Buying before a project even begins..

[nomad100]

Would you start buying fixtures for a bathroom that won't be started for a year (maybe 1.5 years)?

We are installing a new bathroom in our basement in the next year or so.  We would have the plans drawn up now but won't start the real work until we save up the money to pay cash for everything.  

We know that we be putting in a washer & dryer, a tub and shower, toilet, sink (we are thinking of a single basin large kitchen sink since this is in the basement where our laundry is so it will need to double as a soaking sink on occasion.)

We know what we want in the space - chrome fixtures/lights; white toilet, sink and tub; white cabinetry; light wood cabinetry; subway tile with Cararra marble accents, light ceramic tile flooring (likely a light grey or marble look).  Paint is TBD but will be light (thinking light grey or blue) since there is no natural light in the space.  

I was thinking that we could, over the course of the next year or so, start buying and storing fixtures, tile, etc/ until the work begins since we will be doing all the finishing work (hiring out plumbing, electrical and drywall).  This way we can watch for sales and deals while we are saving for the big ticket stuff (which is the plumbing part - should be at least half of the cost of the project.)

Crazy?  Not crazy?  

[pitterwoo]

Not crazy IF you really are sure and aren't going to change your mind when the project gets underway and then be stuck with things that can no longer be returned.

[nomad100]

Jul 30, 2014 14:27:00 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

Not crazy IF you really are sure and aren't going to change your mind when the project gets underway and then be stuck with things that can no longer be returned.

I don't think it will change since most of these things have been on our "what we want the room to look like list" for at least 4 years.

I would probably get the mirror and lights last since my taste may change a bit on those I am still in love with white subway tile with light grey grout and Cararra marble with light light grey grout and probably will be forever.

[jillybean222]

I bought some stuff ahead of time (light fixtures) but waited until the space came together for other stuff (tile, countertops, etc). There are things that I changed (we ended up with a busy speckled granite instead of the swirly patterns I was originally drawn to) and it thought I wanted gray tile but ended up with something really different. It seems like your vision is very specific whereas mine was more general so I think you might be ok to purchase beforehand.

[megstoo]

I tend to change my mind too easily so I wouldn't. The flip side though is if you can find an awesome deal now and have someplace to store the items until the project gets started. Keep in mind though that some items (washers/dryers etc) will have a limited warranty. It would be my luck that I'd buy early, wait for project to start and have something go wrong with the appliance and then I'd be screwed.

[TBM]

I am a buyer. We even bought a few things before we bought this house, knowing what direction we wanted to go in. What didn't work right in the house wound up being perfect for the studio, and I am really glad that I bought the light fixture that I bought, because we have never seen it again. I regret not buying two.

I also like committing to things and not giving myself the chance to change my mind. Seeing my faucets in person, knowing that my stuff was all here and ready for the job took some of the pressure off.

A new show with Vern Yip was on HGTV recently, about him building his dream beach home in FL, and he had been collecting things for years, just planning for his 'one day' beach house. His garage was filled with stuff, and he had plans for every piece. It made me feel like an amateur. lol

[treedimensional]

I bought tons of stuff before I needed it. Honestly, I couldn't have bought all of this stuff at one time, it's too expensive. The toilet was over $400 and the sink was $800. Just those 2 things, $1200! There's still paint, lighting, faucet, flooring, mirror, towel bars, shelf, toilet paper holder....

[nomad100]

@bluesky megstoo We wouldn't buy the W&D until closer to the finish of the project due to the warranty issue.

And I am thinking we will likely need to go custom on the cabinet since we want to use a kitchen sink in there instead of a traditional smaller bathroom sink.

I think I will be scheduling the appointment with the designer so we get a better idea of what we are looking at and talk to a plumber to find out how much it will be to jackhammer up the floor to add the pipes we need.

[dr.girlfriend]

I wonder if the deals would be SO much better to merit the risk of storing all that stuff. We bought the wood for our kitchen floor almost two years ago because it was being discontinued. The flooring basically fine but the click-lock little tabs got brittle and the contractor said it was a giant pain to try to click them in place. I would worry that you'd crack some of the tile, or find out a year down the road that the faucet was faulty but it was too late to return it, etc., etc. Most of what you describe sounds like pretty readily available at any time, so it's not like you have to nab it now or risk not finding it.

