Trouble in Paradise
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Those who have renovated a house, come in

What's the process like? Pick a contractor, get a quote, cut a check? 

I'm wondering how much a total bath renovation is gonna cost. It will involve changing the footprint of the room and moving plumbing. Ugh. 

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Re: Those who have renovated a house, come in

  • ask people for recs....get quotes(specific) pick the one you like..pick out materials....cut check...but dont pay in full...add a week or 2 to whatever they give you as a completion date...and welcome to hell!


  • Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that everything you want is included in the original contract.  If you want enameled cabinets, for example, make sure you specify that so they don't put in stained wood (this is happening to us right now and costing us an extra 3 motherf*cking grand).  If you want a particular shower head, or bathtub, make sure you tell them that.  Let them know how you want the room tiled, everything you can think of.  If they put allowances in, take a look at things within that allowance to see if that will suffice.  If not, upgrade but make sure the upgrade is in the contract.

     

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    If I wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on the cat. image

  • Posting from my phone, so bear with me. Get multiple quotes, estimates are typically free. I agree that contractors generally dont run on schedule, so add extra time. As well, make sure they are licensed and insured. If they mess anything up, you'll be covered. If you are able, verify their licensing with your city.Check their reviews online, they are very telling.We just did a ton of renovations, my husband is a contractor so we didnt run into any of this.Oh, one more thing...as tempting as it is to pay cash to ?avoid paying taxes?, checks are The Best way to go. Paper trail!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker ...here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart)
  • Two more things: put radiant heating in your floors. Will save you money in heating bills and they are amazing. I have heated floors in my new kitchen.Also, find out how green they can do it. Not only does it save you $ on energy bills, sometimes companies will even reduce your bills by a certain percentage every month as a reward for doing it AND thats a bigger write off for you.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker ...here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart I carry your heart(I carry it in my heart)
  • Thanks for the info. BF is still in saving mode, so it's a ways off, but I was wondering how this whole thing worked. 

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  • Lurker here chiming in....

    A lot will depend on what type of design and fixtures you want.  We had very few allowances in our contractor quote so that we were free to pick what we wanted and could completely control the cost of things. 

    We got brushed nickel which is much more expensive than chrome.  We were going to do dual showerheads, but opted for a handheld and body sprays instead.  We got an air tub (so cool) and did a granite undermount along with a granite top on our custom cabinets.  It was very expensive, but is absolutely gorgeous.

    I would start looking for inspiration and ideas before you really get into this so that you can get an idea of what kind of budget you will need.

    And to echo pp, every time you do have an addition to your quote make sure you know up front what the cost will be.

  • imageatlcatlover:

    Lurker here chiming in....

    A lot will depend on what type of design and fixtures you want.  We had very few allowances in our contractor quote so that we were free to pick what we wanted and could completely control the cost of things. 

    We got brushed nickel which is much more expensive than chrome.  We were going to do dual showerheads, but opted for a handheld and body sprays instead.  We got an air tub (so cool) and did a granite undermount along with a granite top on our custom cabinets.  It was very expensive, but is absolutely gorgeous.

    I would start looking for inspiration and ideas before you really get into this so that you can get an idea of what kind of budget you will need.

    And to echo pp, every time you do have an addition to your quote make sure you know up front what the cost will be.

    Wow, that sounds really nice.  The reno will be more size-related than anything else - the master bath is the smallest bathroom in the house, and there's so much wasted space in the master bedroom that can easily accommodate an expansion.  Whoever designed the space did a really bad job, LOL.  Fixtures will be changed out too since they're so old and nasty, but it'll be on a Home Depot budget rather than anything custom.  I have a feeling that pipes will be replaced too. 

    Did you get a quote and then start saving more money (once you knew the goal), or did you wait until you hit a set amount before even pricing things out?  I have no idea how much this project is going to cost - if it's a year away or more.

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  • You need to have a target budget in mind and work within that.  Since you are expanding I'd definitely meet with a couple of people to talk over ideas and at least get a labor quote so you know where you will be, and how long it might take to save.  You will need to know if you want to entirely gut the room, or if you want to try to save what you can and work around all that.  We gutted ours which obviously drives up the cost.  If you buy the fixtures yourself you will be able to work within whatever budget you set for those.  You can spend as little or as much as you would like on those.  Also, if you are handy there may be aspects that you can do yourself which would save money. 

    If you meet with someone and the quote is high, then meet with them again and tell them you'd rather only spend $X vs $Y and have them suggest ways to get closer to where you want to be. 

  • Buy a new house instead.  DH and I are lucky to still be married after that experience.  Seriously, it is not worth the headaches. 

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