I kind of have to admit, I didn't have a budget. Compared to most makeovers on this forum, it's definitely a "budget" makeover, though. I keep a running list in Excel of how much everything is costing us, down to the penny. Even the annoying little stuff like putty & finishing nails and all the random incidentals (not listed separately, but in a misc. column).

Hopefully someone more organized can help you come up with an initial budget. We're just paying as we go, which is making for a tight winter/early spring for us, but at least we won't have anything to pay back later ;) Oh, and if it makes any difference, we're DIY and SLOW AS MOLASSES, so our way is probably not what most will do.

I do plan on posting my spreadsheet at the end with every price listed for those interested. I always drool over everyone's bathrooms and kitchens, especially, but I have to keep in mind that many renovations are WAY out of our league. Posting the cost makes it more real to me.

-Sarah

We don't have a budget either. We're adding a bathroom upstairs where none existed before. DIY project that has lasted forever and a day. We tore out the walls last June. Just had flooring installed so we're coming down the home stretch except for the shower and we're still saving money up for it to be professionally done.

I have saved so much money by purchasing items on Ebay. Once I decide what I want, I set up an Ebay email alert. I'm flexible on everything but quality. I picked up an $1899. (at Expo) sink for $499. A toilet for a fraction of the cost...

I'm not doing the matchy match thing. The finish of the shower faucets and accessories must match (satin nickel) but I'm not insisting everything belong to the same company and line. I have a walk-in shower so you can't even see any of the fixtures anyway. I have a slider and an overhead. We opted out of the fancy side shower head to save both money and energy.

My sink, toilet and tub fixtures will be chrome because we have an old house. My sink faucet was a $125. Ebay score that is still in Restoration Hardware's catalog for around $400. My claw foot tub faucet has yet to reveal itself. LOL!~ I just know it must be high quality, chrome and compliment the sink faucet as it will show. It must also be the best deal around.

I just picked up a Ginger soap holder for $24.50 in satin nickel. That is a real deal. It arrived this morning in perfect condition. It lists for $154.! My Ginger Kubic soap basket that lists for $400. was purchased on Ebay for under $30.00!

I'm excited about our bathroom. It's going to be different and that might be a good thing. Times are tough out there. Now is a great time to pick up some high end products for very little money.

Just do your research and look for the deals out there. No need to compromise quality if you can be a little flexible with time. Good luck.

My budget is to spend no more than $500/month. I'm acting as the GC, which is a lot like an atty representing herself having a fool for a client :) The GC who did my kitchen gave me a very rough estimate of $10K for labor and $3500 for materials (Daltile subway tiles, faucet, sink, toilet, lighting, etc), so as long as I get this done within 27 months I'm coming in under budget. HTH.

Blue

Golddust, that's a good idea about the email alerts from Ebay. If I could afford it, I would be bidding against you for some of those Ginger accessories :), but even at ebay prices, my $240 won't cut it.

I don't have a huge amount of time; we've already hired a contractor/tile guy and DH wants to get this done before summer. I wish we had the know how to DIY. It sounds like a great adventure to me!

Sarah, I'll be interested to see pictures when you're done; I've been lurking here for a few weeks and seen some of the progress that you've made. (I feel like I've read almost every single post here by now!) I liked the vanity that you posted and it is right about my price range, so I'm interested to see what else you do within that range.

I do feel like with some of the pictures/galleries posted here there should be a disclaimer: This bathroom cost $38K to put in... So as not to inspire envy or unreasonable faucet lust.

No budget written out, just priced the big stuff before starting so we had an idea going in what the price range of everything was. We've gutted the master bath, bumped out a wall, removed the tub and are installing a walk in shower instead. Bought all new cabinets and linen cabinet, granite counters with undermount sinks, slate in the shower & on the floor and new lighting & fixtures. In the end including labor it will cost about 10,000 which is the average price for a full remodel of a master bath. We've bought everything piece by piece paying cash as we go. In regards to the work, it's the only project we didn't DIY, and are doing it in phases paying as we go as well.

