Bathroom Budget

abrewer5 · July 2015

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Looking for advice on a bathroom remodel budget and advice on whether or not we should add additional bath and recommended budget for doing so.

We live in a town home and majority of the townhomes in our neighborhood have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths. We got lucky enough to buy one of the few with only 1 1/2 bath (UGH!), but there is a rough-in in the basement for an additional bath.

So my first question is would you add a bathroom in the basement to make the house 2 1/2 bath to be more competitive and for resale value? And if so, what should our budget be? The main expenses will be materials (tub or shower, plumbing materials, fixtures, etc.) and having a contractor do the framing/drywall. My guess was $5,000 to put a (small) full bath in our basement. A few things to note: my father is a licensed plumber so plumbing will likely be free, my stepdad has experience as an electrician so that will likely be free as well, and my H's dad/step dad are pretty handy so tile work and finishing details we can DIY. Does that sound reasonable? I live in a MCOL area.

My other question is does $700 sound reasonable for a small bathroom upgrade to our upstairs bath: paint, light tile work on the shower (re grout and add mosaic tile to existing white subway tile), new tile floor, and new sink fixture? We would do all the work ourselves. We've also considered putting in double sinks upstairs, do you think it would be worth the cost? Again plumbing should be mostly free, so the main expense would be either getting a new vanity or ripping the old counter out and putting in new sink(s) and counter. The budget for this would be around $2,500. This is the only full bath upstairs and it is a "jack and jill" bath so I'm not sure if the double sinks would be a big selling feature or if people would prefer the extra counter space. The current vanity is pretty big but also plain with only 4 doors and no drawers.

I'm hoping my budgets are over estimated so we don't have any surprises. We aren't going high end on either of the bathrooms because we are planning to sell in 5-7 years and just want to make it nicer for resale value. We've updated all the other rooms in our house and our bathroom is the only thing that needs a small update. Timeline for the existing bath would be before spring of 2016 and putting in the other bath would be around Jan 2017, so we have time to save.

Thanks in advance!

als1982 · July 2015

I have no idea about DIY, but our small bathroom remodel is going to come in at between $14-$15,000.

hoffse · July 2015

Bathrooms are some of the cheapest rooms to do yourselves and most expensive rooms to hire out. Kitchens are similar.

If you can DIY, I think your budget is probably fine. We spent about $1,000 upgrading our hall bath in a DIY and that involved new toilet, new sink/faucet, new light fixture, new bathroom fixtures, drywall repair, and regrouting the tile and resealing the tub.

We literally replaced everything except the tile and tub itself. We were looking at a few hundred bucks for a tub but our space is wonky so we opted not to worry about it. Tile can range from very cheap to very expensive, and it's probably the most variable part of your budget. Vanities have a pretty wide range of prices too.

If the rough-in is already there and your dad/FIL can take care of the plumbing and electric, I think the budget you have set is probably reasonable. I would still make sure to have a cushion just in case, but you would obviously want to aim for the budget.

blondie42107 · July 2015

Is your basement finished? Do you use it regularly or would guests stay in the basement and use the bathroom? It might add value but if you don't think you'll use it, it might not be worth the cost to do it.

House value would go up with an additional bath but ultimately a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

abrewer5 · July 2015

blondie42107 said:

Is your basement finished? Do you use it regularly or would guests stay in the basement and use the bathroom? It might add value but if you don't think you'll use it, it might not be worth the cost to do it. House value would go up with an additional bath but ultimately a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Basement is finished and we hang out down there all the time. It would take some of the storage area away, but there would still be plenty of room for shelving/storage in the unfinished side of the basement. Most of our friends that stay over sleep in the basement (we have a guest room set up but no cable up there so they prefer the basement), so it would definitely get used by us and friends. The tub/shower not so much, but it's not insanely expensive to add a tub/shower and the next people might use it plus that would give 2 full baths.

Other houses in our neighborhood have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths and the ones that don't seem to sit for a while, so I'm hoping it would be a good choice to make us more competitive, a number of our neighbors are thinking of selling in the next 5 years which is our timeline too.

abrewer5 · July 2015

als1982 said:

I have no idea about DIY, but our small bathroom remodel is going to come in at between $14-$15,000.

WOW! I may need to contact a few contractors to see how much framing/drywall installation would be. And installing a fan/vent system down there, which I don't believe already exists. I hope I'm not grossly off base here on my budget. Thanks for the info.

abrewer5 · July 2015

hoffse said:

Bathrooms are some of the cheapest rooms to do yourselves and most expensive rooms to hire out. Kitchens are similar.

If you can DIY, I think your budget is probably fine. We spent about $1,000 upgrading our hall bath in a DIY and that involved new toilet, new sink/faucet, new light fixture, new bathroom fixtures, drywall repair, and regrouting the tile and resealing the tub.

We literally replaced everything except the tile and tub itself. We were looking at a few hundred bucks for a tub but our space is wonky so we opted not to worry about it. Tile can range from very cheap to very expensive, and it's probably the most variable part of your budget. Vanities have a pretty wide range of prices too.

