Just adding that it’s very easy to “cheat” with wood to match the cabinets and then having the counters fix to the right size to not have any gaps. We have a super old house and nothing is standard, level, or plumb. Lots of cheating happened in all our reno spaces but to the naked eye, it all looks good.
The cabinet person should be able to get a configuration very close to your necessary dimensions.
I’m very curious about those who have used HD or Lowe’s for a bathroom remodel. Was it a gut? Did you have tiling done? Would you consider it a basic, moderate or higher end remodel??
I am not looking for the most economical way to remodel - quality and “not your average basic bathroom “ are important to me. Nice but not luxury anything.
If you used one of those stores what was the process before the first hammer hit the space??
We used HD for a kitchen “facelift" two houses ago. (New counters, including the installation of a bar counter, tile backsplash, appliances, new sink, fixtures, cabinet hardware). We left the cabinets and didn’t move anything around. They did a nice job but it wasn’t as smooth as using a more skilled contractor and there weren’t nearly as many options. When issues arose, it was up to H and I to brain storm solutions. Not ideal. It was a basic, on a tight budget, job for us.
My $.02 is to find a good local contractor through word of mouth. What we found with ours is that he had discounts at a lot of the nicer places so we got better quality materials, more selection, and very personal service, at nearly the same prices as the box stores. We would go pick things out with the store designers , contractor would order and pick them up, and then we’d pay him. The contractor had a cabinet designer that helped with all the layout and visualization. He also had excellent ideas on where to cut costs to stay on budget that wouldn’t impact the overall look of the space. As an example, getting flooring and tile material from Floor and Decor instead of a tile store.
We used Lowe’s and I’d say they offer basic and one or two grades up from that. You could do a luxury remodel using their stuff (they have higher end and expensive options for everything) but I presume that anyone that’s going luxury wants to use an independent designer/decorator so they are choosing items from a variety of specialty vendors.
I liked the transparency. It wasn’t “here are some tile options that are special order, not sure how much more they’ll cost but look how gorgeous they are”. It was “tell me your budget and we can figure out where to splurge and where to save”. I know people who have gone the high end route and it’s not just the money- your Italian porcelain sink is stuck in customs and your bathroom is out of commission for an extra month while you wait for the sink to show up. Which means your workers move on to another job in the interim, another delay until you get them back. We had a delivery schedule designed to be linear- the stuff showed up in the order in which it was installed, and the work had no hiccups except for the aforementioned damages which got fixed and paid for quickly.
FWIW, we have had full transparency with our contractors too. We told them upfront the max we’d spend, they worked with us on staying in budget, and the delivery schedule was like clockwork for them too. They also gave us timelines for when decisions needed to be made for what so we weren’t holding them up waiting for materials. A good contractor should be on top of all of that plus have access to the high end stuff!
Our last house (custom built from the ground up) came in slightly under budget. Our Phase I project in our current century house (new kitchen, primary suite, powder room, moving a staircase, etc…) came in more than $20K under budget, mostly because we didn’t need to touch the contingency money but also because our contractor steered us to some showrooms that had some great bargains for very high quality pieces.
I’m hiring you for my next project!!!
Every bathroom remodel company I called said they don’t start for under $30k - I would assume you can get handyman company/individual to do updates instead of remodel as that is what I did with my 3 smaller bathrooms.
We figured things out by doing lots of visits to our local Ferguson and WB Webb. Webb was particularly helpful. Wife quickly decided on a shower wall system that was a composite material that resembled carrara marble, but with a chemically inert surface. Sink faucet we chose from Lowes–found a Delta model we liked.
For a vanity, it was tough to find something in between the junk they sell at Lowes/HD and something custom made. We found one we liked at Floor and Decor but didn’t like their delivery fee. Found the same unit at Ferguson, same price, free delivery! We told the person at Webb exactly what we were looking for in a shower door and shower head system. He led us onto the sales floor and pointed out exactly what we wanted!
Counter top: we had a quartz counter cut out of a remnant our local countertop company had–it matched the carrara look very well and was only $400, installed!
Tile floor we found at Floor/Decor.
Toilet–got a basic model from Ferguson. Lobbied for a chair height unit–dear wife vehemently said no (she is not a tall person). After installation, she quietly said “I guess we could have gotten the taller toilet….” grrr.
