The tile was about $1000 with another $3000 for the new tub and installation. That was the most expensive part so I am sure you can do a remodel for your estimate. The only work we did was removing the wallpaper. It looks so much different and now we love it!
 
Funny you should ask, we are in the middle of such a project right now. We have a new house but hated the cheesy bathroom layout. We decided to rip EVERYTHING out of our bathroom, master bedroom and closet (they are all attached) and have nothing but bare concrete. My husband works in the constuction industry and fortunately has access to tools and free stuff. We stained and designed the concrete on all the floors instead of tile. It looks beautiful. We textured and glazed the walls. We also tore out our sinks and are using the cabinets to rebuild separate counters for each of the sinks and having bowls for sinks that sit on the counters. My husband also built an arched ceiling over the shower and garden tub. We raised the tub so that it will have a step up to it. Also we replaced the plain glass shower walls with glass block adn will retile the shower and tub exterior. All in all the cost will be about 3k. We are doing all the work ourselves (which unfortunately has taken some of my time from Cathe) so that saves on the labor. Also, if I were you I would check into staining the concrete. It is the latest and most inexpensive trend in remodeling homes. It is pretty easy to do actually. Also, use what is already in the bathroom. We painted our cabinets so that they still show the wood finish and they look amazing.
With the flamingo door I would see if it is possible to get a pressure washer, take the door off and clean it off. Then what I would do is ask a guy at home depot about etching the glass door to give it a smoked glass look and what tools/machines you would need. That would be really pretty. With the black tile, you may be able to use it and tie it in with a more modern paint on the walls like a cobalt blue or a tan, strip off the wallpaper or paint over it with a primer underneath. Remodeling the bathroom can be a chore but it can be done inexpensively if you get creative. Don't pass on the house because of the bathroom. You can make it work for you.
 
As I sit here, DH is tiling our bath, just ripped out the carpet (Who puts carpet in a bath??!!!!). We will be painting the cabinets, and a bunch of other easy stuff, and then remodeling completely another bath in the master. We are doing the work ourselves, but I know that you can do very well with the amount you are willing to spend. Just do your research as far as what you really want your new bath to look like. It is so fun to remodel the existing structures! We are in the home stretch of a complete remodel on our entire house!

Follow the above advice! Buy the house that you like, don't worry about the bathroom! (My brother just bought a house with bright PINK carpeting and walls in the living room!! He says he won't even move in without painting it first!)

Pretty funny how many of us are in the middle of your exact question!
Jenn
 
OMG, memories. I'm just reading all the remodeling posts and glad it isn't me. Can't even remember costs, but several years ago we purchased and renovated a home built in 1911...imagine the bathroom situation. Never ever again. It was a beautiful, enjoyable, lots-of-beautiful-memories home when completed. It all boils down to the amount of work YOU want to put into it and the amount of MONEY you want to put into it.

We now live in a mountain cabin built 4 years ago completely wood inside and outside with a wonderful huge master bath and will never ever ever paint, gut or remodel again.

OMG, one should never say never.
 
Another consideration on remodeling costs is the return when and if you ever sell the house. Bathroom and kitchen remodelings are the highest recuperation projects.

Can you negotiate the price based upon the fact that you are going to have to remodel? How tight is the market, how long has the house been on the market?

Dave
 
Black tiles and a flamingo...:7


I think you could manage it on that budget. We are remodeling our house as we speak. We have been pricing out bathroom fixtures etc. You can save money by doing some of it yourself such as demolition, painting, etc. If you have any handy friends or family, they could set in the drywall for you. Don't forget to use the appropriate concrete backerboard in the wet areas instead of regular drywall.

We bought 2 pedestal sinks for about $400. The tub we are getting is about $1500 but there are some that are way cheaper than that. We are getting a Kohler large soaking tub. I wanted a whirpool but couldn't handle the $4000 price tag. Anyway, an acrylic tub would be about $500 +/- for a good one. Our contractor said the labor for setting tile throughout Floor and shower only would be about $4000 for a 10 x 10 room. All in all, our bathroom is going to run about $10-15,000.
 
LauraMax,

We just retiled our bathroom with travertine on the floor, shower and walls. We also had our shower pan replaced (which I recommend if it is an old house) This cost us $5K. We had previously replaced the cabinets, sink, and countertop with Kraftmaid and Solid Surface countertops for around $4,000. We did NOT put in a mew master tub, as we love ours. Hope this helps. Just make sure you get several estimates and have everything in writing. Do not pay them all the money up front. Contractors are funny like that! Also, make sure you are 100% comfortable with them and have references on their work, as they will be in your home for many weeks!
Good luck and if you have any other questions, let me know.
 
My husband and I must be cheap. We're redoing 2 small bathrooms and the price for both is only around $4000 combined. Of course, we bought only plain bathtubs that were only $100 a piece. My husband is doing all the work, including the plumbing himself. We're even having to replace some 2 x 4s, sheetrock, and cement backing for the showers as we had a water leak. Luckily, our home owners insurance is paying for almost everything. It is fun to spend money that was given to us. :) The most expensive for us were the tiles for the shower which was close to $1000 for both bathrooms combined and I'm going to buy shower doors instead of shower curtains.
 
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