[nomad100]

Jul 30, 2014 21:44:36 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

I wonder if the deals would be SO much better to merit the risk of storing all that stuff. We bought the wood for our kitchen floor almost two years ago because it was being discontinued. The flooring basically fine but the click-lock little tabs got brittle and the contractor said it was a giant pain to try to click them in place. I would worry that you'd crack some of the tile, or find out a year down the road that the faucet was faulty but it was too late to return it, etc., etc. Most of what you describe sounds like pretty readily available at any time, so it's not like you have to nab it now or risk not finding it.

Good points. And we have bamboo flooring in our basement since it was discontinued too but we didn't have any install issues 2+ years later. But it was nail in place stuff so maybe that is why.

I guess it isn't as much for deals and sales or discontinues, though we will be able to do that, but to space out the cost.  This project will likely cost about $15K+ish, maybe more since we haven't gotten a firm plumbing estimate.  We live in a reno house so I know if we just try to put the money away (for say the tile or the toilet) in the house account, it will end up getting used for some other project that we are working on before we start the bathroom. 

[thatgirl2478]

we did... but then we're weird like that.  We're also disciplined enough to not want to buy something different 3 yrs later...

ETA:  We used left over tile from our basement renovation that we stored for just about a year and a half.  I would be a little worried about the long term performance of flooring that went brittle or was a bigger PITA to install because it had sat around for a while..

[TBM]

If you are using tile, it won't really matter how many years you have it before you use it. We had porcelain tile outdoors for ten years at our old house, and when we finally got around to tiling the inside of the closet under the stairs (the last of many tile projects over the years), the tile was still in perfect condition.

Wood flooring is a different story, but sometimes when you buy the click together stuff it is brittle. You don't really know how long it has been in warehouses or storage anyway.

[downtoearth]

Not crazy if you know your design plan. We bought tile and fixtures about 3 months before we were ready to use them. We also bought the tub early, but unluckily, when we went to install, we hadn't opened and found a flaw from the manufacturer, so my advice is to open everything and inspect when you receive b/c it's a pain in the butt to chase down receipts and such later.

IMO it's MM wise to space out the costs also - especially if you're doing all cash renovations.

[FoxInFiji]

I ordered stuff in advance of our two year DIY remodel but I already had everything planned out. I would wait until you had more of a plan first. Things like tile that seem easy to buy ahead of time may not be that easy. The big thing with shower tile is finding the right trim pieces that work with your design. You don't want to buy a tile and then find that it doesn't have a matching bullnose or pencil linear (or that it was discontinued before you started the project). For floor tile you'll need to know how level the floor will be especially if you're breaking part of it up. Big tiles will be hard to lay on an uneven floor and are harder to DIY install. So are microbevel edges on tiles. If you go with a diagonal pattern on the floor you'll need more than if you do a square pattern. You'll want to know how you're going to use the space and what cleaners you'll be using...you might go for a ceramic marble look alike vs. a real marble tile.

[nomad100]

Jul 31, 2014 15:11:43 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

You'll want to know how you're going to use the space and what cleaners you'll be using...you might go for a ceramic marble look alike vs. a real marble tile.

Oh, the floor will be ceramic for sure.  But the accent tiles in the shower will be the real.  Plus, with two big and slightly slobbery dogs, ceramic is so much easier to keep clean.  

[FoxInFiji]

Jul 31, 2014 15:23:32 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Jul 31, 2014 15:11:43 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

You'll want to know how you're going to use the space and what cleaners you'll be using...you might go for a ceramic marble look alike vs. a real marble tile.

Oh, the floor will be ceramic for sure.  But the accent tiles in the shower will be the real.  Plus, with two big and slightly slobbery dogs, ceramic is so much easier to keep clean.  

We love our faux marble tile.  We have gray and white in one bathroom and white with tan veining in the other.  That paired with epoxy grout has proven to be super low maintenance and nearly bulletproof!





The gray and white tile was really inexpensive $2/sf but it's discontinued now.  Luckily, I had ordered enough of the field and bullnose pieces beforehand.  Actually now that I think of it the tan and white is discontinued now too.  Haha I was speaking from experience in my previous post.