Remodeling my bathroom
How much it cost, what I researched, avoiding toxins, what it was like, before and after.
In January, I called a plumbing company to fix a leak and unclog some drains in my guest bathroom. Somehow that led to me getting referred to an independent contractor to remodel my owner bathroom – the bathroom that shoots off from our main owner bedroom. After doing some research and comparing prices with bigger companies, I decided to risk it and stick with the independent contractor referral. I was hesitant at first since he just seemed like a random guy with no website, but he happily provided his master plumber license and other customer referrals. I also figured that someone from this bigger company referred him, so indirectly that company's reputation was on the line.
Table of contents
- Cost breakdown
- Pictures
- Materials I researched and selected
- Scope creep
- The actual experience
- Closing thoughts
Cost breakdown
Including materials I purchased, the overall cost with his labor was less than half of the lowest quotes I received from bigger companies. Those bigger companies also included home designers, probably pick all the materials, then up-charge customers for them.
With the arrangement I had with the independent contractor, I could directly purchase the materials with no upfront charge. I needed to make my own design decisions, but I was okay with that. My contractor was happy to pick up large materials and dispose of waste, included in his very reasonable labor price. Wow!
Context: USD, Washington DC area
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Labor + paint | $9,561.00 |
| Labor optional tip | $100.00 |
| Shower pan | $306.34 |
| Organic cotton shower curtain | $59.95 |
| Shower curtain rod | $33.98 |
| Shower curtain hooks | $9.95 |
| Shower glass wall tiles | $1,152.00 |
| Bathroom floor tiles | $140.28 |
| Light fixture | $100.06 |
| Mirror cabinet | $236.36 |
| Sink cabinet | $880.00 |
| Towel rod | $49.98 |
| Towel hook | $22.98 |
| Sink faucet | $33.91 |
| Shower safety grab bar | $42.81 |
| Shower trim kit | $80.38 |
| Toilet | $230.00 |
| Bidet | $28.71 |
| Shower valve | $66.39 |
| Organic cotton bath rug | $19.95 |
| Total | $13,155.03 |
| Est. separate tax | $300.00 |
| $13,455.03 |
Pictures
This bathroom was designed by me, not some professional designer. So maybe it's not fancy, but it more than suits my partner's and my tastes!
Bathroom remodel: before and after
Materials I researched and selected
With the help of ChatGPT 😄 and my own "manual" sleuthing, it took a weekend and several days on and off to research what I wanted for my bathroom remodel. I wanted to prioritize low maintenance, low-to-no toxic materials that my contractor was comfortable using, and timeless style.
Here are some key decisions I made:
Where I ordered from
In general I tried to order from my local Home Depot for most materials and the Vermont Country Store for fabrics (organic cotton mats, shower curtain). I preferred Home Depot for a few reasons:
- in case we needed to do any timely returns or exchanges;
- better support for my local economy; 🤞
- I figured that store was easier for my contractor to use independently; and
- I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Home Depot provides next-day delivery for a lot of items for free, without any fancy membership beyond a free one. This was super handy for last-minute purchases I needed to make for things I forgot, or when there was scope creep.
I only used Amazon when the price for something was much cheaper, and the thing wasn't a critical material.
(In general, I also am trying to order less from Amazon.)
Shower
- For shower wall tiles, I picked clear/white glass. It is environmentally friendly and safe, and it repels water well. It seems to be similar maintenance effort to other tiles. I can use glass cleaner for it. My contractor suggested building them up to the ceiling.
- My contractor also added a built-in wall shelf for toiletries. I love it.
- For the shower floor, I picked a shower pan. This was replacing shower floor tiles that got dark and very hard to clean with all the grout. Shower pans are much easier to clean. They are also a lot easier to install (so, cheaper for my contractor's labor and less room for error) and have extended manufacturer warranties. I made sure to read reviews for any concerns of cracking, angle misalignment (the angles should flow toward the drain for water to properly drain out), and slippage.
- For metal in general, I picked all brushed nickel finish. I really like that color.
- For the shower trim, I picked a single-handle one to adjust between hot and cold water, replacing a two-handle one. Single handle is so much easier to use.
- I opted for a shower curtain rod to drape with my choice of organic cotton water resistant shower curtain. (I found one that could strongly stick to the glass tiles without having to be screwed in.) This was replacing a shower door that had gotten grimy and was always a pain to clean around the trim and where the two glass door pieces overlapped. In contrast, a shower curtain can just be thrown in the washing machine every few weeks. I already had one in the guest bathroom and was pleased with its performance so far.
- In the absence of a shower door, bathtub wall, or grouted soap dish, I imagined standing on the shower pan (even though I researched for a grippy-floor shower pan), surrounded by glass tiles and a built-in shelf, i.e., without anything to grip in case I slipped or just needed extra support while showering. So I also picked a shower grab bar to be installed.
General area
- For bathroom floor tiles, I picked white-gray ones from a company called Daltile. It is a U.S. company that explicitly says they do not use lead or other toxic materials in their tiles. Apparently a good majority of tiles on the market still use lead. ☠️
- For wall paint, I picked a light gray color from the BEHR Marquee line. It is low VOC and low-microbial.
I researched other materials like low/no-VOC grout, water sealant, etc. I sent these notes to my contractor as preferred materials, but in the end I left it up to his choice. I didn't want to be a difficult, picky customer, and I didn't want him to get too much out of his comfort zone and mess things up with materials he wasn't familiar with.
