Planning - Master Bathroom Renovation Project

Master Bathroom Renovation Project - Planning
As I mentioned in the previous post, I had planned this renovation for a long time. To begin with, I had a few requirements that I want to meet, and a few limitation under the given budget. Requirements: 1. Do not move or replace the tub. 2. Do not move or replace the cabinet. 3. I want the frameless shower door. 4. I want oil-rubbed bronze colors for the faucets to match with ones in the sink. 5. Water leak and the damages should be fixed. 6. Minimize structural changes. 7. Bathroom must look professionally upgraded. 8. I will not hire a contractor. 9. Make my wife and kids happy.Limitations: 1. Custom shower doors are too expensive. 2. I have no experience in plumbing and tiling. 3. I cannot plan the schedule accurately because of limitation #2. 4. Have to meet the budget (~ $3000).

Know your playground:

I started to measure the dimensions of the work area. I wanted to use some computer tools to keep them handy. Firstly, I tried Google Sketchup. There is a trial period so I wanted to learn and play but I finally gave it up for this project. But Google Sketchup is the one that I really want to use for my next project. I used Autodesk Homestyler. You cannot do real professional work with this software but it was good to visualyze the rough idea. The bathroom is roughly 9x10 feet, and the shower is 3x4 feet. The Whirlpool tub is the regular 5x5 feet.

Fig 2. Rough design of my bathroom using Autodesk Homestyler.

Budget:

My budget for this project is $3000 for the parts and $300 for the tools. I have started a Google Doc spreadsheet to log all the spending for this project as below.

Date

Product name

Price

Bought from

Item for

"Item for" section is to categorize the spending. I have sorted the spending into 8 different categories with color coding as,

DECORATION

DISCOUNT

FRAMING

PLUMBING

SHIPPING

TAX

TILE

TOOL

Later, this will be very useful to break down the spending for each category with the Pivot Table. I'll get back to this when the project is complete.

Duration:

As noted in the Limitation #3 above, I cannot give accurate duration because,

1. I have no experience in this kind of big DIY project, and

2. I only available to work on this project after I come back from my regular job. Type of the house (townhome) is another restriction. I can't work late night - I am not interested in hearing complains from my neighbors. I am probably available to work about 3 hours after work on weekdays and 6-7 hours during weekends. I still have to play with my kids. :-)

So, my "rough estimate+hope" to finish this project is 1 month.

Demolition of the pre-installed tiles: 1 week

Framing and shower pan prep: 2 weeks

Tiling and detail works: 1 week

To be continued...

Introduction - Master Bathroom Renovation Project

Master Bathroom Renovation Project - Introduction

Fig 1(a). My master bath before the renovation

I have planned this project at least 3-4 months ago due to the leak to the kitchen ceiling while taking a shower.  I had to put food wrap at the rear wall so it would not leak. This is the picture right before the demolition.  You can see the tiny part of the food wrap.

Fig 1(b)

Fig 1(c)

I should have started the demolition which took most of time and labor during the U.S. Government shutdown, but for some reason, I was hesitating.  Finally two days before the Government reopen I started the demolition.

1. It looks fun, 

2. I think I can do it. 

3. I do not trust anyone. :-( 

I had a very long planning phase because I have no experience in the tile work, nor the plumbing work before. "Failure is not an option" because this is our MASTER bathroom.

To be continued...