2500CTD

Well, the wife is starting to push me about remodeling the house, she's right it does need it, [stuffing tranny money under mattress] So we are going to do one room at a time, mainly for cost reasaons, starting with the bathroom, mainly becuase the tub cracked recently, the fuacets leak, and its really dated looking. where do you all get ur fixing's we basically got it planned out at Lowes, but their has got to be cheaper. I'll be doing most of the work, unless it invloves something dealing with codes. Gonna start reading the Home Depot books on remodeling too. I know some of you are in this business, so any pointers, gotta do the whole house since it got that minor flood damge.

PistolWhipt

.... when I did ours, I visited the Habitat for Humanity store. They have on ehere that sells salvaged items to raise money for building homes. You can pick up some decent stuff there. Sinks, plumbing fixtures, tubs and showers, lighting, 2x4's plywood etc ...

... ask Lowes and Home Depot about damaged items like cabinets and counters. I picked up all of our cabinets that way and they were all easily repairable with a little glue and wood clamps.


I search yard sales and newspaper want ads as well ... many people start projects with good intentions and then run out of steam ... selling the stuff that is taking up space in the garage.

The new stuff is always nice ... but you can do just as well going on the cheap.

PISTOL

durasmack

I have found, that unless you are selling the house or plan on selling in near future, it is best to get good cabinets for kitchen. a good tip for bathroom is to get a kitchen cabinet and modify the depth of it. this raises the counter height 3 inches, which may not seem like much, but it makes a world of difference. (try washing face, etc. at kitchen sink and see if you like the height better....)

Search lowes and home depot for damaged items. I purchased a $135 piece of formica countertop there that had a tiny chip on the corner for $25. you cant even see the chip unless you know exactly where it is. (silicone covered most of the chip)

Trey

crobtex

Good luck!

I have ripped out both of my bathrooms....down to the studs. Not a fun job putting it back together. I quickly found out the rooms were not square!

Some of the things that I made sure I did do right was to put Wonder Board around where the tubs and showers were and finished out the rest with water/moisture resistant sheetrock. Also, re-tile all the way to the ceiling and seal the baseboards.

berner

I re-did my bathroom this spring. Got a great deal on a soaker tub at Home Depot. It had a small chip on the wall flange. Drywall covered it up. I got my fixtures for 1/2 price last winter. I bought the stuff well before I was ready to tackle the job.

If you plan on putting ceramic tile around the tub, look into Hardie BackerBoard. It's a waterproof cement board. I used it on the floor and vanity top under the tile. It makes for a tough base that will resist tile cracking. Another good tip is to spray "Great Stuff" foam around your tub after you install it. It insulates the tub. Messy crap to work with though. If it dries on your hands, you're wearing it for a few days. Nothing short of sandpaper will remove it.

If you're going to do your own plumbing, replace it all. A real PITA trying to hook up new to old, especially if the new tub is a bit wider. Pressure balanced taps are the way to go for your shower. No temp change if somebody flushes when you're showering.

Oh yeah, be prepared for the job to take at least twice as long as you'd planned.

PistolWhipt

I wrapped the underside of our tub in regular fiberglass insulation. Helps keep the water hot in the winter as well as sound dampening (not that this is a big deal).

PISTOL

Fronty Owner

Lowes, Home Depot and regional place called Sutherland. I hit all three for what Im looking for. Sutherlands will beat most others on lumber, Lowes has been cheaper on hardware (faucets, towel racks, etc), home depot on major hard ware (showers, toilets, etc)

NHDiesel

We got all of our stuff at Home Depot. We did the kitchen, livingroom, and bathroom. I have to disagree about buying the expensive kitchen cabinets. The first remodelling job we did was my wife's original place, and she got a quote for pretty decent quality cabinets that came up to over $4500. We checked out a sample of those, and they were hardwood fronts with partical board sides and cheap cardboard-type backs. We went to Home Depot and checked out what they had, and their higher quality stuff was the same thing. Then we went to their cheap cabinet section, the ones that come in cardboard boxes that you assemble. Guess what? Hardwood fronts, partical board sides, and cardboard-like backs. But the whole kitchen (cabinets, countertops, sink, etc.) all came to under $2000, compared to $4500+ just for the cabinets. The only difference I could really find were the drawer slides, and those are easy enough to change if they wear out.

We liked how hers came out so much that we used the same stuff for our own place when we remodelled it after we got married. For flooring we used laminate wood stuff from Sam's club. $1.17/sf. and it wears like iron, and looks awesome. We used the same stuff in her house, and a year later (with a teenage son and all his friends running in and out with dirt and sand on their shoes) when we moved out, the floor didn't have so much as a scratch on it.

In our house, we used the cheaper cabinets and shower (except for the oak bathroom vanity), and saved our money for the fixtures, which is where quality really shows. H.D. has some great solid surface bathroom countertops with molded-in sinks for a good price. We got really nice bathroom and kitchen faucets, and our kitchen sink is REALLY nice (at least for an "affordable" sink). Too bad we never got around to choosing a countertop material...the $250 sink is sitting in plywood.

