A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day

A Bathroom Remodel--Day by Day. 

Day--Minus Two

The job: Remodel a hallway bathroom--making it as accessible as possible--and complete the job in two weeks. Will remove a tub and tiled walls and install a tiled shower. 

Room size: 5' x 10'.  

Approximate cost: $8,000. 

     The year is off to a great start, and we have a bathroom remodel job starting this coming Monday , the 9th of February. Often, when we take on a bathroom, we're asked, "How long will it take?" When I tell customers two-to four weeks, they're appalled. They think it should go much faster--and it could--if we didn't do things as we should. This particular job has a deadline--it must  be done in a two-week span. We have from the 9th until the 20th to complete the job. Our customers leave town on the 21st, so it's do or die for us on this project. It'll be tough, but we don't foresee any problems as long as we plan ahead.
    I started ordering materials that will be needed two days before we received the down payment. I usually wait until after we get the money down, but felt I needed to get my act in gear and I was pretty sure we would get the job. One item the customer wanted was a fold-up type of seat, rather than a built-in, tiled, corner seat, so I ordered a really nice teak, fold-up seat with a backrest. I figured I could use it as a sales sample, if the job didn't proceed, but we got the go-ahead, and the seat will be used as intended.

Here's the teak seat, towel bar, and paper holder.

 As we start the job, we'll post ample photos, so you can see exactly how a job is done, from start to finish. I think it will take the entire two weeks to accomplish--we won't have a day to spare, and may have to work through the weekend. Let's see how accurate I am.

 The towel bar and the paper holder are unique--each is also a grab bar. You can't tell their relative size from the photos because of the angle I used to take the pictures. The towel bar is twice the size of the paper holder.

The fold-up teak seat with back--some assembly required!

  

  Today is Saturday, Feb. 7th, and I have ordered the following:

1. Teak seat. It arrived three days ago.
2. Tile. Ordered all of it. It arrived two days ago.
3. Towel bar and paper holder. They arrived yesterday.
4. Grab bars--I purchased them last week.
5. New light over medicine cabinet. I purchased it a week ago.
6. New medicine cabinet. I purchased it three days ago.
7. New granite vanity top, with under-mount bowl, from Lowe's. I purchased it three days ago.
8. Commode: we are re-using the existing one.

Another view of the teak seat--notice the large spring assembly at the top of the photo--this baby should last a long, long time.

9. Tempered glass wing wall--NOT ordered yet. Must do soon! Waiting for the supervisor, Kirk, to get a price. Come on, Kirk! The glass will take a week to get in, and though it's one of the last items we'll install, I want to have it in our hands. (It's now Saturday afternoon and Kirk says he's got the price coming but he still doesn't know it, and the glass has NOT been ordered. Will this cause us to fail to finish in time?!?!?

10. New shower valve, shower head, and spray handle. I ordered them from Faith at Noland Company a week ago. Wow! Faith got them in within two days. We have to have the valve in our hands or we can't proceed after we demo the bathroom. Knowing the valve and shower parts are in takes a load off my mind.

11. Vanity faucet. At first, I was using an in-stock Corian top from Lowe's, and it had a 4" faucet spread already drilled. Faith at Noland had the faucet in stock. As I was looking around, though, I saw a granite vanity top for only $20.00 more, and it was in the same color-scheme as the Corian top. I made an executive decision and bought the granite top. There was one problem--it was pre-drilled for an 8" faucet spread. I called Faith and told her I needed to make an adjustment. She laughed. Making changes is part of our business, and Faith is understanding when I tell her things have changed. The only problem is that the new faucet wasn't in stock, and needed to be ordered, but Faith acted immediately. I'm sure the faucet will arrive before we need it.

Now--if only we had the glass.

    So that's where we stand this morning, Saturday, the 7th of February, two days before the job begins. Everything we need, except for two items--the glass wing wall and the lavatory faucet--is in our hands. We're as ready as we can be.

Next Post--Monday, Feb. 9th--or tomorrow, if I get more news on the glass wall!