bathroom reno DIY oppinions wanted

[beck1604]

hey,

im in the process of buying a hous, n when we get it we need to put a new bathroom in before the wood rot gives us too much grief.

we are planning on leaving the bath, shower and basin in the same spot (the toilets in a different room) and just replacing them with newer ones. we want to lay new tiles and maybe gyprock the room. it is very small.

my question is would it be too hard for first time DIYers to do it all ourselves. would we be able to gut the bathroom and gyprock if need be, water proof, tile, paint, put in new bath and shower head (shower is in bath) and vanity ourselves.

we realise that by doing it ourselves its not goin to be perfect but we wanna do it on the cheap. weve read up on it and feel prepared for the long and fidly job ahead but an opinion on whether we could realistically do it ourselves would be great
sorry for the long post.
thanks.

[Don777]

Welcome Beck1604

A reno on the bathroom, hope you have somewhere else to wash, while your doing it......
Take your time....waterproof...and bingo...
well maybe a bit simple... but chould be a big job .. but allow yourself time... you can pull everything out ( you could need a plumber here )
then you can see what you are up for.... you bring up the word "rot"
bad word... hopefully not studs, or floor joist and the like,
yes clad...
I have use fibro on walls, in the past, and tile underlay on wooden floors, for tiling.....

It you are lucky under 2K and new bathroom
It all the little bits which added up....

Also search the forum... lots to good stuff and info

So happy reno

Cheers Don

[beck1604]

hay thanks for the reply

the shower/bath surroundings are polished wooden slats on the wall, and the water has quickly started to rot it all. from wat we can see theres not a lot of damage but we havnt yet seen the wall behind the slats or the floor under the tub. we were told by the bloke who did our pest inspection to fix this ASAP. otherwise termites the little buggers mite move on in. the house is fairly old and made of cypress so hopefully it wont be too bad. we are gunna get all our stuff for the job, have our plan all ready to go, then get a plumber in to tell us if we need their help. My biggest worry is waterproofing as it seems that is wher a lot of people come unstuck.

heres to hoping that no unforseen issues arive. but ther is sure to be a suprise of sorts.lol

[Gooner]

Heyya Beck.

I am in a similar position to you. We recently bought a house and the ensuite was original from the 70s. Certainly the ugliest room in the house. In my case I am replacing everything myself, adding a toilet in there, and even re-arranging where things will go. I have never done this before, however have spent a lot of time researching the right way to do things.

I sat down and did a detailed budget on how much all this will cost. At the moment it is easily looking like $5000. (About $2000 more than what I expected). This cost includes some things you may not be needing, including $850 for a shower, $200 for a toilet, $600 bi-fold door, $450 for small vanity/basin.

It's early days yet but there does seem to be a multitude of smaller expenses that keep popping up. I wondering how much I am actually saving by doing it myself. At this point in time I have more time than money.

Good luck. The way I see it is that, at worst, there is nothing I can stuff up so badly that someone else can't fix

[beck1604]

lol. thats exactly wat i thort, i cant stuff it up that badly that someone els wont be able to fix it. lol.

at this stage we're plannin on keepin it really simple because weve set a budget of about $2000. we're considering leaving the old bath in their and working around it. puting in new tiles and vanity and taps, and paint, plaster if we have to. but havnt completely decided yet.

we are also the same as you, ive got a lot more time then money at the moment so im hoping that if i take my time whilst doing it we shouldnt have any major hickups. we also live in a remote area and to get a pro we hav to get them to travel and hour or so. so id imagine the price would be quite high.

[Gravy258]

I did my bathroom myself. Took four months of actual work, and months prior getting the stuff together and researching how to do it, mainly on this forum and manufactures websites. Worked on it weekends and some nights after work. I tried to do it to Australian standards as much as possible so even it didn't legally comply as I'm not qualified it complied as such. Buy yourself a decent DIY book. Some of the american ones offer more detail such as plumbing and the like. Make sure you get the waterproofing correct, as if it leaks theres a lot of work to undo to fix it. The advantage of doing it yourself is that you can do it better .The disadvantage is you don't know what your doing and it will take more time. I did my bathroom a year ago. The only blooper has been using Sikaflex 11FC as a visible sealant. It goes yellow over time. Though i was able to repaint it with undercoat and gloss white and its still holding up 10 weeks later.
It was quite a job. And I won't be doing the kitchen, as that wants new wallboards and a complete refit also. Its just too much time and hassle. Though when it comes around to it and I see the look of complete disinterest on the one tradie that turns up to quote...

[kyeko]

I did my bathroom that has new positioning for the bath and vanity and added a toilet, kept the shower in the same spot. It only measured 2.4x1.8m. I gutted the lot, brought the ceiling down to accept an exaust fan (no room with 2nd story on existing ceiling). I got quotes for someone to do the lot and they were around $16 000. I did the lot for around $3000. Only needed a plumber and sparky to run new lines. It was a lot of work but was lucky to have a second bathroom. Just make sure you waterproof the whole floor and up at least 300mm on all walls and not just the shower.Take time with the tiling because that is what you will see every time you are in the room.
Good luck

[addy999]

Well if it soaks water quickly you have to buy the water proof one it is cheap and best....