Wanted: Contractor for bathroom renovation

[DeusExMachina]

Looking for either someone from CO-AR or a recommendation. Quick summary:

Small (6x8') full bathroom
- Demo
- Possible water damage remediation (replace subfloor)
- Tub to tiled shower conversion
- Floor tiling

Let me know! Looking to do this soon, want to get a few quotes

[bobbyfairbanks]

I own a hammer and could have stayed at a holiday in express last night.


Finding a good good comtractor is tough.

Bump

[MarkCO]

Sounds like a Saturday with hammer, torches and beer would save you some ammo money...

[DeusExMachina]

Mudding a shower floor and lack of time are my concerns. I already did the other two bathrooms, just want this to be someone else's problem.

[Bmac]

I would be happy to come see what you want to do and give you some options.

Bob

[DenverGP]

No suggestions on a contractor, did my own a couple years ago including replacing the tub with a custom mudded shower.

If you do find a contractor, make sure they really understand proper waterproofing.

This website has all the information you could ever want, and even if you are going to hire someone, it helps to know how it supposed to be done.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1

So many contractors think that because they can slap up some tile, they can install a custom shower, and unfortunately, the waterproofing issues usually won't show up until the contractor is long gone. Common failure points are the curb, benches, niches. So many people seem to believe that caulk and cementboard = waterproof.


http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h408/DenverGt/Bathroom%20renovation/2012-09-09120854.jpg

[DeusExMachina]

No suggestions on a contractor, did my own a couple years ago including replacing the tub with a custom mudded shower.

If you do find a contractor, make sure they really understand proper waterproofing.

This website has all the information you could ever want, and even if you are going to hire someone, it helps to know how it supposed to be done.
http://www.johnbridge.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1

So many contractors think that because they can slap up some tile, they can install a custom shower, and unfortunately, the waterproofing issues usually won't show up until the contractor is long gone. Common failure points are the curb, benches, niches. So many people seem to believe that caulk and cementboard = waterproof.


http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h408/DenverGt/Bathroom%20renovation/2012-09-09120854.jpg

Looks good! After 2 bathroom renos, I'm about tired and want this one done. However, if cost is astronomical, I'll end up doing it myself. I have researched several waterproofers (including Kerdi) so I'm pretty well versed at this point.

Did you do a glass door on that?

[DenverGP]

thanks. Yup, glass, fixtures and caulk went up after that pic.

I did the old fashioned plastic sheeting behind the cementboard, and a heavy liner in the pan. If I had to do it again, I would have gone with kerdi or a surface waterproofing. Would have let me do a niche instead of the shelves, but it was my first time, so kept it simple.

And I can relate with wanting to just pay someone to save the long hours of work. But after all the research I did, I don't know that I'd ever find a contractor I would trust to not screw things up. On the John Bridges tile site I linked, there is a "worst tile jobs" post on the professionals forum, where they post pics of rip-out jobs that were half-assed. And probably 90% of the really bad ones were done by "professionals".

I've seen a few people posting pics of their bathroom renovation on reddit, and in the step-by-step pics you can see they didn't do any waterproofing. The finished product looks great, but you know its just a matter of time till they need to rip it out and do it right. I over-analyze everything I do, but I can't imagine not even doing some basic research before attempting a custom shower. I think DIY network and HGTV make people over-confident.