I'm near the end of a major master bath remodel. Very briefly just off the top of my head ...

Pocket door materials for $150 seems low. We put one in. You'll need a solid core door, the pocket door hardware (Johnson's is good, don't scrimp, you don't want to have to replace it later), some kind of door pull. Think: heavy is good.

Do you need new thresholds for shower and under pocket door?

How will the faucets in the shower be set up? Are you reusing existing pieces?

My permits cost me nearly $500.

Critical point just made. You really must have the contractor get the permits in their name. In addition to what livewireoak mentioned, if anyone gets hurt on the job you want the contractor to be held liable, not you.

I agree that you should hold off for now unless you want to do DIY.

This post was edited by ceezeecz on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 12:11

I don't see any way to get this lower short of sacrificing material quality, reducing scope, or DIY. I notice the list includes installation of 5 recessed lights, but there is no budget line for those 5 lights. There is also no mention of venting or purchasing a vent fan.

I agree with those above about the permits. And depending on your market the labor might be ok, but it does sound a bit low. My own contractor let me buy the visible fixtures, but he chose and purchased anything needed for structure, support, attaching, leveling, etc. Our labor was in that ballpark, but we just replaced with no moving, adding, rearranging, etc., but it did include permits, construction materials, and the tub/surround.

Oh yeah, there are red flags here. First of all is you mentioning that you're the one pulling permits and buying the nuts and bolts. That's not how a real contractor operates. Ever. He might be OK with you buying the major fixtures that are decorative, but he'd send you to his supply house so he could be sure of the quality and you'd buy something that he knows works. You're already starting off the project with the wrong products, and telling him to install them. There's no contingency, which there HAS to be a good sized one in case of moisture damage after you do the demo.

I think you need to rethink the DIY aspect if you want to do this bath for your budget. Frankly, all you need is another set of muscles for the heavier stuff, and if hubby can do that occasionally, YOU can do everything else. Really. I promise. You just need the time to read up on it, and the time for the project to drag on longer. If you've got both of those things and are willing to buy a few tools, you can do it.

If you're not willing to DIY, then I agree with downgrading your materials by quite a bit, or better yet, saving more money to do it later. With a REAL contractor instead of a handyman type guy.

Thanks you everyone. It seems as though the consensus is there are too many red flags. He did offer to bid with or without materials and we asked him to bid without. I just expected there to be more materials, so I was concerned either corners would be cut or costs we should have known about will come up. In TX and labor is low and he is doing the majority of work himself. He has done beautiful work and we talked to a reference that gave him glowing reviews. I definitely get the point though, that since he will not pull permits, we are in essence the GC and would also need an insurance rider.

We just had a really good experience with our floor guy that did our nail down hand scraped floors that are gorgeous and great quality, we always get compliments on them. We did the same thing where he quoted labor, he then ordered all supplies and we called and paid for it, we got a great deal.

We are actually ok with acting as the GC and hiring labor, but need to do some more research. To make sure we know what to look for and check on the permit process. Thanks again everyone

I think labor is right on par and I live in Texas. We are not like most of the country where others on this board live.

Things to think about:
Johnson hardware for the pocket door ($140 with the framing kit from home depot with free shipping. Tax was cheaper than shipping from Johnson themselves)
Specify a type of waterproofing. The only ones I would go with are Kerdi or Hydroban (I will be doing hydroban on my remodel Im doing). I would also use the drain associated with the brand and not a generic.
Install a nice vent fan. Panasonic fans have good reviews and that is what I ended up with. A good timer switch is fairly cheap.

Although I agree that you should make sure you do this right, I don't think it's a problem to pull the permits yourself. I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodel/bath addition (in Austin) and pulled the permits myself. They have the contractor's name on them, and inspections will all be performed as they would if he had done it. There's no reason to pay a professional for that if you have the time.

Also, I wonder if you could do a hybrid DIY to save money. For instance, I'm having a contractor do all the framing, plumbing, electrical, etc., but installing flooring and tiling the shower/backsplash myself. It's saving me a lot of money, but I still have the assurance that the structural stuff is being done properly.

Thanks Miriam, that makes a lot of sense. We are going to tackle the guest bath ourselves when life isn't so hectic. My 9 1/2 month old just started walking and DH just started his PhD and cant commit to tiling on a timeline.

I do feel better though about pulling my own permits. I talked to our "contractor" and he said he would put on the Hydroban at no additional costs, and typically he just goes with the homeowner to purchase the construction items so they don't miss anything.

ceezeecz thank you for the pocket door and permit info. I am going to check out Johnson hardware. Yes we do need threshholds I completely forgot about that.

8pmg I definitely think the TX market is different. We have a little of a language barrier, but he definitely doesn't seem like a hack. When I told him we wanted two showerheads one rainshower and one sliding bar, he asked if I wanted it like the last bathroom he did and showed me the attached pic. Uhhh no, too fancy for us *lol*.

I am going to continue to agonize about this for the next couple day's and drive DH crazy. It's hard to put it off, because DH used it as his paint room and didn't clean up. Previous owner smoked in the house for 20 years, we had to prime and paint every single surface. Ripped out all the laminate and carpet and put in hardwood throughout.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Also, when getting tiling quotes, if you want any decorative tiling, tiling on the diagonal, etc. that usually is more expensive because the labor is a bit more intensive (and often you need some additional material). These were spec'd out in our kitchen remodel.

Our contractor supplied most materials for construction. We supplied appliances (worked with them at the plumbing supply to choose), granite (through their recommended supplier and fabricator), fixtures, tile, and flooring. They provided me with amounts they needed for the flooring and tile and I placed the orders and paid for these items directly. They billed me (attaching receipts) for materials like electrical switches, paint, can lights. They pulled the permits and handled the inspections.

There is no substitute for a contractor you can work with. As hard as it is to wait, like everyone else, I strongly urge you to hold off until you can do it properly.

I second jrueter.

rmiriam - I would have rather done the electrical, framing and plumbing rather than the tiling. Tiling is an art in my opinion and you can tell the difference in most DIY vs a pro. I have done quite a bit of tiling as a DIY person and still dont think Im that great. Electrical is much easier than most would think, framing is easy (easier if you have a nail gun), and plumbing isnt terribly hard if you are not moving drains.

I hope your project turns out well, but there are a LOT of tales of people proceeding with projects despite red flags, and they should have listened to their guts on that. I hope you're among the 10% rather than the 90%.

Please keep us updated and post some pics of the progress!

I remodeled - DIY - one of our bathrooms last year (not the master bath) The cost of materials was about $8000.

I think with labor you should plan on $15,000.

The probably about GeoffreyB's price is everyone is different. I remodeled a small bathroom (DIY) at my fiance's parents house for ~$2000. That included new vanity, toilet, cabinet, medicine cabinet, tub surround (tile) shower valve, floor tile, light fixture and tub/shower trim.

Thank You everyone. We have decided to hold off on the MB renovation and just continue to focus on the design aspect and buy materials when we find good deals. The work we have to do in the kitchen is less invasive so we are going to start there, hopefully we will have gained enough confidence when we revisit the bathroom next year we can do some of the work ourselves.