When I was shopping for condos in late 2003, I had two options. Either buy a brand new place that required no work but more money up front, or buy a cheaper place that needed some remodeling done. Unfortunately I chose the latter option, but in hindsight I should have gone with the first option. Remodeling is NOT fun. But by hiring the queenslander renovations bulimba services you will avoid the headache and ensure a quality work will be done This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs I basically have two small bathrooms that need some floor replacing which will be done by the local floor tilers and put back together again. I’ve known for some time that I can expect to pay in the neighborhood of $8-12K for each bathroom. So what’s step one? Find someone to do the work. That’s pretty much the only step I right? Unfortunately it’s a giant step that is big gamble on my part. My first decision was to hire a painter and decorator to help me out with the concept and put together all my ideas. I can go with a big name like The Great Indoors who will handle the design, buy all of my materials, and hire people to do the Home make over. They have a small $99 retainer fee that’s required for them to even talk to you though. The Expo Design Center (owned by Home Depot) is a similar store only they want $750 for a retainer which is refundable when the project is done. I visited both of them today and had to laugh when Expo estimated that the labor cost to remodel each of my bathrooms would be…$19,000. Each! Just for labor! I told them they’d been sniffing too much tile glue. Another option is to go with a smaller contractor. I met with such a person last week who came to my house, checked out my bathrooms, asked a few questions and said, “The bigger one will cost you $14K. The smaller one $12K.” He offered no detailed explanation as to how he arrived at those numbers other than saying, “I’ve been in the business a long time. I know how much it will cost.” But what if it costs less than that? Yet another option is to leave the bathrooms as they are. I mean I bought the place, why won’t someone else? I might not be able to sell my condo for as much, but there’s always the gamble of investing $20K+ and never getting that money back again when I sell (which will be in roughly two years). However, I also need a medicine cabinet so I would really love to remodel it. The final option that is definitely off the table is for me to do the work myself. Hah! I can swing a hammer and measure a wall, but remodeling an entire bathroom is not part of my skill set and I frankly don’t have the time either. So what should I do? Has anyone in the District gone through a similar battle? Was it a success or a complete nightmare? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I should have bought the brand new place. This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
