Home Renovation: Reno Shows

So today, after feeling a little uninspired, I thought I would check out a little HGTV programming. We don't have TV in the normal sense so when I want to watch something I have to go to the web site and take what they give me. Today it was Sara's House, a canadian renovation show staring a beloved renovation icon Sara Richardson. I am usually a big fan, I still am, but today I tuned in and was constantly slammed in the face with some crazy price tags. It is seriously sane to spend 50,000 on a backyard renovation?!?! It did include a pool but seriously? 50,000??

All this DIY must be going to my head because I think they talked about truly being cheap with the bathroom they put together for something like 8 grand. If I had 8 grand to spend on a room I think I'd keel over from sheer excitement. Heck if I had 8 grand to do each room in my house it would be some kind of scene from a musical. I'd be singing and dancing and hammers would magically float down and bash down walls all by themselves. Ooh Yeah.

It's a little removed from the days where she was putting together rooms back in the day that involved little DIY projects and thrift store finds. I remember those days Sara! I was there. 3300 grand in tile does not a cheap bathroom make Sara! You are getting a little disconnected from the land of the real.

It made me wonder what I was spending on my bathroom renovation.

It also make me wonder if I should have some kind of plan.

I think she really made this clear in one of the episodes where she struck gold with a fabric that was 1.99 a yard. If you are designing on the cheap you really need to let the cheap dictate what you do.

I'm paraphrasing to the point that it might not even be close to what she was saying. Heck let's just leave her out of it and say that it's what I'm saying.

If you want to decorate on the cheap you have to be wide open, if you want to renovate on the cheap you have to absolutely go in with no expectations. Not stupid. Not blind. I just mean you need to let the materials that you get on the cheap dictate the design/style/direction. You have to work harder for the push that you want.

Now I'm not saying you can't make some choices but you have to be prepared to let go of the marble vanity you saw in the Urban Barn store window. It's 2 grand and it is not happening!  Your budget is 2 grand. Yes Sara, you heard me! I think I may even have to take out an instalment on that 2 grand. That's real! That's the kind of budget I'm talking about.

8 grand to do a bathroom. Good Gravy.

Ok so here is my budget breakdown (again) on my last bathroom reno.

Tile Total (floor/shower/backsplash): 400.00
Heated Floors: 600.00
Bathtub: 75.00
Plumbing(Fixtures cause we DIY): 150.00
Vanity and Sink: 300.00
Medicine Cabinet: 100.00
Mirror: 15.00
Lighting: 30.00
Shower Curtain Rod: 10.00
Toilet Paper Holder: 10.00
Limestone Sils for the Window and Cubby Ledge: FREE
Grout/Silicone: 30.00
Drywall Taping/Mudding: 100.00
Baseboard: FREE (reclaimed)
Casing: 15.00 (milled from whole sheet of MDF so this might be less)

So that lands us quite near the 2000 mark and I was over budget!

DIY labour
Demo (entire bathroom)
Insulation
Plumbing (toilet, bathroom faucets, vanity)
Electrical (light, in-floor heating)
Tiling (all)
Painting
Tub Install
Vanity/Sink install
Mirror Install
Medicine Cabinet install
Cut re-hang door.
Hanging Drywall
Floor (subfloor, levelling compound + heating coils, thin set, tile, grout)
Floor Transition

So I know that the job can be done for under 8 grand you just have to work your but off. I think it can be done for even less than what I did but I wouldn't recommend the gut-job approach if you are looking at coming in under 2 grand.  

So what is up with this new bathroom? Well I have a few to do this time around. This is a nice thing for me because it means that it won't have to do without a bathroom for weeks on end. It is going to make budget a big concern though.

I will start with what we have already spent.

Tile: 300.00
Tub: 500.00
Plumbing: 150.00
Shower Curtain Rod: 10.00

DIY/Labour
Window Casing: FREE (reclaimed beech)

Still left to do:
Floor Tile:
In-floor Heating:
Vanity:
Sink:
Move the Plumbing for the Toilet:
Pocket Door: Undecided
Towel Holder/Hooks:
Lighting:
Paint:


So were I to stay roughly in the same budget for these items I think we would be looking at a slightly larger budget over-all. Maybe 2500?

I think I can use some left-over tile from our last tiling job for the floor and I might be able to score a good deal on the vanity but I think most of the other options are getting pretty darn close to absolute bottom of the barrel. I ended up not being able to shop around and got stuck buying tile and a tub at regular price but I still think I made the right choice there. Sometimes you just gotta do it to get by.

Now this is the dangerous part because I want to put down black and white hexagon tiles for the floor but that is not the cheap version of this project. The cheap version has me picking out tiles from the piles stacked in the garage and working with what I have on hand.

I wonder if I truly am crazy trying to renovate a bathroom (or any room for that matter) for under a couple thousand. I mean if this 8000 "cheap" bathroom is the standard no wonder people think I'm loopy for trying to take it on. They think I'm spending 8000 on a bathroom?? I'm slowly waking up here, I'm realizing why people stare at me like I've lost it. I am blinded by the DIY idea (and really I can do it myself so why would I start hiring right?). I am crazy like a fox!

This whole cheap bathroom being 8000 is not the crazy part. The crazy part is that she spent 10 grand in the laundry room.

oi!