Bathroomlopnik

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 04/23/2019 at 17:20 • Filed to: ttyymmnns new bathroom, bathroomlopnik

6

27

Guest bathroom remodel begins tomorrow morning. Except for the newer commode, the rest of the bathroom is as it was 17 years ago when we bought the house: s hitty orange contractor’s grade cabinets (original to the house ) , one-piece molded sink, fiberglass all-in-one shower and tub, peeling ugly wallpaper. New bathroom will be mostly custom: white vanity (not custom, but now Lowe’s either), granite counter with under mount sink , new tub, tiled shower with tiled niche , new fixtures, new light, hanging mirror (not glued to the wall), paint instead of wallpaper. That nasty orange cabinet on the wall is going away too. Should take a couple of weeks.

This is the granite remnant that I found for the countertop. The card in front is the accent tile that will line the back of the niche in the shower. I think that granite is kick ass. We were going in an entirely different color direction until I found this remnant. And that accent tile is smooth, though it looks like individual tiles are different heights . Super cool. Paint will likely be a warm gray, not too dark. 

You may recall my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! posts from a couple of years ago. The same contractor who did my kitchen will be doing the bath. He is by no means the cheapest, but he does fantastic work. And even better, he won’t take any other jobs until mine is done. I’ll have pictures as we go along.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:25

1

As someone who remodeled one of the bathrooms in my parents’ house not so long ago, you have my best wishes and encouragement.

VincentMalamute-Kim > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:25

0

Nice granite. It kills me when people pick the blandest, most neutral and forgettable pattern for the granite. Or quartz or whatever expensive material.

I’ve been in my house a year. The bathroom and kitchen are original to the house - 1974. Bathroom is tiny - it’s gotta be expanded when I get around to redoing it.  I’ll be paying attention to your remodel.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:28

2

This qualifies as a shit post.

ttyymmnn > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 04/23/2019 at 17:31

2

Shitter post. 

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:32

4

My guest washroom:

I encourage people to leave my home ASAP.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:34

3

He is by no means the cheapest, but he does fantastic work.

This. As someone who used to work as a contractor, it’s nice to see that there’s people out there who don’t go solely by the lowest number.

Love the granite and backsplash. I think this bathroom is going to look really nice. I like the idea of a gray paint - keep it light so that nice granite and the backsplash will pop.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:35

1

Porcelain for p osterior post.

Saracen > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:44

0

The cheapest contractor is never the one to hire.

I hope it goes well, I love what you have planned for it!

ttyymmnn > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 04/23/2019 at 17:46

1

+1 for functionality

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 17:48

0

We’ll be ripping out an older shower/tub with tile soon. I’m not looking forward to it. Good luck! It can’t be that hard, right?

For Sweden > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 04/23/2019 at 18:16

0

The wet wipes make this better than almost any other guest washroom.

shop-teacher > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever 04/23/2019 at 18:24

0

Eh, I've used worse.

ttyymmnn > Future next gen S2000 owner 04/23/2019 at 18:25

0

I have no idea how hard it can be. I’m not doing any of this work.

ttyymmnn > Saracen 04/23/2019 at 18:26

0

Thanks. It’s funny how we did a 180 degree turn on the design. We were planning to stick with the green tones of the original bathroom, but when I saw that chunk of granite I just had to have it. And that changed everything, and for the better, I think. 

ttyymmnn > Snuze: Needs another Swede 04/23/2019 at 18:27

0

I am not a wealthy man by any means, but I do believe that you buy the best you can afford and you buy it once. 

ttyymmnn > VincentMalamute-Kim 04/23/2019 at 18:29

0

I looked at quartz, and a piece the size for my bathroom would have been $800 for the most boring stuff they had. As soon as I went to something interesting it just got more expensive. I got a good deal on this remnant, I believe. Very happy with it.

I’ll be paying attention to your remodel.

I’ll be posting as we go along!

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/23/2019 at 18:30

1

Thanks. It helps to have gone through the process of remodeling the kitchen. Similar process, smaller scale. Our contractor also has connections with tile people, granite people, etc and we get better prices on things because of that. The rep at the tile place helped a ton with the color palette. She’s got a great eye. She picked the colors for our kitchen paint and floor and I think she absolutely nailed it.

shop-teacher > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 18:31

1

Sounds/looks good to me!

