bathroom remodel

We remodeled our hall bath a couple of years ago and are now getting ready to do the master bath. We did not upgrade the plumbing, only the electrical was slightly upgraded to ground the outlets and bring it up to code. The main thing in remodeling a bath in an Eichler is to remember that moving any of the fixtures (sink, commode) is very difficult, since it requires digging up the concrete slab. This is risky, b/c of the risk of hitting the radiant pipes. However, it can be done, if you really want to and have the $$ to spend. We did not move anything.

For our hall bath, we spent in the range of $18,000, which included gutting it, tiling the floor, creating a custom sit-down shower all in tile, nearly frameless custom shower door, new window, wall fan, Grohe shower fixtures, including a hand-held unit, and new pedistal sink and faucet. We also sheetrocked the walls and mudded over them. We are so happy with the results, that we will be doing nearly the same thing in the master bath, though I may do the floor in stained concrete this time.

If you would like photos, send me an e-mail at [email protected]

Cathye

We've just completed our master bathroom renovation. What we did was coincidentally similar to what Catheye had done in details except we used marbel for the floor and shower wall. The only difficulty encountered was that, because we removed a tub and installed a shower, the drainage pipe needed to be enlarged from 1 1/2 to 2 inches. This required chizzling of the concrete slab and this alone cost $900. There were some problems with the ceiling, and we needed to lower the ceiling to hide few ugly items up there. We've replaced the original closet doors and the door between the dressing area and the bath with the shoji screen doors which allows light through the translucent panels.

We remodeled our hall bathroom 2 years ago. We moved all the fixture locations-- tub, toilet, and sink. It turns out this was not such a big deal. The excavation of the slab was done with a small jackhammer. All of the radiant tubes were exposed, so those that were damaged (and there was one) were easy to repair. The slab was filled back in in a few days and we now have a >much< more functional bathroom. The contractor told us that the slab work added abt $4k to the total job cost. Not peanuts, but not that much considering what a bay area remodel costs. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that if you do want to move stuff on the slab, it can be done and we've done it.

Another problem that we ran into was electrical. Current code in Sunnyvale requires more separate circuits than were available with our old wiring. So we needed to bring in some extra circuits via conduit over the roof. A little more money, but not such a big deal.

If any of you who are remodeling are getting rid of the original vanity lights could you let me know? We're trying to restore our bathrooms and both have had the lights replaced. My neighbor has the originals and I was able to take some photos and measurements so we can compare if you're willing to part with yours.

Thanks,

Tracy