apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Just remember that there is no such thing as a simple remodel. It will cost more and take way longer than you think possible. Make arrangements for a long siege and hopefully you won't need it. I don't care what your contractor tells you. They want it to be true. But it won't be.
Make sure whoever you hire can and will communicate daily, shows up on time or calls to tell you he won't be there, shows up sober and lets you know when problems crop up and how much it will cost.
Don't know anything about one-day fitters. BUT I have remodeled two separate bathrooms that were the only bathroom.
The first required a complete replumb and the plumber disappeared after he ripped the pipes out and before he put the new ones in. I finally burst into tears after a week and a half when my contractor threatened to quit the job. I guess I scared him and he strong-armed the plumber into coming back. All told I think we were without a bathroom for about 3 weeks. Ended up renting a portapotty and getting very friendly with the neighbors. I did get my revenge and wrote a column about it in the local paper. For nearly a year after that I would have total strangers come up to me and ask me about my bathroom.
The second time around it again took about two weeks. A simple job turned into a total gut, but the real holdup was an aesthetic argument with the contractor over tile. I wanted tile and he wanted slate. He kept bringing in slate that I hated and finally he told me to go get something. Well of course by then I couldn't stand the two-week wait for special order so I got white and blue and Mexican tile off the shelf at Home Depot.

I did my one bathroom in pieces, but it was never out of commission over night. I had the painter/handyman come in first and paint, then take out the sink the morning that the flooring guy showed up. He pulled the toilet and laid the marmoleum floor in (seriously) no time at all, put back the toilet and then the handyman jumped back in with the new sink that he had assembled in the garage. Everything moved like clockwork.

For what it's worth, I can't say enough about how much I love the marmoleum. It comes in a ton of colors and is very nice and warm when you get out of the shower. And my sink from IKEA (Vattern) is actually quite attractive and of decent quality...and fit my budget and style better than a pedestal sink. I couldn't be happier overall!

For anybody that has never built or remodeled a bath, your first and best step is to contact the National Kitchen & Bath Association at
http://www.nkba.org/.

NKBA offers everything from online consumer tools to helping you locate a certified NKBA professional anywhere in country. NKBA professionals possess the highest level of design education and experience. These specialists will know everything from building codes to the latest materials and fixtures and range anywhere from construction companies to Interior Design firms.

So check out their site and alot of your questions will be answered.

Our bath remodel took about 4 weeks but we had a friend do the tile so we were on his schedule (including snowboarding). I would say the biggest challenge will be getting the toilet out, getting the floor tile in and grouted and putting the toilet back in as short a time as possible as the grout will need to dry first. Unless you are planning on not removing the toilet to do the floor. If you can do that then you should be much less inconvenienced. But I don't know what your plan is.

I would do that either first or last as the rest of the bathroom is not quite as desperately necessary but you want the toilet in commission as much of the time as possible. Then just make sure you cover or protect your new floor if other stuff is going on on top of it. It sounds to me like you should do it last then everything else will be out of your way.

I wanted to reroute the plumbing into the wall, but as I live in an apartment, that was impossible. So I ended up with a pipe going through the floor. Make sure you can do this vefore buying a basin.

The problem I found with the 'one day' companies is (and I live in Australia), a well-regarded company is sold to cowboys who trade on the previous owners good reputation.

You are doing this in midwinter. Reconsider this. Do this job in summer. Some finishes must cure, eg cement rendering (but my walls are brick). Do you render with timber walls?

It is important to know how the job is done, and what the needs of each tradesman are. Any tradesman who says 'Don't worry the (next guy) will fix it', has just screwed you. Some trades come in before others.

Have EVERYTHING you need for the WHOLE JOB on site before the first bitty nail is demolished - and I mean EVERYTHING, so there are no delays. That's why you need to have a thorough understanding of the job.

Get it in writing what they supply and what they expect to find eg tile fixative. Knowing the job means you can specify a particular brand or type for your walls & tiles. I had my bathrrom waterproofed to 2 metres up the wall.

Include a heated towel rail - my FAVOURITE THING. Also splash out of the tiles. I have never regretted getting large (less grout) Italian tiles, or my rail.

Have light(s) installed over the mirror for makeup & shaving, plus a ceiling light.

Remember floor tiles should be no larger than 4 inches (10 cm) or you don't get good 'wet feet' grip. I had my tiles laid on the cross. It meant buying an extra box, but the grout lines didn;t have to join up. Mismatching grout lines drives me nuts.

Rent a toilet & bathroom. If you have a house, put it in the back yard.

it will take longer than you think. we did a bathroom remodel and were without indoor plumbing for 3 weeks. we were promised 1 week.

the hardest part will be that cast iron tub you want. they are heavy and awkward to move in and out and the demolition required to remove the old tub will be extensive.

if you want tile or stone for the floor and walls, it will take longer than if you want linoleum and cultured marble. given your scope, i'd suggest you plan on a month without plumbing.

buy all your finish materials, fixtures and fittings ahead of time so there are no delays waiting for stuff to arrive.

thanks for all your input! i'm actually an architect, so i know projects usually end up taking at least 2 times longer than you anticipate. but i will make sure all supplies are on-site before the work is scheduled to begin!

i'm not completely sold on the cast-iron tub. the one we have now is acrylic and quite flimsy, so we wanted something more substantial, whether is it a tub or a shower. i'm just assuming it will be easier to deal with than making the bath just a shower stall (pouring the pan, etc.). the good news is that we can deal without the shower for a while, since my husband and i both have access to showers at our offices. the toilet is the part I’m worried about going without.

also, we do live in a house (that we own), so if we need to reroute plumbing, we are able to.

so, one thing i'm really curious about is how to deal with the old plaster walls in a bathroom. would you most likely have to demo everything and have it sheet rocked? if we're having the tile put in the shower, we will need to have a cement backer board anyway. at work i’ve found that it is often cheaper/faster to build up from scratch instead of dealing with what is already there. any thoughts?

thanks again!