All in all, we had a closet taken out (so a larger vanity could go in. Replaced a tub/shower with a walk-in with requisite seat, grab bars, etc. Stripped down to the studs, materials and labor, $22K. AND we’re very happy with how it turned out. Basically once dear wife settled on the shower wall system, it was a case of finding everything else such that it would not clash with the shower walls.
But yeah, it was definitely a slog making all the decisions.
Both contractors I’ve had out had preferred local showrooms for most items (except shower glass door) where we would get the contractor rates. One of those showrooms is maybe more national…. ProSource?
Hmm, not familiar with ProSource–we are in the northeast, Webb and Ferguson dominate. Since we had to make all the decisions, contractor thought it was best if we ordered and paid for the materials ourselves, and only paid him for the labor. We ran everything past him first, of course.
We do things backwards from what most are suggesting here. I always know exactly what I want and where to get it. I print the pictures/make the drawings (now with the help of AI), and order the items. DH creates the blueprints from my specs with his CAD software. We pull the permit, do the demolition, and DH will do the electrical and, often, the plumbing unless it requires more than just reconfiguring pipes within the room. Usually, the only contractor we hire is someone to haul away debris or, in the case of our from-scratch lower-level cabin bathroom, a plumber to install the upflush shower and toilet because they were below grade, and DH does not have that experience.
I know this is not the common skillset, but this is how we’ve avoided the numbers y’all are throwing out.
(I understand this does not help the OP or move the discussion along.)
My husband can barely change a toilet seat! I’m fine with the design but I definitely need pros to do the execution! You are so lucky you can do the work yourselves!
It was all from religiously watching Bob Vila in our early years and DH growing up poor in houses that needed a LOT of work where he helped his dad barely keep their homes from being condemned. We always figured, “What the heck? What’s the worst that can happen? We botch the job and then have to call for help.” That never happened, we learned a ton, and enjoyed the satisfaction of having done the work ourselves.
I will say, though, we’re at the end of that road. DH will finish off the last room of the cabin’s lower level this summer, and then we’re done with physical labor. It’s just not safe anymore, unfortunately.
My husband can do anything and has in his younger years.
He did a long day of yard work last year and decided he’d rather hire out the labor than do it himself. It was an acknowledgment that he’s not as young as he once was. And probably has more disposable income also.
We will have a lot of tile work to be done in the bathroom. Although he’s done it before, he really likes the way the work was done by a local woman. He wants to hire her to do the tile.
Under construction right now. That includes the kitchen, the dining room, family room, living room, room hallways, and the half bath.. This is all because of over leak from my fridge. So I’m not touching the bathrooms at this point. Everyone that moves into my neighborhood ends up we’re doing everything anyway. Everyone complains about contractors and work crews being subpar. Today, the team of painters are here, but the electrician was here yesterday and did not return today. That holds up the Painters. I am not alone in this.
I certainly do understand the difficulty in making choices. Just deciding on a new fan and a light and new faucet , everything becomes quite difficult. I do like Ferguson, it’s quite close to me. Anyway, I shouldn’t be posting care, but there was no thread for kitchens.
I wish I could use a decorator. My cousin‘s best friend helped me before, but she’s now too busy with caretaking. She recommended someone who has a total disaster. It would be lovely to have someone in the field help with the many decisions.
Cutting to the chase: Swanstone! For the shower pan and walls of shower. High quality, lovely appearance and low maintenance. We originally did tiled shower walls and shower floor but had to replace the shower floor with a pan (and chose Swanstone) within 6 years due to water leaking into the basement.
Google these terms and read the AI summary: “curbless shower in former tub alcove”. Lots of helpful information there.
Longer version: Here is our story of gutting our small, long bathroom and replacing the tub with a shower.
We have only one bathroom in our small 1960s ranch house. My husband had a hip replacement scheduled for Jan. 2017, so in 2016 we decided to replace our tub/shower combo that had a glass sliding door with a curbless shower and shower curtain. This would be safer for him post-surgery, but also for both of us as we age.
Additionally, the toilet was gradually sinking into the floor, like the leaning tower of Pisa. 
There must have been a plumbing leak at some point. There was no option but to gut the bathroom.
