Bathroom Remodeling help

[PGG]

We need to remodel our bathroom due to a dripping faucet that can't be fixed (long story discussed in another thread a few weeks ago...yes, we've hired a plumber to try to fix it). The drip is getting worse and worse and is almost a stream of water.

A picture is here:

I need to remove the vanity that encloses the sink (which I think is attached to the wall rather than supported by the vanity). The ceramic tile splash-back will likely have to go as shown in the pic. We plan on replacing the sink with a pedestal sink. The vinyl flooring does not go underneath the existing vanity, so I have to replace the floor too. To top it off, the vanity also cuts into the door moulding.

We had a handyman give us a quote of nearly $2000 to remove the existing stuff, cut the ceramic tile out, patch hole with drywall and put 3 coats of "mud", lay new flooring, install new sink (with shutoff valve installation), and install new toilet since we were going to all the trouble. Unfornuately this is beyond my budget (it doesn't include cost of actual sink/toilet/floor) so I need to try and do some of this myself and hire professional help where needed.

I'm wondering if some of you can offer advice on what is easiest for somebody who hasn't done this stuff before but has sucessfully tackled some other home improvement things.

I'm thinking laying ceramic tile is do-able assuming I can get the vanity/sink/toilet out. I have no idea the best way to remove the ceramic tile (cut it out or smash with hammer??). I'm told that "mudding" drywall is a terrible job best left for the pros. My tentative plan is to remove the toilet and vanity (leaving the sink attached to the wall), then lay the backerboard directly over the existing floor and do the ceramic tile, and then hire a pro to address the wall and install the new sink and toilet.

Sigh... Also this is the only bathroom in the house. I figure I can take

3-4 days off to do this job and our inlaws live 0.5 miles away ;)

thanks for any advice

[John A. Weeks III]

Considering how much you will spend in lost wages, plus what you will have to do to repay your inlaws over the years, it would probably cost you just the same to hire it done. At least that way it would get done, it would be done nicely, and you will not have any self-inflicted disasters.

-john-

[Doug Miller]

If you expect to be able to do a complete bathroom remodel in three or four days, you are in WAAAAAAY over your head.

Best advice I can give you is that the handymen and/or plumbers you've had looking at this are idiots. Get somebody out to look at it who actually knows what he's doing. The faucet *can* be fixed (or replaced). You might have to remove the sink to do it - which probably means cutting out some of the tile above it - but it *can* be done. Remodeling the entire bathroom to fix a faucet is just insane.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

[roger61611]

That is one odd-looking setup. It looks like an old institutional sink. I would try everything before ripping it out, including contacting the maker of the faucet, and getting another plumber out to look.

Ditto the timeframe to repair everything, it will take a couple weeks of trial and error and trips to the hardware store.

If it turns out to be impossible to repair the faucet I suggest just removing the sink and getting a omdern one that takes modern fixtures, then fill in tile around it, whatever looks more or less OK, and let it go at that. Losing your only bathroom is really painful.

[Hopkins]

I don't know that this is the case but even though the sink may be attached to the wall, the vanity may be supporting it. From the photo, that sink looks heavy. And I think removing the sink first would make it easier to remove the vanity.

Just some random thoughts while someone else comes by with more...

Obviously planning is key. Having all the stuff you need ahead of time will cut down the time that the room is unuseable.

You could do some of the demolition yourself, in the evenings, while keeping the bathroom useable... pulling up the flooring, for example, and cleaning up the subfloor [if necessary] to get ready for the new floor. A note - If you build up the flooring too much the drainpipe your toilet connects to will be too short. You could pull out the vanity and brace the sink [if necessary].

I'm a little unclear on the ceramic tile. Are you going to rip it all out, or do you want to fill in the notch that'll be left after the sink is out [or do you want to bring the tile down, if necessary, to meet up with the new sink]? If you're going to rip it all out, do whatever is quick [without damaging any wiring or water lines].

Put off whatever you can, like the door moulding. You can do that later. The moulding looks like regular stock stuff, from what I can tell in the photo.

If you haven't done drywall before then it probably is best left to a contractor. They're pretty quick, and getting that smooth flat surface can be a bear for a first-timer.

[QB3]

I've got to agree with Weeks on this one. The potential that an unexpected problem will occur is enough to make this job one better done by someone more experienced. I like to do my own work on my home, but one of my better skills is in knowing my own limitations. I will usually have a professional to do a job once, if I have not done it before myself. Then, I will watch what the professional does and ask questions when I don't understand something. After that, I am confident enough to do it myself, if something similar should happen again.

[Hopkins]

I completely lost track. I agree with whoever said the faucet was fixable. At the most you replace the sink/faucet assembly.

[Roger]

This looks just like the sink in my parent's house and we have looked long and hard for replacement faucets. This style is no longer made, your only hope for replacement is an antique plumbing fixture restorer. Try looking for a supplier on the Old House Journal website.

I'd pull the sink off, replace it with a pedestal that hangs on the wall for a quick return to functionality and take care of the floor and wall patching as you have time and money. If you're ambitious, strip the wall and put up cement board before installing the sink. You can tile at your leisure, it's easy to move the pedestal to fix the floor.

Roger

Doug Miller wrote:

[Kealo D S]

If your going to try this job yourself, and if you think it will take 3 or 4 days, then you had better rent a port-a-potty. In my humble opinion, you should only replace the faucet. Although I do like the looks of an older one.

[c_kubie]

I probably go one of two routes...

1) Rip out everything myself, hire out plumbing work, and then either find a cheap handyman or a buddy to help remodel the entire bathroom. If you just update the vanity but not the rest of the room, it will look out of place. When I did mine, just make sure the toilet and floor go in first. This way you can at least go to the bathroom. (plumbing should only be a day)

2) Start writing home makeover shows with a really good sob story. Get creative. Deaf kids, handicap wife, and caring for older parents; all while being laid off from the manufacturing plant that is posioning your house. They love a good story.

Good luck

[trader4]

"I completely lost track. I agree with whoever said the faucet was fixable. At the most you replace the sink/faucet assembly."

The OP pointed out that he's had a plumber in and the faucet is not repairable. To change the faucet requires removing this sink from a tiled wall that it's fastened to and it's unlikely that a replacement faucet is even available. And that style sink, which mates to the cabinet, is no longer made either. So, given the circumstances, I think he's on the right track.

[D. Gerasimatos]

I paid someone to redo my bathroom. It took a lot longer than expected and there are still little niggling concerns. I wish I would have done it myself. It's hard to find good help. Even people with good recommendations can get sloppy when they encounter problems they don't want to deal with.

Dimitri

[Banty]

This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to problems later. That sink is an instutituional sink (available by salvage, I'll bet), force-fitted into the bathroom to begin with. Did the OP have this put in?

Banty

[pgg]

No, the OP has lived in this house for 18 months and is doing his best to properly correct many half-assed issues not known to him (or his home inspector) before purchasing this starter home.

[Banty]

OK - I didnt' follow the other thread.

Then he's stuck with some kludges. (Not being judgemental, I had to learn some interesting stuff on my house, too.) He'll have to use one of the make-shift solutions described in this thread. But eventually he will need to remodel just to get out from under this problem completely.

Banty

[trader4]

">> This is a classic problem of a cheeep solution earlier leading to problems

Only a moron would think anyone could have installed the sink/cabinet in that pic recently.

[Wen-King Su]

Has anyone suggested perhaps you can open up access to the back of the sink through the other side of the wall? Perhaps that way you can take the faucet out without ripping out the whole thing.