Lukkiirish ... I am curious as to what part of the country you're in (since I assume the labor costs vary depending on the location). I would be thrilled if I could do a full bath renovation for $10,000 (do everything you're doing) and had assumed it would be much more.

We are just beginning to price the cost of remodeling two baths entirely and doing a partial "facelift" on a master bath. I just had a bath showroom tell me that "in general" the cost of labor (including demo) for a bath remodel ends up about comparable to the cost of the fixtures (obviously a statement that is very much dependent on the cost of the fixtures, and she did say "unless of course you use VERY high end fixtures").

Does this sound about right to most of you who have been through this? I would love to have some ballpark idea of labor costs (since I can figure out, roughly, the fixture costs) before beginning to talk with contractors. I hate going into such interviews without even a vague idea of whether the numbers I'm hearing are reasonable or not!

If you have time and there is a Home Depot close, you could check their class schedules for DIY'ers. My BIL teaches many of these courses at HD in MO. If you cut out as much labor as you can, then maybe you *could* be bidding against me for those Ebay Ginger items. LOL!~ :+)

Seriously, we just figure out how to do things by asking, reading and then doing! One must be patient though. There is always work and other necessary chores that really soak up time.

hi ctlady, we're in Michigan now, which IMHO has labor costs that are very average to other parts of the country that we've lived in. It's not high & not low. Our labor costs have come in at about 50% of the over all cost. And the reason I believe we've been able to get so much bang for our buck is because we have never been into what we call the "fluff" stuff that can nickel dime the costs up. Instead, we tend to buy materials that we like and offer good quality, stay true to what we really want in design style and try to keep things more simple. I also shop for deals, found my light fixtures at Costco for 23.00 each, negotiated a 25% discount on the tile (quartzite slate), found the faucets we wanted (Kohler Forte' single handle BN) mismarked down to 118.00 at Lowes, and got the
cabinets during a 20% off sale at Home Depot. We also compromised on the fixutre finishes, opting for brushed nickle in the vanity area & chrome in shower as opposed to oil rubbed bronze which can run substanially higher (and is said to wear poorly over time) On the other hand, with the granite we actually took a sizeable hit because we had originally had leftover 1/2 slab on hold from when we bought our kitchen granite, but then fabricator went out of business, taking our 1/2 slab with him. We got a $250 deposit back that we had paid w/a credit card, but lost the discount we got for buying the two rooms at the same time. The new 1/2 slab that includes the fabrication for undermount sinks ended up costing a whopping 1400.00 because all the remnants we could find were either too small and/or not in a stone we wanted. In regards to labor, we didn't choose our contractor by bid price, but went with someone we felt we could work with the best, had the best skill set for what we needed and was willing to work on our terms. We've accepted his bids without trying to negotiate for a lower price, but have asked him to include all supplies like drywall & concrete into the cost of his bid and we've supplied tiles, fixtures & rough plumbing valves. We feel he's worth every penny as his work has been absolutely perfect so far. The only thing the labor doesn't include is the fan, trim & paint. I hope that helps -- Lukki

Lilipad, I am in the midst of a bath remodel and you could do a bathroom for 6K for materials. However, depending on what you want, it could easily double.

Also, depending on the size of the space, your tiles alone could cost you a fortune.

As for my budget (which is still a work in progress), I had a magic figure in mind and I overshot it by about 25% but I can say that it was a conscious overshooting. It is just that for some fixtures we decided that it was not worth going for lower-end ones.

Overall, it has been very expensive remodel but I am also very happy so far with the conveniences the new bathroom has given us!

Hope this helps.

$10,000 for a full master bath remodel sounds extremely low to me, and I am not in a high cost of living area. Our budget for materials alone is about $7,500 and we have a small bathroom and are doing serious deal-shopping (there are a few splurges).

Budget? Have you been talking to my wife? She keeps blithering something about the nicest bathroom in the poorhouse. ~:o)