Bathroom Design

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

We have been talking about getting our bathroom remodeled. The bathroom is orginial with the 50 year old house. Must say because it is mostly tile, it is in good shape. The sink was replaced about 5 years ago and the tub fixtures were replaced about 2 years ago.

It is the ONLY bathroom in the house. My husband wants the tub removed and just have a shower, toilet and sink. I keep thinking to have a tub/shower combination.

I also woud rather deal with tile because it seems to hold up better tha newer materials I have encountered. Guess that is why we are still in the talking stage. When we finally agree - things will start happening.

Abrowneyegirl · ‎03-15-2010

Before you get too caught up in what you want -you may want to spend some time and learn what is feasible to do in an older home and your budget. It would save a lot of headache.

Talk to some contractors first to give you some direction and clarity.

We are planning a SMALL remodel a bathroom in our new home and not one bid came in under $28,000.

Between the $$$$, dirt and headache- I really do not want to be bothered.

HGTV makes it look so easy

RedTop · ‎09-01-2010

We updated bathrooms in 2007; our main purpose was to get rid of the harvest gold colored fiberglass shower unit and one piece tub shower unit the house was literally built around.

While I am content with the bathrooms as they are now, I now wish we had left out the tub in the main bath and gone with an awesome super size tiled shower with a solid tile bench. The 4 adults in this house take showers every day. I haven't taken a tub bath in 3 years and it's been 5+ years for my husband.

I am thankful we chose raised toilets and kept the oversized shower in the master bath, as both came in very handy during my recovery from knee surgery.

With only one bath, I would be thinking of a classic, timeless design and what will work well for you as you age in that house.

Best wishes to you!

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

@RedTop wrote:
We updated bathrooms in 2007; our main purpose was to get rid of the harvest gold colored fiberglass shower unit and one piece tub shower unit the house was literally built around.

While I am content with the bathrooms as they are now, I now wish we had left out the tub in the main bath and gone with an awesome super size tiled shower with a solid tile bench. The 4 adults in this house take showers every day. I haven't taken a tub bath in 3 years and it's been 5+ years for my husband.

I am thankful we chose raised toilets and kept the oversized shower in the master bath, as both came in very handy during my recovery from knee surgery.

With only one bath, I would be thinking of a classic, timeless design and what will work well for you as you age in that house.

Best wishes to you!

Don't know your age or the age of people moving into your neighborhood should you decide to sell, but a selling point for young people with children is a bath/shower combination. However, if you are older and love the walk-in shower (which is what I love) and you don't care about who buys it or who is interested, you might look at a walk-in shower with a seat. My house is 25 years old and the baths have been all been gutted as well as kitchen and redone. There are so, so many options out there. Just get busy doing your homework and talking contractors. I did my own contract work and thereby got by cheaper. I hired subcontractors and shopped for my own lighting, mirrors, appliances, limestone, slate, granite and marble.

Janey2 · ‎06-07-2010

Much of the bathroom cost depends on the cost of the tile you choose. Tile costs vary greatly. If and when you sell your house will you able to sell without a tub? Get estimates, then decide. I just did a very small bathroom and the estimates were all over the place.

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

mememe - I know what you mean. When we first bought the house, we had the kitchen gutted and remodeled, all the windows replaced, and a new driveway. We later had a new roof and siding replaced. It went smoothly. The contractors were great and did a good job.

Fast forward to 2017 - tried to get the cement along the front of the house replaced. Called contractor got a quote $10,000. Ouch, called another Contractor, he came out gave a quote $3,600. Called and said we would like him to do the work. Never heard from him, called a couple more times and also emailed. Never heard from him.

Called another Contractor got a quote $3,000. We said we would like him to do the job. He called back a week or so later. Set up time - never showed up. We called he said his wife had a baby, he would come next week. Finally showed up and had trouble with machine taking out old cement. Left and came back next day and disappeared again. Finally day 3 got the job done. It is a just OK job.

We asked him for a quote to replace the cement pad under trash cans. Never heard from him again.

I do not have confidence in contractors like I used to. Our neighbor is having a second and third floor added to their house. The Architect messed up and the builder is trying to fix the problem.

Just Bling · ‎03-10-2010

@drizzellla I would seriously consider getting a plumber in to look at what you have. In my mom's house I sold, I couldn't replace the tile unless I practically went to the brick of the house. Years ago, they built houses different than how they do it now.

So, without spending 10's of thousands, I opted to refinish the tub and also, the same people came in and painted all the tile. They filled in the small pieces of tile that were cracked and sprayed it all. Couldn't do much with tile floor since it was actually set in concrete.

Added a shower in the tub and the entire bathroom was fresh and updated as much as it could be.

I don't think your husband knows how expensive of a project that is.

I just redid a small bathroom down to the studs and it was $12,000 and that was replacing the tub, adding a wall shower, toilet, tile floor, new fixtures, exhaust fan and vanity/sink.

candys mine · ‎08-20-2012

If you decide to put in the tub and even if you don't, consider putting the studs in the wall to accomidate senior wall handle bars to get in and out of the tub. With my senior parents that was very helpful. Even if you don't want to put a bar up now it would be easy to to put one in later. Getting over the rise of the tub became a production for them.

drizzellla · ‎03-14-2010

Thanks, Ladies. Oh, we know how much $$$ this project will probably cost. That is why we keep putting it off. The bathroom is gray tile with a touch of pink in the tile floor. It is a pale pink so we have gray carpet and cover much of the pink. The tub is pink but we have glass doors so it blocks much of the tub. And we replaced the sink with a gray sink. The wallpaper is beautiful. It was imported from England. It is mostly silver, gray and a touch of pink.

Taking out the tub would work out well for us. I never took a tub bath in this house. I think my husband did two times.

But as was said, if a younger family moved in, they would probably want to tub for the kids. We have no plans on moving but I am sure the house will be hard to sell because it does have only one bathroom. Many people are adding on to their houses and adding one or two additional bathrooms.

Thanks for your replies. Guess it is time to talk to a plumber and get his input.