Redoing my bathroom over Christmas holiday

[ktzmoh]

I work at a university and campus is closed for 2 weeks around Christmas every year. Usually we travel but this year we are not going anywhere - so I decided I wanted a project. I've decided to redo our bathroom.

Do you think I can redo a powder room in 2 weeks bearing in mind that my husband will divorce me if I dare to lay tile on Christmas eve or Christmas day?

I need to do the following:

Remove old toilet, vanity, medicine cabinet, lighting, trim, tile
Retile floor
Fix drywall where medicine cabinet and vanity came out
Paint
Install new baseboards
Trim window
Install new pedestal sink
Install new toilet
Install new mirror/towel bar/lighting/ misc.

Am I being realistic in thinking I can get this done in two weeks? It's a tiny little powder room - so I need to lay like 15 tiles lol.

What should I expect in terms of challenges? This will be the first time I do anything like this myself. I've done pieces here and there - I'm handy with powertools, I've done lots of trim, I've patched drywall etc.

[wawa]

As long as you don't run into any plumbing issues i think that's totally realistic. 2 weeks while also working and I might look at you funny - but two weeks while you're home? Totally doable. Will the kids be home or at school/DC?

Here's my mental math -
Remove old toilet, vanity, medicine cabinet, lighting, trim, tile - 1 day. Demo is easy.
1 day for fixing whatever suprises demo throws at you. There are ALWAYS surprises.
Retile floor - 2 days - first day for dryfit and actually laying tile. Grout the next day.
Fix drywall where medicine cabinet and vanity came out - are you comfortable with hot mud? If so this could be a one day. Otherwise say at least 3 for drying, sanding and more mudding. Cover the new grout and tile with paper.
Paint - 2 days for 3 total coats (1 primer, 2 paint)
Install new baseboards and triming window - you said you've got experience with this? 1 day for both of those. Plus another for filling nail holes, sanding and painting.
Install new pedestal sink - I've never done a pedestal sink. So I'd think one day combined with toilet, but I could be totally wrong. You don't have to bed them or anything, right? They're just sitting there? Anchored to the wall?
Install new toilet - see sink.
Install new mirror/towel bar/lighting/ misc. - 1 day. Realistically on a good day you could do this and the sink and toilet all in one day, but you know there will be some random thing you don't have and 3 trips to the hardware store in there somewhere.

That takes me to 12 days. Plus xmas and xmas eve So yup, doable by my count since a lot of those are easy days. (like the 2nd day of painting where it's just one quick coat, or the day where all you do is fill nail holes and paint the trim.)

If its' really a small room one of the most frustrating things is going to be getting the toilet installed. But that's just because it's heavy and akward and you can't see what you're doing in a tight space. Buy a couple of spare wax rings in case you fuck it up so you don't have to go back to the store. They're cheap.

have you done tile? It's not hard, but it can be kinda time consuming to get it right if you've got a space that isn't actually square (and nothing ever is). What type of tile did you have in mind?

I think the only other thing that might trip you up here is actually having all the materials. Do you know what you want? Is there anything you can't get off the shelf?

and like I said, plumbing issues. If you end up needing an actual plumber to fix shit you find during the demo then all bets are off. (like lack of venting, leaks, etc)

[eliza22]

We just replaced most of our downstairs flooring so decided to rip out our bathroom vanity and redo everything with the exception of the toliet. Dh had a lot of trouble removing our vanity and we have 4 stinking pipes sticking out of the wall so putting in a pedestal is prob not an option. Anyhow, we thought it would be nbd but we are still sans sink (2 weeks after new floor), will likely need to hire a plumber and the wall is in bad shape and needing lots of repair before we can paint. Proceed with caution!

[ktzmoh]

I think I'm going to go for it. My dad will be here in late jan so he can help me finish if something nutty comes up.


wawa I'm concerned that I won't know how to see problems that one should spot when doing a project like this. How do I know if the venting is ok?

[wawa]

Dec 11, 2013 20:52:04 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

I think I'm going to go for it. My dad will be here in late jan so he can help me finish if something nutty comes up.


wawa I'm concerned that I won't know how to see problems that one should spot when doing a project like this. How do I know if the venting is ok?

If you've never had a problem with the drains in there then you're probably fine with that. I think a more likely issue is pipe/valve placement issues if you are going from a vanity to a pedestal. That'll be pretty obvious and is an easy fix as plumbing goes.

[schenkertobe]

Nope, not realistic at all. You should quit now and come to Philly 

[ktzmoh]

Dec 12, 2013 20:37:59 GMT -5 schenkertobe said:

Nope, not realistic at all. You should quit now and come to Philly 

No. The right answer is that you should come here for Christmas and help me!

[jloww]

Good luck!  I can't wait to see pictures!

[ktzmoh]

I'm going to add a qualifier to my declaration: I'm going to do it as long as I can get a toilet this weekend that isn't insanely more expensive than it would be if i ordered it online and waited for it to ship to me.

[hbomdiggity]

I don't have a great explanation why, but for our bath reno what should have taken a couple weekends on paper took over six months.

I think it was not having everything we needed. We were making 3 trips to hd in a day. Tried to get by with the tools we had before giving in and buying something new. Needed more grout and store not open on Sunday.

It was also a full bath so we had to install waterproofing and we refinished trim.