C&P: Bathroom reno wwyd

[gibbinator]

TLDR: Do to a leak we have to tear down half our 2nd bathroom. We can either just repair the problem area, reno the whole room at once (completely depleting our efund) , or fix what's absolutely necessary now and pick away at the rest over the next 6 months.

We recently noticed that there was water leaking around the pipe feeding our shower head. Yesterday dh and his dad took apart the back of the shower stall to see if it'd be a simple fix and the copper pipe basically disintegrated. The gyprock behind the stall is moldy where presumably water has been pooling down for ages. We're going to have to take the whole stall out and pull the walls down. Thankfully it's in the basement so we don't have to worry about water damage to the floor (it's just linoleum on concrete).

Now the conundrum. We don't really like the set up of the bathroom. The linoleum is old, the sink and faucets are old, the vanity is tiny, the medicine cabinet is tiny and set too high for short me to see my below my nose.

If we have to get guys in to replace our piping, repair the walls and reinstall the shower, it seems like this would be a convenient time to just upgrade the whole room.

However, we don't really have the money for it. We have $1500 in our efund which should cover everything to do with fixing the shower area. We have a couple thousand coming from tax returns that should cover the rest. But that money was earmarked for next year's double daycare (we can't cash flow 2 kids in daycare on our incomes).

The other option is that we tear everything down, get a professional to replace the pipes with plastic and put up new drywall,then leave the room in a mess while we save up money here and there and DIY the floors and vanity install over the summer (dh is a teacher so he has 2 months off for projects). Ww have a main floor bathroom so having this one unusable wouldn't be a big inconvenience.

[lilac05]

With two little ones, I'd be way too nervous to deplete an e-fund plus money that you have earmarked for basic living expenses. I'd do the minimum now and pick away with it as you have the funds.

[MadamePresident]

I'm thinking it doesn't make sense to deplete your whole efund and tax return. Espicially knowing that you need that cash for a necessity. What happens if your car breaks?

[redheadk]

Is this bathroom used frequently enough that the layout you dislike is actually a problem or do you just not care for it? If you don't use it much, I'd do the bare minimum to make it functional again while not depleting your e-fund and tax refund money. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

[laurenh]

If it isn't a bathroom you need on a day to day basis I would only do what's necessary to stop it from getting worse, I would not empty my efund and tax returns for a second bathroom, just in case you need emergency funds for something else.

ETA: Could you set aside any extra funds each month and then see where you're at in the summer when DH is home and able to DIY/reevaluate?

[cricketwife]

Boy, I would just want to fix/Reno the whole thing now and be done with it. However, I think the more responsible thing to do is just the bare necessities and chip away at the rest over the next 6 months.

[jinxy]

If it's not the main bathroom then I would only repair what absolutely needs done and wait on the rest. I would not be comfortable spending my e-fund and tax return when I need that money come fall.

[thejen626]

I'm going to tag redredwine because she just did a bathroom reno due to a leak. I know she was trying to stay on a budget so maybe she can share some tips and pictures with you

[Velar Fricative]

Ordinarily I'm totally a "get it all done in one fell swoop" kind of girl but not in this case because of daycare expenses. Stick with the bare minimum and wait on the rest.

[turtlegirl]

I would wait. We love to DIY, but sometimes we throw money at the problem because of time constraints, but if your DH has two months off in the summer I would wait until then and see what you can chip away at.

[gibbinator]

Apr 4, 2015 10:03:47 GMT -5 redheadk said:

Is this bathroom used frequently enough that the layout you dislike is actually a problem or do you just not care for it? If you don't use it much, I'd do the bare minimum to make it functional again while not depleting your e-fund and tax refund money. Doesn't seem worth it to me.

It's used frequently, but doesn't have to be. Our other bathroom, also 3 piece, is just as convenient to walk to.
The layout is fine, we wouldn't be moving cabinetry, toilet etc. If we did go for the whole shebang it'd just be giving the room a facelift.

[gibbinator]

Apr 4, 2015 10:08:35 GMT -5 laurenh said:

If it isn't a bathroom you need on a day to day basis I would only do what's necessary to stop it from getting worse, I would not empty my efund and tax returns for a second bathroom, just in case you need emergency funds for something else.

ETA: Could you set aside any extra funds each month and then see where you're at in the summer when DH is home and able to DIY/reevaluate?

Yes. Any income I make from my business can 100% be used for anything. I just can't count on anything due to the feast and famine nature of freelance work. Any extra income dh makes is supposed to go to our daycare 2016 fund.

[gibbinator]

Apr 4, 2015 8:49:22 GMT -5 MadamePresident said:

I'm thinking it doesn't make sense to deplete your whole efund and tax return. Espicially knowing that you need that cash for a necessity. What happens if your car breaks?

Well, not too worried about the cars since they're warrantied... But with all the things that have gone wrong with the plumbing in our house since we bought it, a better question would be "what happens when your laundry room explodes?" 'cause that's the only water-fed room we haven't had to repair yet. Hmm food for thought.

[bowies]

I can sympathize since our tiny master bath is in a similar way. We have some water damage on a wall and we are preparing ourselves that the whole shower will need to be ripped out and replaced. Our floor needs major work too. We got a quote on completely renovating and expanding it to the tune of $30K but now we just want to take care of the bare minimum since we plan to sell in the not too distant future. We can't get a single contractor to call us back though. Our running assumption is $10K. (Ugh.)

I'm interested in how others tackled a similar project too. We are not handy people.