Sink area
- For the mirror vanity, I picked a large (30in wide) medicine cabinet with mirrors and shelving. Compared to the mirror it was replacing, this greatly increased the neat and hidden storage room we could have in the bathroom.
- For the light fixture, I picked one that let me swap out light bulbs so that I didn't have to replace the whole fixture when a light would eventually burn out. I had to double-check for a fixture that did not have the California Prop 65 warning label. ⚠️ A surprising amount of the ones on the market have this.
- For the sink cabinet, I picked one that was already preassembled (less labor and room for error) with real wood, multiple shelves, and soft close hinges. The previous sink cabinet just had one large opening below the sink with no shelves, so it was messy inside.
- For the sink faucet, similar to the shower trim, I picked a single-hole one with a single handle. This was replacing a 3-hole faucet with one handle for hot water and one for cold water. One handle is a lot easier for someone to use.
Toilet
- For the toilet, I picked a dual flush one so we can use less water for just "number 1". We already have a dual flush on the main floor, and I've liked it. I also picked a rounded seat instead of an elongated one. I like the shape of rounded and that it takes up less space.
- For the bidet, I picked a simple, sleek cold water one, similar to ones we already had in the house. It was replacing an older cold water one that looked less sleek. I didn't want to upgrade to a much more expensive, more complicated one with warm water and electrical controls. As an engineer myself, I value having the simplest, lowest maintenance, lowest cost thing that is still good quality and meets my needs. I've used electrical ones that have warm water and sing to you. 🎶 While those are fun, I don't want to deal with maintaining them or paying for that extra electricity for the controls and water warming. I also realized my simple cold water ones are a lot faster because they just turn a valve; whereas the electrical ones need to boot up and warm up water. I got spoiled with (cold and) instant. 😅 Worst case, if it completely fails, it's really cheap to replace them.
Scope creep
Like with almost every engineering or home improvement project, scope increased beyond what we originally envisioned. At first I just wanted the shower to be redone and toilet replaced. But when my contractor asked casually about replacing other things, I started to expand my mind.
Replacing the floor became highly recommended when the contractor removed our toilet and found that the existing floor tile was lazily placed on top of existing, older floor tile. Then, with replacing the floor, it wasn't much more of a stretch to also replace the sink cabinet, lights, and mirror vanity.
When my contractor removed the existing shower walls, he found out there was plenty of room for us to expand the shower from the existing 48 inches length to a standard 60 inches. So, that was nice, and I knew from my prior research that there were more options for shower pans in that length.
All of these things added up, and so the shower remodel turned into a full bathroom remodel. But my contractor was so reasonable and chill, that the labor cost increase was only $1000 more from the original quote. I just had to buy the extra materials, which I was happy to for the long term investment and enjoyment.
In the end, I'm super happy.
The actual experience
I'm super lucky that I work from home most of the time, so I was able to be home while the contractor and his partner redid the bathroom. It took them about 10 days of labor. This labor included the demolition, construction, picking up of large materials I ordered from Home Depot (about 10 min drive away), returning large materials as needed (I ordered too many glass tiles, and we needed to return the smaller shower pan before we decided mid-way to expand the shower), and cleaning up and disposing of materials. It was really cool to learn that Home Depot has a system where you can order something for pickup and then designate someone else as the pickup person. This is such a useful feature for regular customers and their contractors, the latter whom often have Home Depot Pro accounts and large vehicles for transporting construction materials.
For maybe 6 out of those 10 days, there was some strong off-gassing from whatever water sealant, grout, etc. the team used. I suspect they did not go with the sealant, grout, etc. I researched that were supposed to be low/no-VOC 😓 but it's okay.
While we waited for the smell to dissipate, we turned on the bathroom vents and a Dyson air filter, opened the windows for a few hours (it's February and quite cold, so it would've been uncomfortable to have it open 24 hours), and at night slept in our guest bedroom.
Sleeping in the guest room was in itself an unexpectedly fun experience for my partner and me. It felt like we were vacationing in our own home. 🌴 I was also pleased at the quality of guest bed I bought 😤 and surprised that I actually slept better in the guest room than in our normal bedroom. ❗My partner suggested it's because the window blinds cover more light, and it's farther away from the main road (quieter).
On the final day, my contractor returned all the unneeded materials and picked up a few last minute trims I wanted – a dual towel bar and a towel hook. I was surprised to learn that I didn't need to be present for him to return the materials; he just needed the order numbers I used.
Aside: moving back to our main bedroom, I experimented with closing the window blinds at night – before, I would leave them open because I thought I would benefit from being able to wake up naturally with the sun. Sure enough, I slept a lot better. ⭐ 🛌 I still woke up early, I think primarily due to two things: our thermostat kicking the heat on at a certain time in the morning (so my body will get too warm to sleep), and then my body being used to waking up early. As for noise, so far not a big issue.
Closing thoughts
I'm so happy with the remodel! The overall price was incredibly reasonable after I compared with other companies and reflected on all the labor that went into it, for the final payoff.
I now have an independent plumber I can count on for future needs as well, who is likely cheaper than the bigger companies and always nice and on-time. On time! Never too early, never too late. Especially for that bathroom he rebuilt from scratch, I imagine he feels an extra incentive to build it well and maintain it.
Later this year or next year I would love for him to remodel the guest bathroom as well--after we rebuild our savings and his schedule clears up, that is... 🙂