Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Sigh even that kinda cosmetic upgrades cost a fortune. 15k ! Jesus. All house related crap is big bucks.

To be clear the update I did ended up costing about $1,200 in materials (sink, countertop, MDF to add cabinet trim, lots of paint/primer, tile backsplash, light fixtures) then about $600 in tools that will hopefully be useful in the future (router, nail gun, table saw... probably didn't really need the table saw but wanted one anyways).

$15K would've been demo/removal of the old cabinet + bulkhead + cleanup/repair of the drywall, tiled backsplash, cost of new cabinet boxes, countertops, sink (IKEA), dishwasher, and labour. From others here it sounds like it was a high quote but I didn't bother getting more because the supply of cabinets/counters was absolutely f***ed for a while mid-COVID.

[SSM_DC5]

^ coloured fixtures are worth money in the used market! When I was selling a handful of fixtures, I got lots of inquiries, but a filming company ended up scooping up most of it.

As for looking for a contactor to refresh your cabinets, I can share the one that did mine. Don't need to go through the GC, cuz the contractor left their design sheet behind with company info on it. Intentional? But do keep in mind that if you are swapping countertops, you'll need 2 trades to do work, one for the cabinet + countertop, another for the sink + faucet.

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by SSM_DC5

As for looking for a contactor to refresh your cabinets, I can share the one that did mine. Don't need to go through the GC, cuz the contractor left their design sheet behind with company info on it. Intentional? But do keep in mind that if you are swapping countertops, you'll need 2 trades to do work, one for the cabinet + countertop, another for the sink + faucet.

Yeah, if you've got a contact you'd recommend I'd appreciate it!

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by carsncars

That's not bad. I'm looking at doing the basement kitchen right now + 2 bathrooms. I'm not sure I have the energy in me to DIY again, but finding a good contractor also seems like work in itself.

Here's what my basement bath looks like right now : love the avocado coloured toilet/bathtub/sink

Renovating the bathroom will be a lot more intensive as you would have to remove the toilet and change it, then probably re-do the flooring, and do the shower. If you thought your kitchen DIY was tough, the washroom is way more difficult.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

Renovating the bathroom will be a lot more intensive as you would have to remove the toilet and change it, then probably re-do the flooring, and do the shower. If you thought your kitchen DIY was tough, the washroom is way more difficult.

It's only difficult if you start moving pipes and deal with the shower. Toilet change can be done within an hour just following Youtube How-tos. You might waste a wax or two if you are not careful. But really, that's the only difficult part, especially with single piece toilets. They are pretty much plug and play.

We helped a buddy to do a cosmetic update to his place before he put it up for sale. We were like 5 dudes and had beers and BBQs in the backyard.

The whole place was a 2 days job and we were in the bathroom for probably 2-3hrs. Replaced toilet, faucet, and sink and sanded/painted the cabinets white. Oh, and replaced the shower glass door. Super simple and looked quite decent after we were done.

In this particular bathroom of carsncars, I dunno how far he wanna go. But if I were to do a minimal DIY job, I'd change the toilet, take out the cabinet on top of the toilet and do some shelves. Get rid of the countertop, sink/faucet and curtain and just paint everything white. If slightly more elaborate, I'd replace the floor with... again, something white and be done.

White is a super easy color to work with when it comes bathroom. And it's the color that makes the most impact when it comes to reno-ing old bathrooms.

[PeanutButter]

I agree with you Hehe, but carsncars mentioned he doesn't know if he has the energy to do a DIY again after his kitchen. And no offence to him, he did a great job, but that kitchen reno he did was relatively easy in regards to diy projects.

The bathroom will be more involved for sure. If he has to change the tub it would put him over the top.

[hud 91gt]

That tile is dope. Honestly. Haha. Work with it. (Unless it linoleum?sp?) even the toilet and sink is toilet and sink is totally useable with a base cabinet. Remove the wall cabinet and add shelves and counter. The tub will be the hard part.

[EvoFire]

That ground stuff is probably lino. Gonna have to rip it out, or just tile over top if you are lazy.

