Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are thinking about DIYing our basement bath, but we can't just hire a plumber --we would also need help with framing the shower and walls. Is there anybody you can hire as a subcontractor for those jobs? Carpenter?

Of course. You can sub out any part of the job you wish. However be aware that the trades are intertwined. Carpenter will come and frame walls. You'll pay him for his work. Plumber will come and do his work. And then he'll tell you that the carpenter needs to do something else before he can continue. The carpenter has completed his work for you. Your new job is pretty small. He'll get to you when he can. Meanwhile the plumber is waiting or moved onto another job.

Yes, I agree, you are going to be a total pain for any contractor. But you can paint once the job is done, or tile the floor. And you can do all the demo work before they start.

Anonymous wrote:We are thinking about DIYing our basement bath, but we can't just hire a plumber --we would also need help with framing the shower and walls. Is there anybody you can hire as a subcontractor for those jobs? Carpenter?

Of course. You can sub out any part of the job you wish. However be aware that the trades are intertwined. Carpenter will come and frame walls. You'll pay him for his work. Plumber will come and do his work. And then he'll tell you that the carpenter needs to do something else before he can continue. The carpenter has completed his work for you. Your new job is pretty small. He'll get to you when he can. Meanwhile the plumber is waiting or moved onto another job.

Minimum 10k. But it ain't going to be fancy.

We are thinking about DIYing our basement bath, but we can't just hire a plumber --we would also need help with framing the shower and walls. Is there anybody you can hire as a subcontractor for those jobs? Carpenter?

Be sure to use a master plumber. We had to have parts of the plumbing redone.

Hire a plumber to do the plumbing and DIY the rest. Very few companies will work with DIY.

OP here - thanks, this is great information. Just about where I thought it would be, which makes me feel better.

Question again - does anyone know if there is a local company that lets you help out with the redo to save on the labor costs? We can paint, lay tile, etc. We both know how to put in lighting, etc. It's just that we know the plumbing and laying down the right sort of moisture proof materials underneathe.

$10K for basic redo.

Around 10k, but that could go up substantially if there is water damage. You probably don't want a sliding glass door with kids. Hopefully, you'll reconfigure the master bath to be more functional - which, of course, would probably add to the costs.

We spent about $12K all in with GC as part of a larger job. New tile, tub, floor, vanity, sinks, light fixture, paint, toilet. All Home Depot-quality materials -- nothing high end. No plumbing moved. We kept it very simple and are very happy with the result.

I would guess around $10,000 depending on size. Most of it is going to be labor costs and what kind of tile you pick.

We have two full bathrooms in the upstairs that are in need of redoing, top to bottom. They're original from 1981, but the previous owner did not take care of this place at all. Most of this house has been a fixer upper, and we've slowly been fixing small things here and there over that last three years (paint, new flooring in areas). As much as we can DIY or get handyman to assist with as we can.

But bathrooms are a big item and we have no idea how much to set aside. We have a smaller full bathroom, with a toilet and sink across from a built-in tub with sliding doors. Our master bath is bigger, but weird - a huge sink and counter, a toilet, and this itsy-bitsy shower carved into the side of a wall that my husband cannot fit in.

We wanna do what we call the "guest" bathroom first - we use this mostly anyway since the other shower is small, and we're adopting in the next year, so this'll also be the kids room.

It needs everything from new tile, to a new tub, a new toilet, new sink, etc. Possibly some flooring fixing because there is lots of water damage. No clue how much to budget, and I hate to go into a show room to get an estimate because pushy salesman really bother us. We don't need a "designer" bathroom - something that looks classic, clean, functional is all we need.

What are we looking at for one bathroom that doesn't need a redesign so much as a redo? 10k? 15k? We live just north of Wheaton.