We are looking at buying a house but the biggest sticking point for me is how awful the master bath is. It is basically a 6x6 or so room with shower only, toilet, and pedestal sink crammed in there with no storage of any kind (not even counter space since the sink is a pedestal type). I would want to rip it all out, make the shower smaller, and put a decent sink with a counter top and cabinet underneath. Wouldn't need to go all out or anything but the tile would need to be replaced on the floor and it goes up the wall a few feet as well.

I am just looking to get a rough ball park estimate of what something like that would cost to do, I don't have any experience with this type of thing so I was hoping someone on here could offer some insight.

11/2/2013 11:50:35 AM

We need to do the same in ours with a similar start as you. Based on the cost of redoing our hall bath we're thinking it will cost us ~1200. We have to demo a tile shower, put in a new one (not tile, just a pre fab walk in) with new shower door, completely rip up and replace the floor, and change out the sink with a new vanity. Toilet is fine as we bought new toilets when we moved in. Main cost will be the new shower door. We already have the floor as we bought enough when we redid the hall bath.

Of course this is assuming once we demo the tile and rip up the existing floor everything will be peachy. But it's an old house and we are certain there is some water damage underneath the toilet and existing shower.

11/2/2013 12:32:33 PM

Thanks, 1200 wouldn't be too bad and I could probably do most of the demo myself. Haven't done it before but I am pretty handy and it sounds like it would be a lot easier destroying rather than installing

This is all assuming we can get the owners to our price point though which might be tough but good to know since all the houses we are looking at are old and usually have something like that which need work.

11/2/2013 1:51:00 PM

Having someone else redo it for you would up the price. I had an incredibly small bathroom in my former house, with a small, walled, walk-in shower that felt like a cave, and no other space, plus ugly dusty-pink tile. I had everything resurfaced, including floor and half-wall tile removed and replaced with floor tile and bull-nose base molding, the wet-wall for the shower removed and the shower replaced with a drop-in corner unit, toilet moved about 4 inches to accomodate new larger shower, sink replaced, vanity replaced, ceiling exhaust fan installed, and light fixture installed. Total cost, 5.5k using not-quite bottom grade fixtures and a contractor that I had to hassle to fix a few minor installation errors (light was upside down?!). I had previously imagined removing a wall and adding 3 feet or so to the bathroom, putting in a big walk-in, doorless or custom door shower and nice tile half-way up the rest of the walls. I was quoted 18k, which I think was high, but scared me away from that project.

11/2/2013 3:13:37 PM

$1,200 sounds like a materials only do it yourself estimate. We've been slowly working on updating our 40 year old home and the real money factor has been labor costs. We haven't gotten to our bathrooms yet, but ^ sounds far more like what you should expect. And depending on the age of the house, demo can be a beast. Older tile was laid with mortar and something akin to chicken wire. The demo on that older tile is messy and labor intensive. Our floor guy wouldn't even do it. He said he'd lay stuff on top of it, but we'd have to get someone else in to take it down to the walls and subfloor. We ended up deciding to wait on the bathrooms because we're going to want a full redo instead of resurface and a full redo is not in our budget right now.

[Edited on November 2, 2013 at 3:37 PM. Reason : .]

11/2/2013 3:33:47 PM

Well darn, I think we will probably pass on the house, a small master bath is just a killer. I know if we redid both of them and the kitchen we would get most of it back when we went to sell though, it would easily be worth 30k more with that stuff done.

11/2/2013 8:27:04 PM

I don't see $1200 touching it. List out all the items you want to do

11/2/2013 9:58:23 PM

Quote :

"$1,200 sounds like a materials only do it yourself estimate. "

Yep. We redid the hall bath ourselves. We plan, as of right now, to redo this one ourself too.

^and I listed out what we're doing in my previous post.

11/3/2013 7:43:27 AM

Personally, I'd be okay with a small master bath if it's well done with decent stuff (and not dusty-pink tile). However, small is harder to resell, and expanding the size of a bathroom adds _a lot_ to the cost of a remodel. I previously had the kitchen redone (moved a wall make it bigger, then built from scratch) , kitchens are a much better balance between materials and labor. All told, the kitchen came in at 20k, and nearly half that was appliances, floor, and cabinets. Bathrooms, particularly if tile or plumbing is involved, can involve a lot more labor per sqf.

In the other bathroom I did the work myself, replacing the toilet, sink, vanity, mirror, light and installed an exhaust fan, basically a remodel, but with no tile and no moving pumbing. That was, by-and-large, easier than I expected, and came out looking quite nice. It cost only the cost of the fixtures (which vary _widely_) and supplies, plus my time, which I had a lot of then. That job was probably under 1200, though I didn't add everything up. But those costs vary immensely based on choice of fixture, if you want a fancy sink or waterfall faucet or robotic AI bidet, then you can easily add a zero to the cost.

