Show us your summer home improvement projects!

[Matata]

May I ask, was the demo REALLY expensive..

I don't have a breakdown of costs. I told him the budget was $62,000 and that's what he bid. The total cost will be $74,000 because I unfortunately fell in love with top of the line granite and bought it before I opened the project to bids. This contractor wanted to add another high end bathroom to his portfolio so he actually is taking only 13% of the the cost for himself rather than his usual 18% so he could keep within the budget. It would be difficult to compare the cost of your projected demo to mine because all of my plumbing is being moved and replaced. The toilet is going to the opposite side of the room and redoing the floor beams and pouring the concrete footings for the walls are adding to the complexity of the project. Depends on where you live also. I have a friend in Cali who is doing her master bath, same size as mine, and it will cost her 1/3 to 1.5 times more simply because of where she lives.

I am so happy to get rid of that jacuzzi tub. I used it once in the 15 yrs we've lived here but the cats loved it. LOL.

 

[tyty333]

I only have 5 koi now. I loss 3 koi last month b/c the autofill system was stuck open and it kept on filling the pond with fresh corine water for approx 36 hrs till I discovered the problem.

I'm sorry to hear about that DF. Even though they may not be cuddly I'm sure you get attached to them.

 

[soxfan]

I only have 5 koi now. I loss 3 koi last month b/c the autofill system was stuck open and it kept on filling the pond with fresh corine water for approx 36 hrs till I discovered the problem.

Oh no Do you have a pool? That one in the corner looks like the sand filter for my giant inground pool!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Oh no Do you have a pool? That one in the corner looks like the sand filter for my giant inground pool!

No swimming pool in my yard. That is part of the biological filter system for the koi pond.

 

[PierreBear]

I don't have a breakdown of costs. I told him the budget was $62,000 and that's what he bid. The total cost will be $74,000 because I unfortunately fell in love with top of the line granite and bought it before I opened the project to bids. This contractor wanted to add another high end bathroom to his portfolio so he actually is taking only 13% of the the cost for himself rather than his usual 18% so he could keep within the budget. It would be difficult to compare the cost of your projected demo to mine because all of my plumbing is being moved and replaced. The toilet is going to the opposite side of the room and redoing the floor beams and pouring the concrete footings for the walls are adding to the complexity of the project. Depends on where you live also. I have a friend in Cali who is doing her master bath, same size as mine, and it will cost her 1/3 to 1.5 times more simply because of where she lives.

I am so happy to get rid of that jacuzzi tub. I used it once in the 15 yrs we've lived here but the cats loved it. LOL.

Wow I can't wait to see the finished project. I'm following this thread as I love home projects and of course HGTV shows. Out of curiosity and if you don't mind discussing, did you have a vision for what you wanted it to look like and the contractor designed it etc? Or did you come up with the design? I was just intrigued that you mentioned moving the toilet. I have a hard time "imagining" how to make a space better and always was impressed when people on the tv shows can just walk into a space and plan. Good luck and hope that the reno goes smoothly!

 

[Tekate]

Thank you!!! I hope to just change my shower to a curb less entry, and get rid of the granite and put in a plain white quartz, new mirrors, paint and get rid of the tub, my decorator said to pull it out would be VERY expensive. that is a wowza budget to me, I can't wait to see your pixs thru the change. I love renos! thank you again Matata!

I don't have a breakdown of costs. I told him the budget was $62,000 and that's what he bid. The total cost will be $74,000 because I unfortunately fell in love with top of the line granite and bought it before I opened the project to bids. This contractor wanted to add another high end bathroom to his portfolio so he actually is taking only 13% of the the cost for himself rather than his usual 18% so he could keep within the budget. It would be difficult to compare the cost of your projected demo to mine because all of my plumbing is being moved and replaced. The toilet is going to the opposite side of the room and redoing the floor beams and pouring the concrete footings for the walls are adding to the complexity of the project. Depends on where you live also. I have a friend in Cali who is doing her master bath, same size as mine, and it will cost her 1/3 to 1.5 times more simply because of where she lives.

I am so happy to get rid of that jacuzzi tub. I used it once in the 15 yrs we've lived here but the cats loved it. LOL.

 

[Matata]

Out of curiosity and if you don't mind discussing, did you have a vision for what you wanted it to look like and the contractor designed it etc? Or did you come up with the design? I was just intrigued that you mentioned moving the toilet. I have a hard time "imagining" how to make a space better and always was impressed when people on the tv shows can just walk into a space and plan. Good luck and hope that the reno goes smoothly!

I wanted an open space with as few internal walls as possible, heated floor, floating vanity, and a sleek modern look and that's as far as my vision went LOL. I knew from the scope of this project that I needed the help of a designer. We talked over potential layout for a long time, she drew up several floor plans and I chose the one I liked best. It was her idea to move the toilet and my idea to take part of the little room the toilet was in and turn it into a linen closet. Right now all the linens are stored in the master bedroom closet. She brought over lots of samples of tile for the walls and floor and solid surface for the vanity top and we also went shopping together to look at stuff. I started working with her in October 2017 with the goal of starting the work in April or May 2018. And I needed all that time to live with the idea of the final floor plan, live with the samples of granite, marble floor, vanity top, fixtures to make absolutely sure that I liked all of it.

I changed my mind half a dozen times about how to lay the floor tile; originally had planned to use tile on the walls until I found that darn granite; and lots of other big and small details that I changed my mind about. It gave me peace of mind to be able to throw ideas out to someone who has tons of experience and who could advise me about pros and cons of some of my ideas. I plan to use her and the same contractor when we do redo our guest bath.

 

[Matata]

I hope to just change my shower to a curb less entry, and get rid of the granite and put in a plain white quartz, new mirrors, paint and get rid of the tub, my decorator said to pull it out would be VERY expensive.

It may sound like a few simple changes but you know it's going to get a bit complicated. Depending on how your tub is installed, you might need new flooring because there won't be anything under the tub if it's built-in like mine was and the vent and drain will have to be removed and capped. That means tearing up the floor and maybe a wall depending on where they're located. Curb less entry to your shower probably means ripping up the floor to redo the slope toward the drain. Save your $ Tekate because I agree with your decorator that you're going to need lots of it