A whole new bathroom

[Karrie]

Hi I just joined and was wondering if anybody could help me. We have to tear out our whole bathroom. Our pipes busted and the sewer is backed up and will not work. We were told we can't do anything till the sewer is fixed. So does anybody know if this is true or not. Also we can't afford the $2000 we were quoted and would like to do as much as possible, or maybe we are just kidding ourselfs into thinking we can! Anybody have an opinion about that??

[giddonah]

I've done a few bathrooms and am in the middle of one right now and will be doing another in a month. Depending on your experience, it's not a big deal. You'll want a good plumber (which is like finding the holy grail). It's not impossible, but it is a big project for someone with no experience and no experienced help. Have you done any renovations in the past?

[Cole]

Welcome to the forum.

I have to agree with what Giddonah said.

[Sparks]

Welcome. The first thing I thought was $2000??? If that is for the entire job, that is cheap! I spent half that just on bottom grade materials for my bathroom. Bathroom renovations can be a lot of work and have to be done correctly. The plumbing can get pretty complex and there are a lot of codes that you have to know and understand. It's certainly not beyond the do-it-yourselfer but be prepared for the work and do some book learnin- or ask a lot of questions.

[dhill]

I had the same reaction as Sparks, $2K for the entire bathroom, not bad. But if the $2k is only for the plumbing part and you still have to do a remodel, then ?? When you say you have to re-do the entire bathroom, what exactly are you talking about? Tearing out sheetrock and replacing pipe isn't hard to do if you have a basic understanding of construction and if you're going back with the original lay of the plumbing. Of course, you may find other problems once you open the walls up. The drain could be a disaster. Is it in concrete? Is it clogged or has the line collapsed? Lots of questions about the sewer line and the repair costs are determined by what needs to be done. If you post a little more info about what you're planning/needing done, there are lots of people here who can walk you through the entire process. Good luck.
Dusty

[giddonah]

I thought the $2k was just for the sewer job. I'm having a connection put in in my basement for a bathroom and I think we're looking at $3k from the licensed thieves.

[Tom R]

Huh?? 3K?? What all is he doing??

[giddonah]

It's actually down to t/m when we do it this summer, but we got around most of the time by uncovering the sewer line ourselves. We're just going to have two drains installed, one for a shower and one for a tub. The toilet and sink drains are already there.

One estimate was for $6.5k for the plumbing for the bathroom: the two drains and install all the fixtures.

[Sparks]

Wow, that's up there. I know your probably bound by regulations but are homeowners not allowed to perform their own work? I know some areas it is prohibitted. I recently finished putting in 2 bathrooms where there was no plumbing at all and it was challenging figuring out the DWV piping. Needed to do a little book learnin on that job to make sure I would pass inspection, (there's alot to know, believe me) and of course to make sure it would work properly.

[Karrie]

Thank you everyone for the replys. I guess I didn't realize how much repairs like this would cost. We live in a 14x64 mobile home. It is also very very old and the bathroom is only the tip of the iceburg of the problems we are experiencing. We were told we need to tear down the spare bedroom wall, rip out the tub, sink, and toilet which will all need to be replaced. I am not sure what the material of the pipes are, but they all need replaced. The pipes that busted are under the tub. Also there is another pipe somewhere leading to the kitchen sink that is broken. I personally think it is too big of a job for us to handle. The destruction part might be ok, but after that we don't know where to go. Plus the funding for this project is a big question as well. As for the sewer I am really not sure what is wrong with that, it may have been frozen or just backed up due to all the mobile homes connected to the sewer and it hasn't been pumped out in at least 2 to 3 years. I guess I was just wondering what everyone thought would be the best options. Thanx again :)

[giddonah]

We're allowed to do our own repairs to existing electrical and plumbing. As soon as something needs to be moved or added, the licensed thieves have reign. We still try to do as much as we possibly can before we start getting robbed :wink:

[dhill]

Karrie,
All your plumbing is accessible from underneath your house. You'll have to pull down the belly board (actually it's not a board, it's the poly covering, looks like plastic. Remove the installation and expose the pipes. They are all there. They could be cpvc or pvc. Your sewer pipe is black pvc. Does the sewer pipe go to septic or are you hooked into city sewage. By code, you have to have a clean out on that sewage line (4") but you probably have a 2" cleanout underneath the house. Most mobile homes have that additional clean out where you can take the top off and push a snake straight through. If your subflooring is bad then you're going to have to pull the tub and the flooring and replace. But even that is a do-able job. $2K is probably a fair price for the whole job. It shouldn't be more than that though, and if you'll call a lot where they sell homes, sometimes you can get a lot guy who does repair and remodeling on the side and he'll do the whole job cheaper. The benefit of a mobile home is accessibitity to everything in the house. If you do the entire job yourself, you're looking at probably a couple of hundred for the structural stuff and then a couple more for all the finish. I'd bet you can do those repairs yourself all for less than $1K, maybe less than 500.

[bkrahmer]

Black PVC? You mean ABS? :) By code, IIRC, 3" is good for up to three toilets, I'm betting that's what's there...

I agree, though, that simply replacing plumbing is a pretty simple DIY job. Black & Decker has a pretty good plumbing book that will tell you everything you would need to know for a job like that.

[dhill]

Yep, ABS. And the 4" is for the cleanout between the house and the septic or sewage, whichever. I'm pretty sure the clean out is 4" by code here, seems like that was what was required last time I checked, but I may be wrong.