Good Questions: Can We Fix Our New Bathroom Quick?

Hello AT,

My husband and I just bought our first apartment! Yay!

We're moving in a little more than two weeks and are interested in rerouting our showerhead and possibly retiling before we move. The shower head seems to have been made for a very short person (it hits my head and my husband's neck) and the tiles are dingy and somewhat cracked. Is it possible to get this done in that time frame? If yes, can you recommend a good plumber or throw this out to the AT community for some feedback? I'm attaching our photo of the bathroom.

Thanks! Carla and Ben

(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.
Email questions and pics with QUESTIONS in subject line to:
editor(at)apartmenttherapy(dot)com)
Link To All Good Questions

Dear Happy Homeowners,

That really seems too tight, but it all depends on the plumber and their schedule and if your building will require a lot of paperwork that might slow things down. We would recommend calling Pipe Rite Plumbers and starting there.

Anyone else?

Comments (1)

Carla -- OH MY GAWD! That's my bathroom, this must be park terrace gardens. welcome to the hood!!!!
ok here goes. the bathroom reno sucked big time. we couldn't live in it for quite some time while it got redone. the wall tile is one thing, it's a floating mortar wall without wood studs. It's a color that doesn't exist anymore for the restoration fans and costs beaucoup bucks to have redone. we donated ours to the management company when they have to fix any non-altered apartments. And you have a bigger headache when stuff happens behind the walls (trust me they will) and you need to break a few tiles.

the floor is another, those tiles are direct on concrete, they don't pull up well... you'll need some slc (self leveling conrete). Or you can do the lazy way and tile over it.

Honestly aside from the size, that steel bathtub is LOUD and annoying. The showerhead MUSt be moved up b/c it's freaking ridiculously low. (ppl who think it's normal height, trust me, it isn't). And the HOT water is scalding hot and never mixes right with the cold when it's 2 separate supply lines. You really should get a single unit (new NYC building codes require a pressure or thermal anti-scald fixture).

The toilet. ah yes. it's a crapshoot (bad pun intended). If you do plumbing it's expensive as all hell, might as well redo the flushometer toilet. Most ppl on this board don't have to deal with this type of toilet so they DON"T know that it is the 10th circle of Dante's hell. I hear my neighbor's valve on the verge of a complete and utter shutdown. That size can't be found anymore except in commercial applications. But then it's too big, or has the wrong rough-in. The ONLY model that will fit is "American Standard Cadet 3" no joke. Check your door clearance... better yet, come to mine to see for yourself.

It may be expensive, but the bathroom is COMPLETELY worth it.