This guest post is by Home Improvement and DIY buff, Jim Steven
After getting bids from local contractors to renovate our Master Bathroom that ranged from $35-$45K, my wife and I decided to take it on ourselves. Since I would only have time to work the project on weekends, my initial project plan worked out to 95 days – and we were working with a budget of $20K.
Even before the first hammer-swing my timeline moved to the right; I had planned to use a tile removal company to get rid of all the 20-year-old builder grade tile. I called the guys I used in 2020 to remove about 1800 SFT of tile from the rest of the house which they did for about $2000, but when I told them I had about 100 SFT to be removed, I was told they had a $1500 minimum.
Since I needed to conserve budget to cover other unknown surprises I would encounter, I couldn’t take this hit. Plus, the fact that they wanted almost as much money for a job 18 times smaller than the previous was ludicrous! So, I decided to suck it up and do the much-hated tile removal myself adding another week to the project.
Demolition went well.
It took 7 full working days to get everything down to the studs including the dreaded tile removal and breaking up the concrete slab to relocate plumbing and recess the shower area to allow for a curbless entry shower… with many thanks to my low cost jack hammer.
Let the tiling begin!
Main area flooring went really well – fortunately my slab was almost perfectly level, albeit I moved slower than my original estimate of 12 hours, it took about 20 hours. Another slide to the right on the project plan. ☹
On to the shower, used self-leveling underlayment to get the right depth for the shower pan installation and then using the Schluter KERDI line for the shower pan and walls – so easy!!
The rest of the story is pretty much straight forward, although I lost another 10 days of timeline due to tweaking my back moving the 975 pounds of marble wall tile from my pickup to the house but after daily ice and heat augmented by Aleve and Advil, I was back at it.
The only issues encountered were related to corners that weren’t quite square making the wall tile a challenge at a couple places and replacing exhaust fans in the attic which wasn’t a technical issue just a matter of Florida summer heat making the attic space over 120F.
Final numbers – it took about 120 days to complete the project, and it came in under budget at approximately $15,500.
The only decorating detail remaining now? Custom-sized window shutters, of course. On order!
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Plantation shutters got installed today… finally at 100%
Jackhammer is a necessary tool for these Florida homes since all the plumbing is under the slab. I purchased the jackhammer for my first project on this house which was a total kitchen renovation and I had to move water and sewer along with trenching in electrical to an island. It cuts like a hot knife through butter but beware you’ll end up with Popeye forearms after a couple of days of slinging this 80 pound tool around.
Regarding inflated prices, material costs have gone crazy!
The most shocking to me was the freestanding tub filler, the very best price I found for a Delta fixture was $1700 (due to everything buried in concrete I am not comfortable going with an off-brand that I’ll never be able to find repair parts for). One part of the project actually surprised me by coming in lower that expected – the custom glass doors. Most of the prices I got for these were in the $3500 range with me doing all the labor. Since I kinda dreaded moving the 180 pound stationary piece of glass I decided to see how much it would be for a local glass company to fabricate and install and they shot me a price of $2600. I couldn’t sign that contract fast enough!!
This is absolutely gorgeous, Jim – the final master bath. But the photo that hit me hardest? The one where you’ve jack-hammered right through the slab and into the Florida soil, piled so neatly onto the bathroom floor!
Without unearthing any fire ants, I hope?? ;)
It’s really mind-boggling – some of the price quotes you received.
Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve found prices in many areas (and Home Improvement is positively one of them) have jumped 30-40% or more. It’s a whole new world. I’m not convinced, at all, it’s going to return to 2019 ‘normal levels’ perhaps… ever.
So, I plan to buy a jack hammer myself.
Stunningly beautiful bathroom renovation you did here!!