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Yak Max

How I Renovated My Own Bathroom

by yak max

When the gum chewing salesman from ReBath informed me that our bathroom could not be repaired for the $500 promotional price he committed to on the phone, but instead would require a $3,000 – $5,000 investment, I realized a do-it-myself job was in my future.

My Construction Background

While I am not a contractor, my construction resume is:

  • Tiled the floor in four rooms
  • Replaced a number of garbage disposals and toilets
  • Built a number of shelves and bookcases
  • Painted tons of rooms

The Help

I had a friend of mine who, in his “free time,” built his house.

The Project

I learned from my friend that projects like replacing a shower/bath are not difficult if you view the project not as one large task but hundreds of small steps.

The steps consisted of:

  1. The Demolition: This was the fun step. Knocking down the tile pieces, removing the garden tub and finding out that mold had grown on the fiberglass insulation.
  2. The Plumbing: While plumbing can be scary, this turned out easier than I thought.
  3. Building the Foundation: Reinforcing the wall with 2×12’s and waterproof drywall, laying membrane to prevent leaks, cement base
  4. Laying the Tile: This is the part that takes a long time, not too hard, just takes a long time
  5. Installing the Shower Doors: This made the biggest difference on the look, but took very little time
  6. Laying the Tile on the Floor to Match Shower Tile: After everything I have done before, this was fast and easy
  7. Enjoy the Shower That Cost Less Than $300 to Build.

Lessons Learned

The three pieces of advice to pass on are as follows:

  • Measure twice, cut once. This saved lots of pieces of drywall, tiles, wood, etc., from becoming scrap material
  • Think about the extras you want before you start. If I would have followed that advice, I would have had a magazine holder near my toilet and two shower heads in my one shower stall. When my friend recommended those ideas, I just wanted the project done, so nothing extra was added.
  • Be ready to give up your free time to get this project done. When I got started with the demolition, I had hoped it would go back up as fast as it came down. Instead, it took two months of working two or three nights a week and eight-hour days over the weekend.

While it was hard work and took lots of time, I was able to build the bathroom that exceeded my wife’s expectations and that was much more than any gum-chewing salesman could have done.

Related

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  • A Bathroom Renovation like No Other
  • Amateur DIY Bathroom Renovation - Foreclosure to Beautiful Space in 3 Days
  • Bathroom Renovation 101
  • Bathroom Renovation Reality Check
  • Cheap Eco-Friendly Bathroom Cleaning

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