[carsncars]

What probably made the kitchen more tiring was that I was living in the kitchen at the time, so maybe it'll be a bit better since the basement bathroom isn't really used anyways. I have little experience but I'm pretty good at picking up things from YouTube (kitchen backsplash was my first tiling job).

Here is my rough plan:
- Floor is cheap ugly linoleum and needs to go. I'm up to doing the floor tile, probably right overtop the lino as luckily it's pretty even and will require minimal levelling.
- With the vanity, I was thinking of just ripping it out and replacing it with an off-the-shelf vanity/sink combo from IKEA. Probably $1K. I'm comfortable with doing the plumbing for this (whatever you think of Sharkbite, it's been a godsend). If not that then repaint the cabinet, replace the countertop and sink.
- If the green sink is going (it's going) I think the green toilet would need to go too.
- I think the room would look a lot bigger with the over toilet cabinet gone and replaced with shelving. On the other hand though, I've come to really appreciate the storage space... so we'll see, it may just get paint + trim on the door.
- For the shower/bath area (you can just see a column of tile, bathtube not pictured) - the green tile is very uhhh vivid. Together with the green tub, it's a lot. If everything else in the room where white and green became the accent, it might work, but I think I'm leaning towards replacing it.
- Replacing the shower tile and tub is where I think I might draw the DIY line. It's not insurmountable but is a bit more involved with having to install vapour barrier, backer board, etc., so this one may be something where it might make sense to pay someone to do it. I'd also want to do the upstairs shower/bathtub anyways.

So I think I'm probably looking at getting someone in to do the shower/bathtub and then DIY'ing the rest. Unless the quotes for that are absurd. When the market was really hot in 2021-22 it was hard to find people to even quote smallish jobs.

When I say I'm not sure if I have the energy... I just remember one evening sitting on the floor in my kitchen one evening covered in dust and having a bit of an oh shit what have I done moment. But I'm sure everyone's been through that.

[carsncars]

Ah, here's the shower/tub area for your eyes to feast on

[Badhobz]

Was the previous owner / designer Ukrainian or Russian ? Those wall tile seem Eastern European

[EvoFire]

The tub and tile can be painted if you don't want to deal with the tiling, but if you were to swap to a single handle faucet always for the tub then just redo the tiles.

And yeah those tiles.... lol, that's some old school shit that you don't see anymore.

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

Was the previous owner / designer Ukrainian or Russian ? Those wall tile seem Eastern European

Portuguese.

He bought the house in like 1958 and was a janitor for the CoV...

When I took possession of the house some of the crucifixes had been up on the wall so long you could see a shadow of where they used to be

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by PeanutButter

I agree with you Hehe, but carsncars mentioned he doesn't know if he has the energy to do a DIY again after his kitchen. And no offence to him, he did a great job, but that kitchen reno he did was relatively easy in regards to diy projects.

The bathroom will be more involved for sure. If he has to change the tub it would put him over the top.

Lol I think the key for me in tackling DIY shit is knowing when I'm out of my zone. I think the shower/tub is probably that line.

[GLOW]

Originally Posted by carsncars

When I took possession of the house some of the crucifixes had been up on the wall so long you could see a shadow of where they used to be

sounds like the starting premise of a horror movie

[6793026]

doing bathroom is tough because you'll need to reseal / water proof everything now.

Just doing one now at our place.
Contractor came in.. vetted him too, did step 1 and 4. WTF... you need to do step 2 and 3, so our GC fired him cause he coudln't warranty his work.

Many say they can do it.. and then they don't.
words exchanged "are you a specailist or am i".... so many shady people...

tiler are hard to find and because my wife is picky, not all tilers wants to deal with these drains.

below are just pic for reference, will take final pic.

[Badhobz]

^that last picture, ive seen a few new houses with that drain in the shower. How do you get the girl's long ass hair out of a tiny little drain like that? it'll get clogged in like 5 minutes

[Hondaracer]

Those floor drains are a pain in the ass because yea, you’re creating a tub around the drain to try and prevent leaks. Wouldn’t be my first choice for a renovation as you’ve gotta get right down to the bare bones in order to work backwards for a proper installation, and even then you can’t guarantee it won’t leak.

