Ouch! 35K for bathroom remodel?

8 years ago

Recently bought a house built in 1945, Gulf Coast of FL. House has original master bathroom, all 5x7 ft. of it. Wife says it has to go. Got some recommendations, #1 said they needed to scope the sewer line to make sure there were no problems, so they don't have to dig up a new floor in the future. Sure enough, the camera showed some sand in the cast iron pipe. The plumber said there must be a crack that's letting sand in (that's what we have for soil here) and they need to replace the sewer line with PVC. They would be taking out the whole bathroom floor down to dirt and replacing the line to about 10' beyond the house, where it connects to clay pipe that's in good shape. By doing this, the toilet can be moved, making for a nicer layout in the small room. They designed an amazing bathroom, high end fixtures, but we almost fainted when they told us it would cost 35K. They said the plumbing alone was 20K (that's about what we had budgeted for the whole bathroom reno). We went to contractor #2, who commiserated with us, came up with a design using much cheaper fixtures, at 34K. We're kind of at a stand still here. There are no problems with the plumbing requiring it to be replaced immediately, but the wife says something has to be done soon (that's pretty much her bathroom, I use the guest). What are my options? Are there fixes that can be done to a cracked sewer line, like lining it? We wouldn't be able to move the toilet, but can live with that. It's just that 35K sounds like an awful lot of money, and that sewer line only services that bathroom. There's a separate one on the other side of the house for the other bathrooms and kitchen, which will probably need to be replaced at one point or another. Talking to my neighbors, most of them have had to replace their sewer lines, and their houses aren't quite as old. I've lived in a couple of building from the late 1800's in New England and they had the original sewer lines. Does sand in the line necessarily mean it's cracked? We didn't actually see a crack, but it was more than you'd get from taking a shower after a day at the beach.

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Comments (15)

geoffrey_b
8 years ago
The sewer pipe has to be properly repaired - so you really can't count that into the bathroom remodel.

I'm a DIY Engineer. I remodeled my master bath 10 x 8 - with top of the line fixtures, tile, heated floor, new window, new door, lighting, Grohe fixtures, Toto toilet, Kohler tub - just the materials were over $15,000 - that didn't count my labor.

So I can see with the labor your bath being double when you consider labor.
echobelly
Original Author
8 years ago
The brunt of the cost seems to be taking up the concrete pad in the bathroom. A neighbor had his sewer line replaced last year by the same plumber, and it only cost about $2500 because the damage was outside the house, no work had to be done in the house, and it ran under his lawn. Another neighbor said they had to jackhammer a ditch right down the middle of her house from the bathroom in the back to the front to replace the sewer line that was poured into the concrete pad. Don't know the cost. Too bad, she had a nice terrazzo floor.
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My small addition master bath cost was roughly 57 000 four years ago. 20,000 was for the new structure materials, and labor and 8k was to add exterior plumbing for we built the new bathroom in an area without any existing plumbing the rest is labor, midrange tiles, glass shower doors and grohe fixtures( these where my splurge. I have 4 jets and a very large ceiling rain can and a handheld). We made our vanity and added ikea storage ourselves and painted walls, ceiling and trim ourselves this saved us over 5k. We did a heated floor. My space is 13x8 so average in size. I would expect a well done, permitted gut bathroom remodel costs should start at over 35k and go up from there according to finish choices and size.
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geoffrey_b
8 years ago
Well the house IS 70 years old. Nothing lasts forever. Would you want to remodel the bath and take a risk the pipe will fail? Besides, you said if you had to dig it up, you could re-position the toilet which would make for a better bathroom.

I would get another estimate for replacement of the pipe, and have the first company itemize / breakout the sewer work from the bathroom remodel.

IMO, kitchens and bathrooms are not rooms to scrimp on.
jrb451
8 years ago
Monty, I'll take what's behind contractor #3.
User
8 years ago
Average for an upscale bath, is 55K. So, you're getting off cheap for an all new bath with all new plumbing to boot.
Vith
8 years ago
The 35k isnt for the bathroom if 20K of it is to replace your sewer main.
User
8 years ago
$35K sounds about right for a whole bathroom remodel and pipe replacement, from what I've read. Skip the high-end fixtures. They only cost more to repair in the future. Keep that kind of things simple, IMO.

Best advice I'd give you is, if you're going to do it, do it right the first time so you don't have costly problems in the future.
jrb451
8 years ago
I've had more than one plumber tell me to use Delta faucets as the more "elite" brands are harder to find parts for or repair when things go wrong. They may be onto something after having to fix/repair Hansa, KWC and Kraus kitchen faucets over the years.
rmtdoug
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Ask about relining the sewer pipe. That would eliminate digging it all up. That should run in the $100 foot range.

Edit: So let me get this straight: They found a little bit of sand in the sewer line and nothing to indicate it was in danger of collapsing? Now they want to dig up the entire line and replace it?
echobelly
Original Author
8 years ago
@rmtdoug- Yes, they found a little sand in the sewer line and said there must be a crack, even though they didn't see one. I think they really want to move the toilet which would make a still very small master bath nicer, although by doing that, we'd be losing the only window. My wife is pushing to get it started, but that's a lot of money. They've designed a very nice bathroom, like what you would see in a nice hotel, small but upscale. If it saves me a good deal of money, I can live with the toilet where it is.
pima74
8 years ago
Sand in the pipe? Could be from washing off after a day at the beach? Anyway here is a link to the relining process: http://www.rotorooter.com/sewer/ Other plumbing firms in the area may offer the same service. If you have your heart set on moving the porcelain convenience fixture, they would only have to jackhammer a small area in the room.
loves2read
8 years ago
so what happened? Pictures???
echobelly
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
They just started demo a few days ago, went away and came back to barrels filled with beach sand and shells in the bedroom. It seems that was used as fill under the bathroom and has to all come out. The furring strips for the wallboard were all scraps, none went floor to ceiling and weren't the same thickness, so that has to be redone. The water line was only 1/2" but code is 3/4", so new water lines. So far only $2,000 over budget. So right now, the bathroom is a 4' deep hole. The bright side is, we have a shell driveway and what they pulled out from under the pad will come in handy to fill in thin spots in the driveway. That saved me at least $50!
Vith
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
You could have beachfront property! lol
stoveguyy
8 years ago
Gut bathroom, remove floor, fix sewer and wtr pipes, pour new floor. Interesting to take stock of that work and calculate cost to that point. $5k? $10k? Took several days labor and couple hundred Bucks parts and 88% is labor?

Ouch! 35K for bathroom remodel?

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