11/3/2013 10:39:41 AM

I'm in a similar situation with my hall bathroom, but at least it has a full shower/bathtub in it already. I also replaced the toilet about a year ago, so that's good as well. But the pedestal sink is definitely a pain in the ass. I use this bathroom to get ready in the morning as my GF is usually using the master bathroom, and the lack of counter space is getting old.

Really all I need to do is replace the sink, medicine cabinet, and flooring. The flooring is laminate, and is in great condition just dated. I plan to replace it with more current laminate flooring. I found a really nice sink/vanity with a marble countertop at an insurance auction for $100. Found a matching medicine cabinet at Lowe's for $150. The bathroom is only 30 sq ft, so even if I go with the nicer laminate it will cost me <$100.

11/4/2013 9:38:59 AM

$1,200 sounds very low, even with DIY... unless you're going basic/bargin shopping.

11/4/2013 10:36:58 PM

Tile materials would eat up half.

11/4/2013 11:15:55 PM

My wife and I have an 7x10 master, which holds shower, dual vanity, toilet, linen closet. We estimate around $5k for a remodel.
That is just to rip out the 'drop in' shower stall and replace with large tub/shower combo, tile the shower walls, and put in new fixtures.
That is 95% DIY as well.

[Edited on November 4, 2013 at 11:49 PM. Reason : .]

11/4/2013 11:49:30 PM

Quote :

"$1,200 sounds very low, even with DIY... unless you're going basic/bargin shopping."

Yes to both.

Quote :

"Tile materials would eat up half."

We aren't replacing our tile. We are demolishing the existing and putting in a pre-fab shower.

Our bathroom is also tiny.

[Edited on November 5, 2013 at 12:16 PM. Reason : ]

11/5/2013 12:12:28 PM

These shoestring budgets don't sound like they have contingency plans for unwelcome surprises once you remove the existing shower, like the sheetrock behind has crumbled and the studs have molded, nor do they include tools. With concern to hitting your final budget, it's a lot easier to plan on doing things the right way (replacing the sheetrock and subfloor with hardiebacker and installing a membrane or painting one on before). They also don't include tools at all, and you need a specialized tool for each material.


We've spent around 7k so far on our master bath remodel. it's around 10x12, and literally everything was old, horrible and scratched. We are did spend a bit more than the very cheapest stuff available on most of the fixtures, but nothing is 'luxury' except perhaps the tub. Stuff does cost more where we live than in NC, but I also dug deep to get the cheapest stuff and went to closeout places.

We gutted the whole thing and put down a hardiebacker subfloor and behind the shower, with a painted-on membrane. Then the wall tile was around 500 (we used $3/sqft tile and some $10/sqft glass tile), and we're using a preformed base and glass door set that we got on clearance for about $700. floor tile was around 250, i think, and we still have to buy more mortar and grout. 2 large cabinets and 4 small mirrored ones and a double sink were about 1600 at ikea. freestanding tub and the plumbing, around $1000. new faucets for everything was around $6-700. $300 on new lighting (wiring and box and ceiling changes aren't included in that, since we aren't there yet). Several hundred in new tools. Few hundred more left to spend on paint, new blinds, towel racks and other miscellaneous stuff. Might replace the toilet, since everything else in the room is new. and we had water damage to the ceiling below the bathroom that still has to be mitigated.

11/7/2013 1:23:53 PM

^I had the exact same experience as you it sounds

I think i spent more on tile and kerdi pan, drain, membrane. The only special tool i needed was a wet saw.

11/7/2013 4:43:38 PM

New tools dont count.

11/7/2013 6:04:07 PM

well, since i'm not planning to do major demolition or tile again anytime soon, I'm including all the smoothers and spreaders and whatever, and the blades to cut the hardiebacker, and the tile saws (of course we started by buying a cheap one and now that it's too cold to cut outside he's insisting on buying a nicer one that makes less mess for inside use ) and dremel toolds and the attachments and super crowbars and all of that crap. we did have to buy it, for this project. it's part of the cost.

11/8/2013 1:49:14 PM

can't you rent most of those?

