DIY Budget Bathroom Renovation Progress
I’m saving all the videos and pictures of this DIY Budget Bathroom Renovation on my Instagram Highlights. Click here.
We came into this month super motivated to continue our work on the master bathroom renovation! We realized before the end of January that we’d need to hire a plumber to replace the trim kit (particularly, the shower handle), as it required cutting into the shower wall and doing plumber-things we weren’t comfortable doing ourselves.
Tom, our handy and talented plumber, came over on February 1 willing and ready to do what he could. After spending a few hours working on the stubborn shower handle, he declared the trim kit I had purchased wouldn’t work, that he could order one that would, and he’d be back in a couple weeks.
When he returned, he worked his magic and the new fixtures look fab! We had verrrry old corroded silver metal. It was nasty. Now it’s lovely, old world bronze.
A and I collected a couple of estimates for a vanity rebuild, for both solid wood and shaker cabinets. All estimates came in exceeding the amounts we’d had in our heads for our budget bathroom renovation. For example, one estimate was $2500 just for shaker (not real wood) cabinets! We scratched our heads and mulled over every idea we could think of. We also went to Home Depot to check out custom countertop options, and found a few we really love. This one is our fav, considering that this isn’t our forever house, and we don’t need the very best.
Why the Vanity is a Pain
If you’re just joining this process, here’s why the vanity is such a pain.
- It’s not a common size (77″ wide)
- We have lots of exposed piping under the cabinet, with pipes coming and/or going on both the left and right sides of the vanity wall, as well as running the entire width of the wall.
Because of those reasons, we must strategically figure out how to get a vanity cabinet to cover the entire width. We did talk to Tom about moving the plumbing behind the wall (~$700), which would mean we could potentially put in a common-sized vanity (73″, for example), but then the concern becomes the flooring (we’re sure there’s not currently tile under the vanity).
Currently Debating…
- How much we want to invest in this project–we’d like to sell this place next year and don’t want to dump thousands of dollars into the bathroom
- Painting the existing particle board cabinet, replacing cabinet hardware and possibly sinks, repairing the wall where I’ve already removed the back and side splashes from, leaving the existing ugly countertop
- Painting the existing cabinet, new hardware, new countertop and sinks
- Self-install shaker cabinets (learn how to use a saw to make necessary cuts to work around pipes) + new countertop and sinks
- Why we started this in the first place 😉
Since we want to make the best decision for our life at the moment, we’re carefully considering all of our options. This month has been busy, which has distracted our focus (and budget) from the project, too. I’m thankful I came into this project with a “three month outlook”, because it’s certainly going to be, at least.
Do you have any brilliant, budget friendly ideas? We don’t want to exceed $2500 to finish the entire project (mirrors, cabinet, countertop).
Month Two Cost Breakdown
- new cartridge for the bathtub handle
- new trim kit
- return the trim kit I’d previously purchased (crediting that return to this month’s expenses)
- plumber’s fee for installing the trim kit (it was past our skill level)
- HOA bill to have the water shut off, twice (this pissed me off–we’re not allowed to have our plumber shut the water off, or do it ourselves, and it must be scheduled in advance, etc. Annoying to have all the regulations, make all necessary arrangements, and never once hear we’d be getting charged, but we received a bill in the mail. We’re gunna oppose it and see what happens, and if things work out in our favor, I’ll credit that to next month.)
For a total of $549 for the month and an overall total of $1980.
Month Three Aspirations
- new shower head (the shower head the trim kit came with is basic, and I’m extra) with detachable wand (for bathing the dogs, watering my plants and cleaning the tub with ease
- vanity decision
- mirrors
- shelving (putting shelving on each side of the wall for our personal care items) + light decor
Realistically, we might not finish in March. I’ll be taking an unexpected trip to Kansas and it’s Anthony’s birthday month, and those two events take budget priority.
As always, I’ll keep you all updated on InstaStories with the day-to-day progress (as well as my daily life in general), and will do a report like this for month three.
xo,