Tips on Installing Your Own Master Bathroom

My brother recently finished installing his own master bathroom. I asked him what he learned in the process and for a list of practical tips he found to save money. Here are the highlights.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation By Being Your Own General Contractor
My brother explained to me how by simply being your own general contractor (that is, by managing the construction process yourself) you can save a minimum of 15 to 20% in costs. A general contractor will charge this commission on the total costs of the project, from the costs of the labor of the subcontractors and the costs the materials. Even if you don't lift a single finger in the construction process except to manage, you can save hundreds of dollars with this one simple decision. I plan on expanding more in a follow up article about how to be your own general contractor (as well as more about why) for a simple construction project like installing your own bathroom.

Save Money On Your Bathroom Installation by Being Extremely Flexible in Regards to Materials and the Final Finishing
If you go into planning your bathroom installation with a fixed idea of exactly how the bathroom is going to look you are going to be locked into buying more expensive materials, high finishes, and those expensive extra details. If you and your spouse can agree that the goal is to install a quality master bathroom quickly, you will find that being extremely flexible about what exactly it is going to look like will help immensely. If you want to save money, the goal is to have something that looks nice and is of good quality; the goal is to not duplicate some hotel bathroom masterpiece.

Save Money On Your Bathroom Installation by Buying Your Building Materials from Stores that Specialize in More Common Building Materials
My brother purchased his bathroom building materials from Lowes, Home Depot and Costco at Home. When I asked him why, he said that these stores specialized in the more common, cheaper building materials and fixtures. These stores, therefore, could afford to offer these building materials at a much cheaper price than those that carried the more exotic materials because they had built up a customer base that bought their products in quantity. As a business person I realized that this made perfect sense: if you have a smaller customer base, you have to charge more for your goods in order to make a profit.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Picking a Neutral Color Scheme
My brother and his wife decided to go with an off white/tan color scheme because they could find plenty of fixtures and tiles materials that matched, without paying high speciality prices for less common colors.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Tiling the Shower Yourself
If you are at all handy, for the cost of about $80 you can buy a 7 inch wet tile saw and cut and place the tiles for the shower yourself. Tiling is not difficult and you can still get a quality project without paying the expensive cost of subcontractor labor. My brother recommends avoiding white grout and white tiles as these will show dirt and mold more easily.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Purchasing a Pre-made Vanity with the Top and Sink Already Installed
My brother was able to purchase a pre-made vanity with a granite top and sink already installed for about $360 from Costco at Home. A plumber will charge about $90 an hour to install the countertop and sink. By simply buying something premade you are saving having to pay extra labor costs.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Researching Your Toilet
As I've only lived in one house, myself, and the toilets were already installed, it never occurred to me that the toilet that you chose could really save or cost you money. My brother's advice was don't necessarily go with the cheapest, instead research the flushing capabilities for the 1.6 gallon per flush toilets. Your plumber should know the flushing capability for each of the major brand names. You want a toilet that has a high rating. Also, if you contact your local water authority or power company for your water, they often may carry $75 to $100 rebates for low flow toilets and water fixtures. Your toilet choice can also save you money down the road, as you pay less on your water bill.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Researching Your Bathroom Fan
Your goal, my brother told me, is to buy a low decibel fan (that is, low noise fan), as well as one that doesn't use much energy. He ended up purchasing a bathroom fan from Panasonic that only uses 15 watts of power.

Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Interviewing Your Plumber
Originally my brother bought his shower valves and trims through a surplus warehouse, in an attempt to save money. Unfortunately his plumber was not familiar with these particular materials and ended up spending more time actually installing the valves and trims. This cost my brother extra money in labor costs, thereby off-setting the money he saved in purchasing from the surplus warehouse. He recommends always talking to your plumber to learn what are the common fixtures and styles are, and what kinds they are used to installing.

And Finally, Save Money on Your Bathroom Installation by Looking at Future Hot Water Usage
My brother's master bedroom is 50 feet from the hot water tank, so he had the plumber put in a recirculation pump on the hot water heater with a timer. Simply by doing this, they now get hot water instantly through their shower heads and faucets, rather than having to wait 45 seconds to a minute for the water to become hot. This will save them the costs of gallons and gallons of water going down the drain in the years to come.

Blessings!

Source
Personal interview