Jim

durasmack

Good, not necessarily expensive... quality hardwood cabinets can be had for about the same price as the moderately priced home depot cabinets if you look and know who to talk to in your area...


I am still convinced that the taller cabinets are good when used in a bathroom.... just have to make a depth adjustment in the cabinet or get a wider surface....


TallCabinetsTrey

ten8fiftyone

All good suggestions on materials.......now for the most important suggestion of all...keep your remodeling as quiet and unoticeable as possible. That is, unless you want to pay for permits. Don't yak about your plans with your neighbors, drinking buddies or fellow employees. All it takes is one "judas" in the group to make an anonymous phone call to your local building authority.

Anytime you do anything that involves plumbing, electrical or structural, in your state, your are required to have a permit. If you plan on selling the house in a couple of years, you will want to get the permits. If you plan on staying there for awhile and don't want to deal with your local building authority, just make sure that the work you do is safe and code compliant.

If you do go the permit route, be prepared for a "thankyou" note, in the form of a property tax increase, from your local accessor when you get your final. Building permits, particularly remodel permits, always prompt re-accessment.

Good luck and remember.....hammers are for construction NAILS, not FINGER nails!

NHDiesel

I'm lucky we lived in an easy town. No permits necessary. The only thing they have there is a "building" permit, which, as told to us, was only for "building"...actually changing the exterior size of the structure. So if we wanted an addition, we would need a permit. But we didn't for remodelling a commercial building into a house, because we didn't knock out any exterior walls. I love it!

Jim

2500CTD

Thanks for the tips guys, I lik ethe idea of taller cabinets, I'm 6' and everthing is low to me

I would always follow the law and get required permits....................
I will check to make sure code complaince is followed at least.

Finger nails? Even though I already know that................

The wife found a Whirlpool shower/tub. ~$600 ouch, its nice but actually considering it, worse case our daughter end up with a sibling!

Heard of but never seen "wonder board" HD & Lowes have it? I like the idea of insulating the bottom of the tub, never though of that before. That will of course depned if the whirlpool tub stays on the list, might not be much room under there with all the piping.

Plumbing will definately need some fixing, that is what started this snowball! Another question, the tub has a window in it. (with clear glass and a shade!) oh the neighbors did too, one day the wife said the guys girlfriend was over and I said "how do you know?" she pointed to their shower window! So I will more thank likely close the window. What the best way? Leave it in and build over the opening, or take the window out and block it up? It's a block house.

The tub will more than likely have those sides that just get mounted to the wall, however I like that tile to the ceiling thing. What is a good floor? We're thinking tile? However any problems with that laminate wood stuff, NHDiesel?

Any pointers on any echaust fan, currently it does not have one.

Oh she did say it would be cool with a black tub, white fixtures with a polished aluminum trim around the bathroom Man I love her!! Diamond plate splash gaurds??

crobtex

Wondor Board is 4x8 sheets made of concrete/fiberglass. If you ever get a leak, it is totally uneffected by water or moisture. Also, put a piece of heavy plastic, floor to ceiling, on the walls of the tub area to form a moisture barrier.
I bought all of my stuff at Lowe's and Home Depot.
The exhaust fans are easy. Cut a hole, put it in, and wire it up. Mine are atteched to ceiling joist. They usually have templets of the hole and good instructions.
Be thrifty, but don't put something in there that you don't want to look at every day.

jfpointer

We turned two bathrooms into one master bath on our second floor, with shower and whirlpool tub. The floor and tub deck are ceramic tile, with radiant heat in the floor for those cold mornings. The vanity is a piece of bedroom furniture, a dresser modified to accept a sink and plumbing. Also, since SWMBO and I are both tall, we plumbed the shower to put the shower head a bit higher than normal. It's nice not to have the water hit you between the shoulder blades.

berner

A jetted tub is a great idea. I wasn't thinking and didn't put one in. Sure would be nice after sitting in front of a computer all day drafting. The bathroom cost so much the extra $300 wouldn't of mattered. Next time for sure.

Hardieboard and Wonerboard do the same thing. Hardie comes in 1/2" for walls and 1/4" for floors. Also in 3X5 sheets. Easy to work with. Not sure about Wonderboard.

I pulled my window out and filled the hole. Got some old siding at Habitat for Humanity and "bombed" it on the tablesaw to match the existing profile. Turned out good. I know some guys that have replaced the old windows with sealed PVC units with frosted glass.

I don't know how laminate flooring would work in a bathroom. Any water getting in to the cracks might cause the MDF type core to swell. If you go the tile route, heating it would be good. Ours gets pretty cool with the AC on. I also screwed the existing floor down every 4" to tighten it up before installing the tile. You need a really solid base or the ceramic will crack. You have to shim your toilet flange up to the thickness of whatever flooring you use. Adapters are available in the plumbing section.

You're probably going to spend way more money than you thought. Bathrooms are expensive little rooms but worth it for increasing house value.

BTW, the Costco here has some great looking bathroom taps, sinks, etc. that you have to special order.