<p>Thank you so much for the detailed info on using the Pex. I think the key is to find the plumber who has experience and has the tools for the special connections. I didn’t even know there was a different brand for the Shark bite stuff.</p>
<p>Regarding high cost of bathrooms, one of the key differences is hiring the contractor to buy everything. The reasons we can do it a lot cheaper include:</p>
<p>Purchase all materials and fixtures. This gives the flexibility to spend as little or as high as you want for the items such as faucets, tile, vanity and tub. I personally don’t go as cheap as others. I love good design and I will search for the best deals on something stylish.</p>
<p>Act as general contractor. What this means is that you have to be available on site as much as possible. You have to hire the separate subcontractors yourself. You have to understand what needs to get done first, second, third. You have to make sure they show up (the hardest part).</p>
<p>I budget as follows:</p>
<p>$2,500 for new shower with tile and labor (I like beautiful tile with insets)
$1,000 for vanity and countertop (usually only 36" to "48, larger add $500)
$250 small bathroom floor
$250 toilet and fixtures (note that I don’t spend a lot of money on fancy toilets or brand names)</p>
<p>Plumbing is a different story, depends on whether things are moving around and how much has to be replaced under the covers.</p>
<p>I can get 60" double sink vanity for less than $1000 with granite counter top and under mounted sinks and you have a choice of material and color.</p>
<p>other than that, your budget is pretty good.</p>
<p>Pex installation is brand specific and the plumber must be trained and pass the test. I do not think a free lance non-licensed plumber will be able to afford the cost and the time to learn each brand. A bad Pex installation will have sever consequences.</p>
<p>I just experienced a true example of why homeowners end up paying a lot for new bathrooms.</p>
<p>We had an emergency - (FINALLY GETTING A TOILET INSTALLED!!!). The new hose connection from the wall water valve to the toilet was too short. We needed a 20" toilet hose and I was not going to let the guys go home today until there was a toilet!! So, I found a plumbing company that was very close down the street. This is the type of plumbing company that advertises in the Yellow Pages, does subcontract work for the general contractors and people would call if they needed their drains unclogged or something.</p>
<p>They always have plumbing supplies that they sell retail in these places. He had the toilet hose, but it was marked at $16.99!! I looked at him and he said, Oh for you I’ll mark it down to $11. “That’s the price we use for plumbing out in the field”.</p>
<p>So, if the plumbing subcontractor comes out and brings their own materials for the project, you are paying a markup of 33% on materials. It reduces your cost to buy your own materials.</p>
<p>But, the difficulty for homeowners is knowing all the pieces required. Just to install a new toilet you need all kinds of parts and pieces that do not come in the All In One Toilet box. And, of course, one of them won’t fit and you have to make the emergency run to the local plumbing supply house :)</p>
<p>Good morning Everyone,
I loaded a couple more photos to our group. You can see the newly designed front fence and the cute (I love them!) detailed attic vents </p>
<p>This weekend we are going for a 3 day blitz. We are going to transform the front of the house for curb appeal and we are trying to do it quickly so that we do not draw attention to our construction - it is best if everyone driving by doesn’t know that you have a vacant house full of tools and expensive stuff in boxes :)</p>
<p>Last night we demolished off the old overhang
New Windows
New Front Door
New Window Trim
Posts and beams for new front porch
Floor joists for new front porch
Siding around new front porch
Tie-in to old roof (this is the hard part)</p>
<p>We will see if we make our goals! We will probably not have the roof portion of the overhang structure done by Monday. I’m going to post progress pictures.</p>
<p>Hayden, pls PM me and I’ll give you the link.</p>
<p>Turnaround is different depending on amount of work. I seem to take about 50% longer than the big boys. I still don’t know why. Maybe they hire larger teams than I do. They have much higher carrying costs than I do because they borrow"hard money" with high points and interest rate. So they are in a big hurry although everyone in this business is in a big hurry. I think they make everyone work 7 days a week until completion.</p>
<p>Condo without any exterior work or plumbing or electrical changes. Just kitchens, baths, flooring, paint, lighting and fixtures should be done in 4-6 weeks depending on nbr of baths as and how big it is. I bought a couple of downtown condos once and they were a pain in the butt trying to park and get materials up the elevators. They also had all type of nosy rules and wanted a"reservation" and payment to use the elevator. So I borrowed a friend’s kid’s wagon and used it to transport up to the condo. </p>
<p>House that does not require full electrical but needs kitchens and baths and exterior paint is 8-10 weeks. Mostly because I am moving walls and reconfiguring kitchens and baths which requires a little electrical and plumbing.</p>
<p>Full gut job or major room addition is 12 weeks. This one is full gut job.</p>
<p>I might start having my lead stay in the property, we finally have Indoor Plumbing!!! including a bath vanity with running water. But we just have hard plywood subfloors and there isn’t anything soft to sleep on.</p>
<p>Done with Day 1 of the blitz. Accomplished:</p>
<p>Cut out new holes for enlarged front and side windows.
Had to chisel and cut out the original wood frame
Installed 4 new windows, including a 6 footer in front
Designed angle of new front porch
Dug holes for 12’ posts for new front porch</p>
<p>I think the fence and attic vents look great, but the biggest difference is the new window in front. Big progress! Keep the pictures coming when you can.</p>
<p>New Front Door installed - this took forever because we had to bust out stucco and replace the entire door jam and threshold. The old one was deteriorated. Had to chisel out old door frame wood to make the door absolutely level and straight. Now the interior floor that comes up to the door looks off level so we will have to pull up the floor boards and shim them to level to the inside of the front door. Luckily my lead is an expert at door installations.</p>
<p>Working on how we are going to tie in some new fascia to the area where we tore out the old overhang, there are some geometry and angle issues.</p>
<p>We installed our four main posts for the front porch (no photo yet)</p>
<p>We installed the window trim, primed.</p>
<p>Today we are going to caulk and sand all the window trim and get it painted the dark green.</p>
<p>We are going to get the fascia board back onto the original roof and tie in the drip edge and shingles.</p>
<p>We are going to try to get the bottom structure onto the new front porch and cover with stained siding (we’ll see on this one !!)</p>
<p>Exhausted… we worked 9 hrs yesterday and then cleaned up and I realized we were just not getting where we needed to be today so we stopped after 7 hours of work.</p>
<p>Cannot tie in the fascia because the back header needs to be bolted to the top of the four posts (because the fascia goes in front of it). Fascia cut but not installed. </p>
<p>Focused on caulking and sanding and painting the window trim today - took 2 people all day… ugggh!!</p>
<p>Trimmed in the front door, painted trim. Installed front lockset and trimmed in the windows inside the house.</p>
<p>New photos show the finished trim. In my mind the trim looks wimpy and should have been a lot larger and the windows just look like boring windows. It is too late to redo it so we are going to have to Wow with our front porch design.</p>
<p>I have a serious cold and I just need to go lie down, although I know my head will be spinning on how in the world we are going to get this done somewhere near the budget!</p>
<p>There was some good news today. Occasionally we get joggers/neighbors that want to walk through the house and see what is going on. There was a middle-age couple today who need to move their elderly parents from New Jersey really soon. They loved the house and want to make an offer this week - without real estate agent, all cash.</p>