We hired an experienced contractor recommended to us by a friend who is an interior designer. She gave us a few simple tips but urged us to figure the rest out on our own to keep costs down, rather than hiring her.
We chose all the materials– tiles for the bathroom and shower floor and walls, comfort height toilet, wall cabinet over toilet, single sink unit, tall linen closet. All our towel bars are securely attached grab bars (Delta). None of our materials came from big box stores. All were good quality. This was going to be expensive, and we never wanted to have to redo it.
The contractor had never made a small curbless shower floor in the footprint of a tub, but we’d seen a photo of one online, so it seemed doable, and he gamely agreed to give it a go. The photo showed a tiled shower floor with a central drain. There was a shower curtain for unobstructed entry.
The contractor suggested instead a sloped floor with a linear drain along the back wall. He used Kerdi membrane but poured a cement floor instead of using a Kerdi pan under the tiles. The floor joists were not cut down. He thought that best, but in retrospect this was probably the critical error. There was not enough depth to install a shower floor at the necessary angle for adequate drainage.
From the start, water pooled while we showered. It didn’t flood out onto the rest of the bathroom floor, but it was like showering in a puddle. The slope of the shower floor was insufficient. The contractor had his tile guy relay the tiles. That was a little better but it still didn’t drain very well. We just didn’t see an option for how to fix it at that point. And we had spent nearly $23K.
So we squeegeed the shower floor and toweled it dry after every shower and figured that was that. An imperfect result, but a safe enough shower for aging in place.
Nope! Six years later, we started getting water leaking into the basement from the shower, and shower floor tiles came loose. We hired a local contractor (not the same guy) to evaluate and redo. Turns out the cement under the tiles had crumbled due to not being thick enough (because joists had not been trimmed down.) And the leakage had happened not through the crumbled floor but from grout at the edges of the tiled floor.
We debated for a long time what to do (decision paralysis!), but finally decided to have a shower pan installed. The shower entry would not be curbless, but it was still low, and drainage would not be an issue. Thankfully we had enough of the wall tiles left over from the first job that the walls could be retiled near the floor in such a way that it didn’t look like a redo. The color Swanstone pan we chose (Ice) was a good match for the color and pattern of the wall tiles.
The shower floor redo cost us over 10K– most of it was the cost of labor.
We love the Swanstone shower pan– it is attractive, grippy and comfortable under our feet. No risk of slipping. It cleans easily. Yes, it costs more, but it is sturdier than some shower pans and should never crack (which can happen with cheap shower pans).
We really, really don’t want to ever have to do it over! 
I use these strong shower curtain magnets to make sure the shower liner stays inside the pan, and the outer curtain stays outside the pan. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C72LT628?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
We have to clean the grout on our tiled shower walls. If I could do it over, I would choose Swanstone for the walls also.
I second, if at all possible, getting custom fits on your cabinet/counter. I saw a “seconds” vanity piece and it was so cheap so I bought it for our powder room redo. But the cost of filling in the sides, and the fact that it still doesn’t look quite right, makes me regret it.
Tile - we did splurge on a few accent tiles that I just loved from the fancy tile store. The rest is basic HD-level. They told us that “subway never goes out of style” so that was fine.
Thanks for the recommendation. I was going to look into Swanstone for the ease of maintanence. They just don’t seem to have many design options.
Thank you all for the custom vanity suggestions. I think ours is custom, and I hate it, but I’m sure it’s just my cheap builder’s design. Going to a cabinet place is a great idea, and I’m sure they can come up with something I like. Seems like a better option than either having a gap or moving my closet.
Which also rules out the first contractor I called for a quote. He came highly recommended, but when I asked about the vanity, he just kept saying, “you go pick out what you want at the store. I’ll do everything else”. He might have meant custom design was an option, but he made it seem like just go to HD. No acknowledgement that just going to HD wasn’t really an option for an off size and really not even recognizing that it wasn’t a standard size. My gut was telling me this guy wasn’t the right one and I think this confirms it.
I don’t think it’s rocket science, so a good contractor probably can retrofit/McGyver anything you pick out to work in the space (filling in, sanding down, moving hardware, etc.) But the on the spot labor will end up costing more than just getting a custom item from the git-go which already fills the space correctly! (and ugh, those shims for old, not level floors- again, not highly engineered but you’re paying a carpenter….)