Having everything picked out and obtained ahead of time is key to the success of a remodel that is quick and painless as possible. That’s why so many contractors end up bouncing from job to job to job, it’s waiting for materials to be picked out/received, so they go do something else in the meantime .

Your guy is obviously organized enough to not let that happen. Yo u got a good one there. Good on you for being smart enough to know that good work is worth paying for. So many don't.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 18:49

1

Buy right or buy twice. Thats my motto.

It was always funny to me how ignorant people are of business proposals. Sometimes the cheapest is the best, sometimes the most expensive, and sometimes its the person in the middle who is going to be your best value. But you have to A) get an estimate and B) take the time to read and understand it. We always provided a full written estimate with a detailed scope of work.

Funny story time - h ere’s synopsis of a real exhange we had with a potential customer:

Customer : “ So you’re at $60 ,000, I’ve got another guy who’s at $19 ,000. Can you beat his price?”

Us: “Did you compare proposals? It sounds like he’s missing something given the scope of work you told us you wanted. ”

Customer: “Well he didn’t actually give me anything in writing, but that’s the number he told us. ”

Us: “You should probably just go with him. ”

Customer: “Umm...okay? Guess you don’t want my business. ” *click*

The customer wanted to hookup a bunch of specialty CNC cutting equipment. It was a huge job, required a service heavy up, it was all 3 phase stuff, and there was a bunch of special control and interlock stuff . We found out through the grapevine that they had 4 bids, 3 at $60k +/- about a grand, and then the crazy lowball. Now if you get 3 bids all at one price, and one crazy low one, wouldn’t it occur to you that maybe 1 of your bidders doesn’t know or understand the scope of work?

Turns out the customer went with the low bidder. That contractor allegedly had an “expert” who had put that quote together then ended up quitting between when the bids were submitted and when the contract was awarded. So they started the job, immediately realized they were in over their heads and totally hosed , and started round- robin calling us and the other 2 contractors begging one of us to sub-contract to them. I don’t know what ever happened but I know we told them, several times, “Sure, we’ll do it for our original quote, $60k” and they said no way, there’s no way they could get th e customer to agree to that.

ttyymmnn > shop-teacher 04/23/2019 at 18:50

1

When he did our kitchen remodel, he had everything so well orchestrated that I think there were only two down days during the whole project. So he went and built a deck somewhere. It’s been a little hectic, getting everything in place in a relatively short time, but we’ve been kicking this project down the road for a long time, and having a deadline helped us get it started. 

ttyymmnn > Snuze: Needs another Swede 04/23/2019 at 18:54

0

We found out through the grapevine that they had 4 bids, 3 at $60k +/- about a grand, and then the crazy lowball. Now if you get 3 bids all at one price, and one crazy low one, wouldn’t it occur to you that maybe 1 of your bidders doesn’t know or understand the scope of work?

This just doesn’t seem that hard to figure out. When I went looking at quartz countertops for the bathroom, everywhere I went (that my contractor recommended) came in at just about the same price. That tells me that that is what I will expect to pay for that product. I may not want to spend that amount, but that’s just what it costs. It’s not rocket science. As it is, I got a nice deal on that remnant, and I’m very happy.

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 19:35

1

I will paying close attention. I need to replace the tub in my only bathroom and I am not looking forward to it. There will be surprises, oh yes, lots of surprises, like possibly having to replace the floor or supporting joists as bath is on second floor. Woe to the Republic. 

ranwhenparked > VincentMalamute-Kim 04/23/2019 at 20:42

0

That probably means you at least have a cast iron tub though. 

VincentMalamute-Kim > ranwhenparked 04/23/2019 at 22:33

0

bah - shower only. I swear master bathroom is about 25 sq ft.

VincentMalamute-Kim > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 22:38

1

I’ve gone to see a few CL quartz kitchen counters that were ripped out - $ 200 -500 for enough to re do my kitchen. But damn - there was a reason they tore out the quartz - patterns were so bad and bland . Not worth the cheap price.

ttyymmnn > VincentMalamute-Kim 04/23/2019 at 22:56

0

I’m very happy with the quartz I got in my kitchen. And it was in the middle of the range. There’s a link to pictures of the kitchen in the op. But yes, there is some extremely boring quartz out there. 

VincentMalamute-Kim > ttyymmnn 04/23/2019 at 23:16

0

ah - I checked out your kitchen link. Not bad - but your bathroom granite is eye-catching.