We went the safest route possible to try and avoid any possible headaches in having a custom shower base built, which you then tile over. It’s ALMOST fool proof as there is virtually no where for the water to go but down the drain.

Those drains however aren’t rocket science, if you buy the system from schluter etc. following the instructions should be a good install. However, like you said, people just think they automatically know how to do it and then don’t follow the working procedures and you’d never know until it leaks.

[underscore]

When we did our bathrooms I kept it as simple as possible. In the master we swapped to a shower so I got one of those one-piece shower bases and the wall panel kits that look like tile but each side is a solid piece. So there's a bead of silicone in each corner and that's it, no way for anything else to leak.

The other bathroom we got a new tub + one-piece surround (you might need to a multi-piece depending on doors and hallways) so there's only one seam to seal up and worry about.

Obviously everyone has different tastes but to me actual tile showers/tubs just seems like too much hassle and risk if it's done wrong. Our last place had some issues with the master shower and the tile made it such a PITA to deal with because if you have to remove a few you're screwed. Here if there's a problem I can remove my entire shower in 6 pieces and put it all back after with a little drywall work around the edges.

[Hehe]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

^that last picture, ive seen a few new houses with that drain in the shower. How do you get the girl's long ass hair out of a tiny little drain like that? it'll get clogged in like 5 minutes

They have thought of that.

I don't know about this particular one in the pic, but the one that I've seen, it's basically a little tray that you can take out and all the hair and gunk in one go.

But that's where the pros end I think.

Installing this type of drain is PITA unless you are redoing the whole floor as you need to make room for the box that they sit in.

Not only that... you need to find a very competent bathroom installer where they actually do a good job on the floor so that all water drains toward it. I've seen these drains a few times but only one was installed correctly (IMO) as they actually took the time with the floor to make sure the entire shower floor is angled toward the drain. Small detail, but that's the only way make this drain to not only look good, but functional at the same time.

[Hondaracer]

Yea, instagram is full of videos of Mexican labourers basically hand troweling the shower pan for these drains and Voila! The final product is displayed and it looks great

However, as HeHe says, if it’s not perfect, good luck. Standing water etc. presents all sorts of issues let alone the basic problem of mildew and standing water which would never be able to be fixed unless you rip it out and redo it, or you’re willing to squeegee the water into the drain after every use

[carsncars]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

...or you’re willing to squeegee the water into the drain after every use

I grew up with my mom making me squeegee the entire shower stall every time I showered it's now a habit

Yeah, I don't think I'll be looking to do anything fancy with the bathroom. This is a "starter" home (whatever that means these days) and my medium term plan is to move in the next 3-4 years, so I don't think the cost and effort of anything particularly higher end or custom is worth it.

I will look into the tub and one/multi-piece surround idea though, it might do the trick. A friend did have their bath redone by one of those "new bath in 1 day" shops though and I didn't like it, it basically looked like someone put marble textured vinyl right overtop their old bath.

That said I do like the look of those large tiles I see now...

[donk.]

Carsncars, do everything except tiling and drain work

If you want to find a tiler, call up your local tile stores and ask around, easiest way.

I will never do a full gut bathroom reno again. At least not the tiling and demo part of it. Sweaty, gross, nasty, backbreaking work. (Bonus if you have asbestos, lead and vermiculite)

The whole waterproofing/sealing isnt rocket science..... Same with slope to the drain, you just need to think 4 steps ahead at all times.

Spoiler!

"6793026":
tiler are hard to find and because my wife is picky, not all tilers wants to deal with these drains.

What this actually means is they are too lazy to spend 15 minutes to look up the install process

[sonick]

I went with a one-piece composite shower base which was a great best-of-both worlds with a modern curbless look but also no risk of water ingress within the base that you have with tile as it's all one-piece, with all the surrounding walls and tiles were done with Schluter product.

Example, not my bathroom:

[unit]

is that a thing nowadays where the shower doesnt have a door? i mean i can understand if it's at the far end of the shower but right in the middle?