updating our only bathroom - detailed question

[Anonymous]

We have a 2bed/1ba house that were we to try to sell would probably be listed around $400k, but we're not planning to sell for a while. We've been updating things around the house and have started on the bathroom. It is your typical late 40s black and white tile bath. We have recently replaced the vanity, mirror and lighting and that has helped update it a lot. We need to replace the toilet and we need to do something with the shower, which is the big question. The tile is in good shape, white square with black subway around the edge - this is in the bathtub area and runs about 4.5' high outside of the tub. We have a typical b/w deco floor as well that we plan to keep and the bathtub has a nice deco detail and is in good shape. I'm trying to figure out how much we should do/spend to update the shower.

Here's what I'm considering -

a) replace the grout around the tile in the tub area and replace the plumbing fixtures. We would need to replace the tile around the fixtures b/c they weren't done well during the last fixture replacement. Since old white tile is hard to match, we would put new black subway or other black tile around the fixtures (open to other ideas on this too).

b) tear out all the tiling and fixtures in the bathtub and replace with new, but what? We'd still need to match up to the b/w tile on the walls outside of the tub. Would this make any sense since the tile would be different from the tile outside of the tub?

c) replace all tile and fixtures in the tub, rip out the tile on the walls outside of the tub and replace with wainscoting or just mud the walls and paint.


I feel like a and c are our only real options, but can't decide if going with c will get us any more resale for the money we would spend over using that money on another project like a patio.

[Anonymous]

Normally I would recommend to leave old stuff in place if it still looks good because people do find more charm (usually) in vintage than brand new. That said, showers are tough. Almost everyone I know, myself included, has ripped out shower tile to find that something stupid happened back there...as in, they attached tile directly to regular drywall and now it's all rotted out. Usually this is the case, though in a 40's house it may not be. It seems I hear this more about 70's / 80's and then real real old homes. I know that's not exactly what you are asking, but I did want to throw it out there. Truthfully from what you said, you may get more resale value off a patio though. It's something a bit more obvious than bathroom tile in the far corners of the bathroom. I hope that helped at least a little.

Remember, if you had 5 bathrooms, and people saw renovation needed all around, they would probably not want to deal with that. But in this case, you may get a single or couple who buys, and they may have no issue doing that tile work themselves, or living with it and chalking it up to charm. Think about you your buyer wll be and then try to figure out if you were that person, what would you want.

[Anonymous]

If the tile in the shower is still in good condition, don't fix it. Honestly, with a 2/1, the house is not going to be on the radar for luxury buyers. And, the old black/white tiles have charm. Spend some money on fresh towels and a shower curtain when you put the home on the market. And, of course, declutter. Make your bathroom look like a hotel.

If you have the $$$ to spend, don't dismiss curb appeal. Add charm to the front door and porch and update the landscaping. Well-placed trees work wonders. You need to get buyers in the door.

Also, kitchens are a good place to invest, if yours isn't updated.

[Anonymous]

Its hard for me to visualize but I would probably go for option A (but perhaps budget for option C in case you run into problems). New grout can make a big difference and with new fixtures - should make the shower look like new.

I think removing wall tiles can be very tricky - sometimes requiring replacing the drywall because they don't come off cleanly.