Title: How Much Did Your Bathroom Remodel Run You (Roughly)?
We thought we’d just swap out the tub and slap on some new tile, but the second we took up the old linoleum, it was like opening a time capsule—wires everywhere, half of them cloth-wrapped and brittle. Ended up having to rewire most of the lighting and outlets because nothing was grounded right. The plumbing was a mess too, but honestly, the electrical was what really blew our budget.
I totally get what you mean about “unknowns.” We had a little buffer set aside, but it vanished fast once the electrician started poking around. Looking back, I wish we’d just assumed everything behind the walls needed replacing. It’s wild how these old houses hide so much weirdness. At least now I know what’s behind every wall in there... but my wallet still hasn’t forgiven me.
That sounds almost exactly like what happened with ours, except we found a couple of live wires just tucked behind the old vanity—no junction box, nothing. The “just swap the tub” idea turned into a total gut job once we realized the vent stack was leaking too. Did you end up having to move any plumbing, or was it just updating what was there? Our costs basically doubled once we had to bring everything up to code. I wish I’d budgeted for a full rewire from the start, but hindsight’s 20/20...
We had a similar “just replace the fixtures” plan, but yeah, once we opened up the walls it was like a time capsule of questionable 70s wiring and plumbing. Ended up moving the toilet a few feet (which meant jackhammering the slab—fun times), and had to re-route some supply lines because apparently copper pipes don’t last forever. Didn’t touch the vent stack, but I probably should’ve, considering how much else was wrong.
I totally get what you mean about costs ballooning. Our budget basically evaporated once the electrician started poking around. I thought I was being smart by setting aside a “surprise” fund, but it was gone in a week. If I ever do this again, I’m just assuming everything behind the walls is a disaster waiting to happen. At least now I can sleep at night knowing nothing’s going to catch fire... probably.
Yeah, the “just swap out the fixtures” plan never seems to go as simply as it sounds. When we opened up our bathroom walls, we found a mess of old galvanized pipes and even some cloth-wrapped wiring. Ended up costing almost double what we’d budgeted, mostly because of hidden stuff like that. I guess the lesson for me was to expect the unexpected and pad the contingency fund even more than I thought was necessary. Funny how a simple project can turn into a full-blown overhaul once you see what’s lurking behind the drywall.
Title: How Much Did Your Bathroom Remodel Run You (Roughly)?
That’s exactly what happened to us, except in our case, it was a tangle of ancient copper pipes and some weird, half-rotted wood blocking where a vent should’ve been. I went in thinking we’d just replace the vanity and maybe retile, but by the time we were done opening things up, it turned into replacing half the plumbing and rewiring for code compliance. The “simple swap” idea is a myth, at least in any house older than the 80s.
I’m pretty detail-oriented with my budgets, but even then, our costs ballooned by about 40% over what I’d mapped out. I’d set aside a 15% contingency, but that evaporated fast once the hidden stuff started showing up. Honestly, I think a lot of those HGTV-type shows do people a disservice by glossing over how much time and money gets eaten up by these surprises. It’s not just about picking tile and faucets—there’s a lot of infrastructure hiding behind the walls that nobody wants to think about until it’s too late.
Curious if you tackled any of the work yourself or just handed it all off to a contractor? I tried to DIY as much as possible, but there’s a point where you hit code issues or stuff that’s just beyond a weekend warrior’s skill set. I’ve heard some folks say you can save a bundle doing demo and painting yourself, but honestly, the real costs seem to come from the stuff you can’t see—like plumbing and electrical.
Did you end up replacing everything back there, or just patching what looked sketchy? I went back and forth on whether to rip out all the old wiring or just fix the worst bits, but in the end, it seemed smarter (and probably cheaper in the long run) to just bite the bullet and update it all while the walls were open. Kind of painful at the time, but at least I’m not lying awake wondering if I’ve got a fire hazard lurking back there...
Anyway, just curious how you approached those decisions, since it sounds like you ran into some of the same headaches.
