Update an 80's Master Bath

15 years ago

Got a bid for my largish master bath area for tear out and total redo (but I had to haul the refuse away!) that came to $39K. Have a 5'x5'x 6'tall glass double shower with gold metal trim and 4" in tiles , 6 foot 22" deep whirlpool tub of cult. marble, cult marble 5 ft vanities (his and hers) and commode in its own room with regular wood door. Home was a never lived-in model and came this way. Ugly original walpaper on walls. Carpeted.

We want to update for resale. Have had multiple realtor opines. Take out tub, leave tub, put tile on floor, no leave carpet, nuke old shower, etc, etc. Home is 1 1/2 story about 2800 sq ft main floors. I want to make shower with opening on one side facing away from doorway, make tiled surround and put in some modern fixtures in shower, tub, sinks. Replace old chandelier over tub. Take off wallpaper and paint and that it is.

Questions: Do I need to do tile on floor? Heat it? Replace tub- with what or leave it? Put on new counter tops? Replace wood bases, too? How much do you spend so you can sell but get your money back? Or do you just leave it and give an allowance to the buyer?

Would appreciate feedback. This is in a suburb of Kansas City, MO, on the Kansas side.

Thanks

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Comments (2)

wascolette
15 years ago
I would definitely keep a tub. I would definitley tear out the carpet & tile the floor.

If the shower tile and the cul. marble are in good condition I would say you could leave those too. That is, if this is just for re-sell. If it was a house I was going to stay in I would tear out the cul. marble too. Yet I have friends who just built a new house and they put in cul. marble because they like it.

I would think updating at as little expense would be the goal since you want to resell. $39K sounds very high.
User
15 years ago
I'm a realtor and can't believe any realtor would advise you to keep carpet in a bathroom! IMHO that is bad advise as it's a big negative to most buyers. However, tile can be pricey and is not necessarily the only option available to you. If you like the look but want to save money, Dupont has a laminate available that looks just like tile and could be easier or less expensive to install. If you're interested in this option, you can find it at the big box stores.

Rule of thumb when preparing your home for sale: Keep updates to a minimum if you can.

I'd suggest new paint in a neutral color, but don't remove the tub, because the next person may really want it there. If it's in poor condition maybe you can just have it refinished which is less expensive. I would definately NOT invest 39k in a bathroom remodel because in this market you most likely won't recoup your costs at sale.

An alternative option would be to offer a concession at sale for upgrades to the bathroom of 3-5,000. That would be appealing to most buyers and would save you the trouble of doing anymore than painting. Good luck!!
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This is my personal opinion. I'm no expert about this. I think if the house is a blank slate style-wise, you can take it in almost any direction you prefer. Although you need to have a vision for the entire home to make this work. You don't want to end up with a country kitchen, super-modern baths, and a Craftsman living room. I guess I would start by asking myself if the lines of the home are more horizontal or vertical. Again, my personal opinion, but I think horizontal lines lend themselves better to more sleek styles like modern, MCM, or whatever. Just something more streamlined. While horizontal lines lean more toward traditional, transitional, and country-ish/cottagey styles. What do YOU like? What do you envision for the rest of the home? I'm sure you'll get better, more concrete advice from others. And it may be helpful to post this question in the Home Decorating forum, too. And probably time to start finding inspiration photos.
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There is a lot I can't see from your photos. What is behind the left side of the shower tub? A closet or a room? I agree that the bathing space is awkward, but perhaps there was an important reason for it being designed this way. Taking measurements and drawing an accurate floor plan can help you see if there is room for expansion. You called this the master bath so why aren't you using it? Is it the step? The step is not a safe idea; it's something to slip/trip on. I can understand hesitating to start such a remodel, but you need to decide whether it's worth doing for your quality of life. Talk to a tile professional about what removing the step would do to the rest of the tile work. Even if you don't want to tackle redoing the shower tub, there are other, small upgrades you could do. The vanity Drawers are not properly supported anymore. This might be a handyman fix, or you could replace the existing vanity with a new one. The linen closet has no knobs on the sliding doors. Doesn't that make them difficult to open? There is no reason you can't add knobs. You could also get new standard doors for this cabinet that match your vanity door styling. As to the window into your office. Buy some decorative window film to stick to this window. You should be able to find the basic FROSTED kind at home stores, as well as some department and specialty stores. Light will pass through, but the bath will have complete privacy.
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Update an 80's Master Bath

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wascolette

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