If the rough-in is already there and your dad/FIL can take care of the plumbing and electric, I think the budget you have set is probably reasonable. I would still make sure to have a cushion just in case, but you would obviously want to aim for the budget.

Thanks for info! I agree tile and vanity would be the biggest unknowns here, but we can definitely keep an eye out for those when they go on sale and price out what is realistic for us. Right now I'm just guessing on my budgets so tonight I will sit down and starting pricing everything out.

Not 100% sure if we should put double sinks in or not, but they seem to be a big selling feature on HGTV.

formerlyGDaisy09 · July 2015

I'd be concerned about a basement bathroom, we were talked out of it pretty quickly. Up-flow plumbing is EXPENSIVE. and basement rooms, in general, do not add as much value to your home as above ground rooms. so you're talking about spending more money to add only minimal value.

Our contractor, who is very reasonable with his pricing, said a basement 3/4 bath would cost us minimum $15K just because the plumbing to fight gravity out of the basement is so much more expensive.

would it be possible to finish your current half-bath into a 3/4 or full bath?

Erikan73 · July 2015

In regards to the small bathroom I don't think that $700 but depending on what types of tiles you pick and how good you are at finding deals and how small that bathroom really is, it could work. What I would do is take measurements of your bathroom and the go to the store, or at least go online & start pricing things out. Price out every little details from the paint, paint tape, brushes/rollers, to lights, fixtures, will you want to faucets, will you want new towel rods, a new toliet paper holder, what tools will you need for doing the tile jobs and from those, which ones do you need to buy (don't forget sponges for grout work). Make up the long list of tools & supplies you'll need to get it the way you want it & go price everything out. That will tell you if your budget is realistic or not.

In regards to the downstairs bathroom, is your basement finished or if not, do you plan to finish it. No one really wants to go into an unfinished basement to shower.

abrewer5 · July 2015

Erikan73 said:

In regards to the small bathroom I don't think that $700 but depending on what types of tiles you pick and how good you are at finding deals and how small that bathroom really is, it could work. What I would do is take measurements of your bathroom and the go to the store, or at least go online & start pricing things out. Price out every little details from the paint, paint tape, brushes/rollers, to lights, fixtures, will you want to faucets, will you want new towel rods, a new toliet paper holder, what tools will you need for doing the tile jobs and from those, which ones do you need to buy (don't forget sponges for grout work). Make up the long list of tools & supplies you'll need to get it the way you want it & go price everything out. That will tell you if your budget is realistic or not.

In regards to the downstairs bathroom, is your basement finished or if not, do you plan to finish it. No one really wants to go into an unfinished basement to shower.

Thanks for tips! We actually already have brushes, rollers, drop cloths, etc. and my H is really good at free hand painting so we won't need tape. When we moved in we replaced the light fixtures, towel rod and toliet paper holder in there so they won't need to be replaced again. Paint will be about $35 for a gallon. The biggest cost (unless we do a new vanity) will be the tile for the floor. H's step dad has all the tools we need for the tile, including a wet saw for cutting so we'll just borrow those.

The basement is finished and we're down there often. Most of the houses in our neighborhood have a full bath in the basement.

abrewer5 · July 2015

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

I'd be concerned about a basement bathroom, we were talked out of it pretty quickly. Up-flow plumbing is EXPENSIVE. and basement rooms, in general, do not add as much value to your home as above ground rooms. so you're talking about spending more money to add only minimal value.

Our contractor, who is very reasonable with his pricing, said a basement 3/4 bath would cost us minimum $15K just because the plumbing to fight gravity out of the basement is so much more expensive.

would it be possible to finish your current half-bath into a 3/4 or full bath?

The current half bath is on the main floor of our townhouse and is very small by the front door, so it won't be an option to put a shower/tub in there. And I think to convert our bathroom upstairs into two baths would be crazy expensive versus putting one in the basement.

I'll have to talk to my dad about the up-flow plumbing, thanks for the heads up! He handles all of our plumbing work, so hopefully he'll be able to advise me on the materials costs to put it in. Labor would most likely be free, or extremely cheap because he would put it in.

ETA: Most of the houses that have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths in my neighborhood have a full bath in the basement, so it seems to be the norm in this neighborhood; however, that doesn't mean it will increase our home value enough to justify the cost. I may need to talk to some realtors in our area to find out if it's worth it.

formerlyGDaisy09 · July 2015

abrewer5 said:

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

I'd be concerned about a basement bathroom, we were talked out of it pretty quickly. Up-flow plumbing is EXPENSIVE. and basement rooms, in general, do not add as much value to your home as above ground rooms. so you're talking about spending more money to add only minimal value.

Our contractor, who is very reasonable with his pricing, said a basement 3/4 bath would cost us minimum $15K just because the plumbing to fight gravity out of the basement is so much more expensive.

would it be possible to finish your current half-bath into a 3/4 or full bath?

