Starting A Master Bath Remodel

[teeceetx]

We've been in the planning stages of a total master bath gut - down to the studs.

All fixtures have been purchased, as well as tile.

Demolition will likely begin in April, and I suspect it will take 4-6 weeks to finish.

It's a rather decent sized room, roughly 14'x14', so it is going to be very expensive.

I'll post before and after pics soon.

 

[havasu]

I absolutely love bath remodels. I've done a few, and look forward to watching your progress.

 

[backlash]

My problem with remodeling is mission creep.
I'll start one room and before you know it the job has spread to the whole house.

 

[teeceetx]

My problem with remodeling is mission creep.
I'll start one room and before you know it the job has spread to the whole house.

Thankfully, the entire first floor was remodeled a few months after we bought the house. Only the master bath remained untouched.

But we have a whole second story with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, that has not been done.

I'll be posting from debtors prison soon!!!!

 

[Cascadian]

One of my wife's fondest memories was sledgehammering her kitchen.

 

[zoomzoom]

One of my wife's fondest memories was sledgehammering her kitchen.

One of my fondest memories was when she said she wanted a new bath so I sledgehammered her.

 

[MoBookworm1957]

One of my wife's fondest memories was sledgehammering her kitchen.

At least she didn't sledgehammer you.
Never never get in the way of a woman with a sledgehammer.

 

[Patchouli]

We remodeled our 1960s kitchen in 2006. That was interesting and laborious but so nice when complete. Good luck @teeceetx

 

[teeceetx]

It never ceases to amaze me how careless and unprepared contractors are.

Take today for instance. Ten days ago, they reframed the toilet/shower common wall. They did a piss poor job of measuring. Part of the wall is 1/2" - 3/4" off from the rest of the wall!!!! and they are here today to sheetrock the ceiling, which they cannot do until they fix the crooked wall!!!!! This is like the ???th time we pointed out serious flaws in their workmanship which affects the next step of construction. All these flaws would have been covered up, never to have been seen for years.

Every contractor we have hired over the past decade demonstrates the same lousy attributes. Rather than doing it right the first time, they wait until the customer finds the problem - and few do because they allow them to work unsupervised. There are just no personal professional standards.

 

[havasu]

I'm sure they call me a "Helicopter Customer", but it is my money. I often catch contractors short-cutting their workmanship, and I am not afraid to call them out if I see something done wrong.

 

[teeceetx]

I just don't understand WHY?

Is the money so good and the customer supervision so bad, they just don't care because they rarely get caught? Do they not fear getting a bad reputation? Apparently not!!!!

They simply have no sense of pride or self-worth. In other words, they are simply crooks.

I was taught to strive for perfection 100% of the time, especially when no one was looking or would see.

 

[havasu]

If they can save parts, and save an hour as well, that adds to their profits. Most would never know until years later. I remodeled my bathroom which had been done previously by a well known company. I took pictures of their shoddy work, and one of these days, I will confront them on these shortcuts. We are talking live wire Romex just cut, taped and buried inside walls, leaking pipes which were allowed to drain into the earth under my shower, No lip Jacuzzi tub/showers allowing water to eat a complete wall away, wrong gas lines used, drains not utilized and allowed to run off into yard, not supporting copper pipe, no GFI's added next to sinks, Underground 220V in thin wall conduit, etc.

 

[old tex]

Just a general comment of any work I have done. When I was young & broke I had to go with whoever I thought was cheapest. Then I got a little more money & could pick & choose, but who? Moving around all companies are equal because you don't know any of them. Now I've lived here for 18 years & I talk to people. Who do you use & would you recommend them, that kind of talk. I found my roofer & car mechanic that way. I will NEVER use anyone but them because they are reasonable, live here in the area & I have FAITH in them. Oh & I don't want to leave out the general contractor that I also found, he was great too (for smaller jobs).

Oddly I'm thinking about covering a small area where we sit outside, which has to have a very slanted roof. I've got my roofer coming tomorrow to see if he will do that kind of work. I don't want it connected to the house because then I have to have permits. If he does. I'm sure he will do a great job for not a lot of money. Then maybe we will talk about him doing more or less the same thing in my back yard.

So to shorten this, find the right person/company & if they do a good/great job, never use anyone else. The same thing applies to almost everything btw.

 

[old tex]

I posted the above & remembered this: When our roof got damaged by hail I of course called my roofer. He said that it would be about 2 weeks because he was booked....Not with the other hundreds of roofs damaged in the storm, that was his normal backlog. Ok, fine but then we had projected storms coming through about 2.5 weeks later & I called him worrying about leaks. He came by & covered it with a tarp. While talking he explained that there were shingles available here in town BUT so he "could" be working on it now BUT they were from a company he didn't know. He said, I live here & I won't use shingles that I don't trust. Some people will but I want to know that I'm putting a good product down that will last. That's the kind of guy you want for everything you have done.

 

[teeceetx]

I have to give props to the plumber. He is supremely hard working, and very good at his job.

It's rare to find someone with his professional acumen.

 

[Helen Back]

Long time builder, Gen X. The work I am seeing today is beyond atrocious. We are the last true hardworking people who take pride in our work. America is in real trouble. Idiocracy was spot on. Nice to have forums like this where people can ask questions and get proper advice. I always tell people to try DIY. What is the worst that can happen? You have to redo it, and will have learned along the way. There is nothing worse than paying someone ALOT of money to do it wrong, then having to do it yourself, or pay someone else to fix it; hoping they do it right. Scary times for those who don't know.

Mechanics are disappearing too. Even at stealerships, the techs working on your car were changing oil at JiffyLube a few weeks ago. People better have knowledge and ability on a wide range of topics.

 

[Weedygarden]

My problem with remodeling is mission creep.
I'll start one room and before you know it the job has spread to the whole house.

I agree. But it isn't just remodeling where you have one thing that leads to another and another until everything is a mess or in process. It is like this for me and my cleaning and organizing attempts.

When I bought my home, it needed so much work. It still needs lots of work. I have been working on it. Why buy this house? The price!! It is certainly livable, but has taken lots of work to get it to where it is, and continues to need so much. About 15 years ago, the cousin of a friend who is an interior designer, did a walk though of my house and gave me lots of tips and suggestions. I have gone through 7 rooms and have done most of the suggestions. I still have 3 bedrooms, a hallway and two stairways to finish up. And there are outside projects that need to be done.

 

[teeceetx]

Well, here is the vanity area. (Reframed, squared off, soffit gone). Still a long way to go on it, but progress!

 

[Bacpacker]

Thats gonna be very nice