No thanks, thank you though. Best wishes for good luck on your project!

We are just getting prices from contractors in NYC for our 35 sq ft (actually a little less since it's not quite 7 x 5) and prices are $7,500 - $20,000 from 4 different places. The bathroom is over 50 years old and we have just been living with it for a while. It's all contractor work, no DIY. We cannot move plumbing so the layout won't change. I'm not really sure what the $7,500 price includes since the contractor would really not elaborate beyond "a basic bathroom" that includes wall to wall new tile (what we have now). One vendor who did not do a site visit (only looked at photos) came in around $15K. I am waiting on formal proposals from 2 contractors that visited this week and I gave them the wish list below that does not include any fixtures choices or finish choices but they are steering us toward custom and semi custom. One vendor said not to spend too much since we could price out the market for resale (we are not selling anytime soon, if at all) so he came down to $20K from $25K. There is one more contractor on the list that we plan to call for an estimate. A neighbor spent $40K on her bathroom. I have not seen it but just heard the price this week so I will make it a point to visit to have a look. replace bathtub/drain & replace fixtures, adjustable rain shower with separate handheld replace medicine cabinet make laundry hamper area into storage (framed with shelving) demo wall to wall tile, replace tile add recessed storage on rear shower wall install new lighting paint entire room (replace bathroom and bedroom doors - only two doors in the apartment so they should match) replace metal towel bar in shower replace storage cabinets (towels & other products) install vessel sink and fixtures add handheld sprayer for toilet (may get washlet seat if elongated toilet will fit) cover and tile over pipes; add mesh venting remove shower door (install curved shower rod) replace ceramic towel bar (8 hooks?) & switch plate add vertical toilet paper holder upgrade & add electric outlets (2 x 2); not on same circuit as lights Labor only estimates so far: $12,650 $13,200 Materials $3,355 (low) - $7,355 (high) One GC sources and stores the materials which seem to be at least 25% -50% higher for some items than I've seen locally. This post was edited by kdnyc on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 15:24

It took your follow-up comment and reading back and forth a couple times to see what you were saying. At first it looked like you were saying spare me the friends that said they couldn't afford it and I was going WTH?? Can't be! And wasn't. Weddings. What more can I say about them. Opulence on par with the reality of a "reality show". The cost of a dress is silly. Tradition used to be that the groomsmen were expected to pick up the tab for the groom's tux. And instead of the bridesmaids buying the bride's dress, they buy dresses that'll never be worn in public again! Nowadays, it's rent 7 tuxes and the groom gets his for "free". Yeah, right, "free"! Give me a freakin break. And in exchange for this the groom gives each tux renter a keyring or some other useless, yet overpriced trinket that'll never be used. Maybe instead of spending $25 or $50 on each of the keyrings he could pay for his own tux! There was the other thread about how much to give. It occurred to me that maybe it should be based on how fiscally responsible the people are. If they have a wedding where the wedding party can wear attire that can be used again, kick in a bit more since they suggest they will be more responsible. If they go for the limos, ugly dresses & tuxes, can they handle my money? Maybe they should get less. LOL

Well, this thread has turned into a wealth of gardening information! Some of the plants I have read about, others are completely new, which is wonderful. Gyr_falcon, your yard and plants are gorgeous. I wish I had your gardening passion, it shows in your pics. I lived in SoCal most of my life and have never seen the plant species you have (that I can remember anyways), it's really lovely. MsRose. I too am jealous of your Echinacea, they are one of my favorite flowers. I see now that they can grow in our zone too! Beautiful roses as well. I was thinking about trying the double knockout, so I'm a bit disappionted to read kswl's and javiwa's posts about them dying. Robo!!! You just simply rock! You're so generous with your pictures, advice and information, thank you so much. I'm feeling pretty lukki that we're in the same zones too, your gardens are so pretty! I find it very hard to believe that you are a beginner and/or a lazy gardener! Our previous owner was a landscaper by trade and ignored his own gardens, add that we are not gardeners and had a ton of inside work to do too and here we are. During her first visit, my sister told me we have bleeding heart in the back which are in shade, then my dh found some berry bushes in one bed which are very thorny, we had hostas and day lilies in the front but I'm not sure if they will grow back this year. Some daffodils and tulips are trying to come up, but a guy who cleaned our leaves for us dropped them all in the beds and the are buried. We have so much clean up to do it is overwhelming. We did transplant some forsythia bushes on the side of the house last year and they are starting to bloom. So far on my list I have red twig dogwood with a base of lemon grass set along the border of the property to help with some privacy from the road, hydrangea under the front window, a mix of blooming perennials in front of the deck and I really really want a Japanese Maple which is my favorite of trees. There is just so much to choose from. I will look into the azaleas as well. hee hee. I drive for work and have had my eyes on the yards. Lots of flowers starting to bloom, it really is so pretty.