11/8/2013 2:19:33 PM

durock cuts with a cheap utility knife but hardibacker looks like more of a pain.

a few trowels, buckets, sponges, caulk gun, drywall knives, mud pan, pry bar, hacksaw might be a little over 100 may need a mitre saw for some trim

some other consumables to think about:

tons of different tapes, tile spacers, caulks, I used shark-bite fittings and PEX so that wasn't cheap, electrical wire, PVC and primer/cement, wire nuts, staples, base boards

11/8/2013 2:39:45 PM

it doesn't make financial sense to rent a sub-$100 tool multiple times if you're stuck working on the weekends, especially when you take into account the work time lost by going back and forth to the rental place. it's not realistic to do all the cuts in one day, even if you tried, I think. Kerf and tiny spacing disparities that add up over the entire wall have dictated some recuts for what we did do ahead.

11/8/2013 2:49:59 PM

Yeah, but then you have neat tools.

11/8/2013 4:36:29 PM

It's smarter to buy and resell a tile saw

11/8/2013 7:49:22 PM

Hell, just look on craigslist for used equipment. I got a professional table saw for $100.

As with others said, the cost can easily vary depending on your tastes and where you shop. I'm not too sure if 1200 would be viable in what OP asked in just material costs, but I'd say as others posted, probably 2-5 grand to do it right; 5 is on the high side if you wanted fancy stuff or had someone else do the work.

And ppl ITT need to post up some photos of their work, lots of good advice and I for one would like to see how their projects turned out.

Just finished renovating a friend's townhouse in Richmond this week. Spent a good 2 weeks spread out over the last month when I had the time to finish it up. I start fixing up another house next week in Cary, but mostly minor stuff like trim, paint, crown and maybe a bit of tile work.

http://www.trulia.com/property/3136948133-12029-Foxfield-Cir-Henrico-VA-23233

11/9/2013 2:29:52 AM

We ended up going with a different house with a huge remodeled master bath

The house is bigger, nicer, and cheaper. Now just have to hope everything goes well with the closing process

11/10/2013 6:01:28 PM

I have never rented a tool. Like GREEN JAY stated, most of my projects span over the course of several weekends so it just doesn't make sense. If I need a specialty tool that I will only need for like 1 project every few years, I either borrow it from someone or buy/resell it. But then again, I fortunate enough to have an Uncle that owns just about every tool known to man.

I considered renting a Bobcat this past summer for some landscaping projects I needed done. But even with that, I decided it would be better to just buy a tractor this coming spring. I'd use a tractor pretty much every weekend if I had one, so it's worth the investment.

[Edited on November 11, 2013 at 9:01 AM. Reason : a]

11/11/2013 8:58:49 AM

Bobcat is the only tool we are planning on renting. Don't need a tractor for a sub 1/2 acre lot, but digging a french drain by hand is unacceptable. Might as well go ahead and do the footings for the new deck as well while we have it around, and if we finish before the end of the weekend a friend down the street wants to use it for some drainage stuff as well.

11/11/2013 2:15:13 PM

^ I removed earth by hand and filled with gravel for a brick patio and retaining wall... 3 yards of gravel went in, so probably something similar to that in dirt came out, plus shaping. Never again. I'll rent a bobcat or toro or something similar, or pay someone to do it. I rented a power tamper for that job since I needed it exactly once, at the end. I bought a chopsaw to cut bricks, since that had to happen several times. I sold the chop saw last year for about 2/3rds of what I paid for it, leaving me with about 40 dollars total cost for a couple years of ownership and one major job.

11/11/2013 9:49:31 PM

a bobcat is always worth it. always. because you'll find a use for it while you have it. even if it's just taking the trash to the end of the drive. man I'd love to have one full-time.

if the contractor ever has another one out in my neighborhood, you can bet that thing will see use on sundays

[Edited on November 12, 2013 at 9:11 AM. Reason : .]

11/12/2013 9:10:24 AM

The SO has a bad back, so the bobcat is a must. We'll have to rent one again later when we turn the steep slope in the front yard into a stepped retaining wall (with a planter in it) probably, but I'm sure he'll have friends over and they'll want to do drunk bobcat log chucking or something in the back yard for the rest of the weekend.

Back to bathrooms, we have borrowed or bought all the tools we need. Several friends own places and have some tools, so we've bought things they don't have and it's worked out pretty well.

[Edited on November 12, 2013 at 9:48 AM. Reason : ...]

11/12/2013 9:45:11 AM

well, to get the thread back on the topic of bathroom renovations, I snapped a pic of our shower. there's a couple tiles to replace and a few pieces of trim to finish setting, and the top of the wall to finish. hope to have it grouted and hopefully the glass up by the end of the weekend. I hate washing my hair in the tub.

11/12/2013 3:47:58 PM

We didn't need a 2.5 bath place, but we refused to consider the 1.5 bath houses we saw that needed a major bath reno. Hope you have your shower back soon!

11/13/2013 8:58:41 AM