Waiting for the Bathroom
When we bought our new house, it was with the plan of putting a bathroom in the basement. Luckily the place we wanted the bathroom was located immediately over the waste line and directly below the incoming hot and cold water. So plumbing would be kept to a minimum. Two of the walls and the door always existed too. We wanted plain white fixtures (sink, toilet, stall shower), and no tile. So we got bids from three local contractors with a reputation for doing environmentally friendly construction. The lowest of the three bids was $24,000.
That was about double what I was expecting and seemed totally outrageous. My dad, who worked in construction on the East coast, suggested that he could fly an entire team of construction workers out from NY, put them up in a nice hotel, and airfare+hotel+contractors would still cost less than the local contractors. It seemed a bit too complicated and absurd though, so we didn't go that route.
So even though I measure my spare time in minutes per week, I decided to take on the task of adding a bathroom basement myself. Since I have no experience with plumbing at all, I found a good local plumber, and hired him to do the plumbing work. So far he's broken up the concrete floor and installed the waste lines. Next, we get the waste lines inspected and then put down new concrete.
Based on a rough estimate of materials and the bid from the plumber, I expect the entire project will cost about $6,500. From experience with my estimates on previous projects, I know that means it will be closer to $8,000, but that's still only a third of the lowest contractor bid.
I'm glad for construction workers that they're now earning a decent wage for the skilled and physically challenging work that they do, but it's hard for me to understand how anyone can afford to pay the rates they're asking.
That was about double what I was expecting and seemed totally outrageous. My dad, who worked in construction on the East coast, suggested that he could fly an entire team of construction workers out from NY, put them up in a nice hotel, and airfare+hotel+contractors would still cost less than the local contractors. It seemed a bit too complicated and absurd though, so we didn't go that route.
So even though I measure my spare time in minutes per week, I decided to take on the task of adding a bathroom basement myself. Since I have no experience with plumbing at all, I found a good local plumber, and hired him to do the plumbing work. So far he's broken up the concrete floor and installed the waste lines. Next, we get the waste lines inspected and then put down new concrete.
Based on a rough estimate of materials and the bid from the plumber, I expect the entire project will cost about $6,500. From experience with my estimates on previous projects, I know that means it will be closer to $8,000, but that's still only a third of the lowest contractor bid.
I'm glad for construction workers that they're now earning a decent wage for the skilled and physically challenging work that they do, but it's hard for me to understand how anyone can afford to pay the rates they're asking.