The current half bath is on the main floor of our townhouse and is very small by the front door, so it won't be an option to put a shower/tub in there. And I think to convert our bathroom upstairs into two baths would be crazy expensive versus putting one in the basement.

I'll have to talk to my dad about the up-flow plumbing, thanks for the heads up! He handles all of our plumbing work, so hopefully he'll be able to advise me on the materials costs to put it in. Labor would most likely be free, or extremely cheap because he would put it in.

ETA: Most of the houses that have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths in my neighborhood have a full bath in the basement, so it seems to be the norm in this neighborhood; however, that doesn't mean it will increase our home value enough to justify the cost. I may need to talk to some realtors in our area to find out if it's worth it.

yea, definitely check the materials cost on the up-flow stuff, if your labor is free you might hit your $7K goal.

We've just been through refinancing our mortgage to pay for all the work we're having done on the home (finishing basement (now with no bathroom), replacing all the windows, and installing solar) the appraiser for the bank valued the finished space in the basement at 50% what the per-square foot value is for the space upstairs. so just consider that when you're spending money on the space downstairs. It sounds like it will add desireabilty to your property when it comes time to sell, but ultimately you're unlikely to sell the house for more than the appraisal comes in at.

blondie42107 · July 2015

abrewer5 said:

blondie42107 said:

Is your basement finished? Do you use it regularly or would guests stay in the basement and use the bathroom? It might add value but if you don't think you'll use it, it might not be worth the cost to do it. House value would go up with an additional bath but ultimately a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Basement is finished and we hang out down there all the time. It would take some of the storage area away, but there would still be plenty of room for shelving/storage in the unfinished side of the basement. Most of our friends that stay over sleep in the basement (we have a guest room set up but no cable up there so they prefer the basement), so it would definitely get used by us and friends. The tub/shower not so much, but it's not insanely expensive to add a tub/shower and the next people might use it plus that would give 2 full baths.

Other houses in our neighborhood have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 baths and the ones that don't seem to sit for a while, so I'm hoping it would be a good choice to make us more competitive, a number of our neighbors are thinking of selling in the next 5 years which is our timeline too.

Since it's a finished basement that gets used regularly, I'd do it!

There's a lot of inexpensive tile options out there and nice budget friendly vanities. With the experience of your family that's willing to help, I think you can do it on a small budget. I agree with looking online or going in store to make a price list. In store always seems to have some unadvertised sales and clearance items.

dalm0m · July 2015

Using a contractor in a HCOL area I gutted a bathroom to the studs, ripped out the tub, installed a shower only & made the whole thing handicapped accessible for my elderly parents when they were still alive. It was about $5,000 for everything about 5 years ago.

dragonstarjk · July 2015

$5,000 might be doable if you are doing most of the work yourselves. H and I remodeled our bathroom (small, 5x8) for about $5,000 and we did all of the work ourselves. This was a total gut--down to stud walls and floors. We had to build new walls and floors because things were so old and rotted. I would imagine building new wouldn't bring on nearly as many problems. We also used some nicer floor and wall tiles and expensive hardware so probably could have saved money there, but we wanted nice finishes.

Erikan73 · July 2015

Since your basement is finished, I would consider and it's already set up to be able install the bathroom, I would go for it. At the very least do a half bath down there because if it's a room that be marketed as a rec room or play room, to have at least a half bath so people don't have to run upstairs I think would make your place more desirable. But then again, if you do a full bath downstairs, depending on how you decorate your basement you can alway use it as a guest room with your guests having their own bathroom. We actually converted one of our bedrooms into a man cave but got a sleeper sofa so it could be used as a guest room when needed and it has it's own private bath. Our one friend loves visiting us and having her own bathroom attached.

Xstatic3333 · July 2015

I'd love to hear how it goes if you do it! We live in the perfect house for us except that it has ONE bathroom. No half. Eventually we want to add another in our partially-finished basement, but more for our use than resale value. Our inspector thought some of the plumbing was already done to make it easier, but it's helpful to hear that basement plumbing runs higher.

hoffse · July 2015

Since it's a space you use already and it would make your house more in-line with the neighborhood where you live, I think it makes perfect sense. Having the plumbing stubbed in already will save you guys a lot of money. As for half vs. full... for me, it's one of those things where if you're doing it, you might as well do the whole thing. It's going to be a pain in the butt regardless of which one you choose, so might as well go for it. Eliminating the tub might save you $500 -$1,000? But then the space down there isn't as functional for overflow/guests and the potential resale value isn't as high from that bathroom.

We have a (dark, dingy, sad) full bath in our basement. It's tiny, but it does have the essential fixtures to make it a full. We virtually never use it ourselves, but it does get use when we have more than one set of guests coming to stay at the same time. My parents' basement bath is set up the same way. The shower is rarely used, but when they need it, they really need it.

abrewer5 · July 2015

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm going to talk it over with H more and try and get more info from my dad on plumbing, but I think we're going to go for it! To me, I want to put us in a position to sell at the highest we can and I think a second full buth will be required for that. I will definitely keep everyone updated on progess as we move forward.

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