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I've been lurking on here for about a year, and we're finally closing in July on our modest brick ranch in Raleigh! Yall have already been so helpful with recommendations, that I'm hoping we can squeeze a few more out of you...
We're looking to expand our very small master bath into the linen closet in the hallway to make more room for the adjacent shower. The rest of the bathroom will stay as is. I'm new to all of this, but I do not believe any plumbing will have to change since the shower will remain in the same place. We want to expand the shower 17 inches into the closet (then dry-wall the hall opening to the closet) then tile the newly expanded shower (and floors if budget permits). Hoping to keep this all under $5,000 but we do not know if that's reasonable. We don't know where to start with this. We're not looking for top of the line tile, and have taken a few trips to Lowes to check out their selection. Hoping for larger tile for the majority of the shower and a small glass mosaic trim. Do we hire a tile specialist for this small job? A general contractor? Any recommendations?
We would also like to add in a few more cabinets in the kitchen, remove an opening in the wall (yes, it's load bearing) and add in a small amount of counter for the bar. 3-4 base cabinets & counter on one wall, opening opposite wall and extra counter to accommodate some bar stools with that wall opening. We've looked at basic cabinet prices, but without knowing average labor costs it's hard to determine an estimate for all of this.
(We'll also need an electrician, plumber, and roofer to fix some basic items from the inspection. Nothing major, but we want qualified and certified people).
Firm believer in you pay for what you get, but we're also first time home buyers looking to keep these projects as small as possible. It's difficult being a young homeowner trying to hire for all of this as we don't have friends or neighbors who have done renovations in the past and can pass along recommendations. Thank you in advance for being friendly internet neighbors!
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 06-06-2012 at 10:35 AM..
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Top of the head you're well in excess of $10,000.
The bathroom work alone will be more than $5000.
Thanks! Sorry that's what I meant by the $5k estimate, solely for the bathroom project. We're receiving an allowance as the shower isn't usable as-is. I'm hoping if we remove the existing tile ourselves that can at least cut down on some labor costs. We won't be living there while this is happening, already have budgeted for the extra rent/mortgage payment.
first, do you have a Realtor? Are you saying your budget comes from an agreement after receiving the inspection that the Sellers will give you $X towards replacing the shower, or this is from before?
The long and short answer is to get a licensed GC to handle all of this for you, except perhaps some demolition as you've noted. Of course, that will only be a fraction of the cost.
Have you looked into a 203K loan that would help capitalize some of these valuable improvements?
If you need a licensed GC, I have posted many times before about who I used on my own house renovations and additions - I can re-post his info if necessary but he's very qualified to do this work.
Thanks BoBromhal! Yes, we have a realtor and a contract on the house (just got through the inspection). We're going with BB&T's CHIP program to reduce our down payment to have more cash on hand. Aside from the shower, the renovations we're looking to complete arent necessary for the house to function, but would make it more enjoyable for the next 10+ years we'll be in it! In our contract we're getting an allowance to fix the shower, and hoping our allowance ($5,500) will cover the cost of the new shower. We're planning the kitchen changes out of our own budget. Do you have a contractor you'd recommend?
RDUBiker, I've seen your posts (and the beautiful work you've had done), do you think he'd be willing to take on a small project like ours? Or does he typically handle large scale reno's like you had?
RDUBiker, I've seen your posts (and the beautiful work you've had done), do you think he'd be willing to take on a small project like ours? Or does he typically handle large scale reno's like you had?
Any size is fine with him. Our started out small and got really big.
I went throught something similiar, though we did not expand our shower. The house we closed on had a leak that was to be fixed. Turned out after the fact the leak was a leaking shower pan and not a leaking plumbing line. We needed to rip out the tile shower. We just redid the whole shower as well as removed the soffit above it to give the shower a taller appearance. Our job cost was as follows, estimates i don't have exact # in front of me but my amounts below are not too far off.
$2500 for the tile work(included them tearing out the shower)
$1200 or so for the actual tile
$600 for the plumbing work.
Something to keep in mind. Most shower installers i talked to did not install the doors. That required someone else to do.
Word of advice do some research on products they use and their installation methods. A good forum is John Bridge Tile forum. I read that for a good 2 months before i found the installer i decided to go with.
Word of advice do some research on products they use and their installation methods. A good forum is John Bridge Tile forum. I read that for a good 2 months before i found the installer i decided to go with but would not use again unfortunately.
Thank you for this and the estimates! I haven't heard of that forum before, will begin researching ideas!
For the kitchen, you might consider IKEA. Their systems are straightforward to install and are designed for the home-owner to DIY. You can save some money doing it yourself. We completely redid our kitchen using cabinets from IKEA and have been really pleased with the results. We did all but the electrical and ceiling drywall ourselves and had a plumbing consult, but installed the kitchen sink ourselves, too. No plumbing moved.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 06-09-2012 at 07:02 AM..
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