Last September, Mindy and I bought another home. It smelled like cigarettes, had colorful toilets, loads of wallpaper, dark wood, gold fixtures everywhere, and an unfinished basement.
This was a home only a flipper could love. Just my style. We moved in and quickly went to work.
The 33 Hour Bathroom
I don’t like projects that drag on. Once I start working on something, I like to wrap it up pronto. In my last home, I gutted/rebuilt a kitchen in a week. It was a long week, but at least the chaos was limited to 7 days.
Planning is everything. When I decide to remodel a room, I:
- Think about it for a long, long time: By the time I start work, I know exactly what the finished space will look like.
- Prepare: I have all the materials and tools ready to go and carefully organized. Going to Home Depot 5 times in a day is NOT efficient. Been there, done that (Hello plumbing!).
- Grind it out: I turn off the phone, turn up the music and get to work.
So, I just completed my office bathroom remodel. Here is what it looked like before I swung the hammer:
I gave myself 40 hours of work-time to complete the project and managed to do it in 33.
BOOM!:
It didn’t go off perfectly. I stabbed myself a couple of times (yay tetanus shots!). There were marital disputes. The wallpaper paste put up a helluva fight. However, the finished product looks great, only took 33 hours, and came in at just over $1,000.
And, I documented the whole thing on my YouTube channel. The video features a singing toilet and a bit of marital drama. Click over to YouTube or just watch the embedded video below. Enjoy!
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33 hours? That’s incredible! We need to remodel our bathroom and it’ll probably take me 6+ weeks to do it. That’s why I’m putting it off. I’ll head over to see your video.
It looks great. Nice job.
Wow! 33 hours is really beast mode man. Looks awesome, great job!
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Wow, 33 hours is pretty quick! Nice job Mr. 1500! The video was very entertaining. Have you considered a wider angle lens? It might be easier to under see what’s going on.
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Good idea with the lens! I’m an amateur!
Wallpaper paste is the f-ing worst! It takes some patience and extremely hard work.
I know!
I have a bunch more to remove this week too. Arrrrrrgh!
Great work Mr 1500. Your attention to detail works out well in personal finance and home improvement. Also, there’s a great centerfold in that Ask This Old House (I have that issue framed).
Keep up the good work.
That is amazing, Carl. I love your methodology there, and want to try to apply it to other things in my life: writing, chores around the house, stuff like that.
Prepare, prepare, prepare. Eliminate distractions. Knock it out. No procrastinating, no letting it drag on.
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Not to nitpick, but if I take a look in the mirrors, the reflection doesn’t look finished around the shower or the ceiling. Are you leaving the ceiling open? Taking the shower out?
Yep, I explain in the video that the ceiling is temporarily remaining open so I can redo the plumbing at a later date.
33 hours is awesome, and the bathroom looks great. Great video, too. I need to be less distracted, but most of the distraction are from my kids.
Thanks for this inspiring video.
Question – how did you cut the tile? Do you have a wet saw?
More generally, do you have DIY resources you’d recommend for a beginner?
BTW, quit holding out on us about the most important reveal — are you the toilet crooner?
If so, I sense another website: MrToiletCrooner.com
Fantastic! We had our (sole) bathroom renovated over the last couple of weeks while we were in the Yucatan. I’m given to understand it took more than 33 hours. It ended up costing us a significant multiple of ~$1k. But we’re happy to pay professionals who know what they’re doing, rather than figure it out myself taking two or three times as long while my wife wonders when she can move back into the house.
The design looks great. Thanks for pointing out important things I would’ve overlooked, like that tile placement. I’d love a quick electrical tutorial if you ever feel like explaining how you turned a switch box into a GFCI outlet.
Dang, that is impressive. I wish I’d gotten more done on my remodel over the Xmas break. It started as one type of job and turned into a much bigger one when I realized that more backing board was rotted than I had initially thought. Now I’m tearing down tile in my limited spare time but I have a hard time motivating myself to do it because I know the end result will be that it looks worse than it does. Weird psychology, I know. Well, as Scott Jurek says, sometimes you just do things.
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I like to plan, plan and plan. The actual work goes rather quickly when I know “exactly” what I will be doing. Doing “the work” ahead of time (in my head) can often be done in conjunction with some thoughtless mundane activity.
That was one of the reasons I was reluctant to buy a house myself. For me, there is nothing wrong with the toilet to begin with 🙂
All this investments are emotional in nature.
Does the 33 hours cover research on how to do it? 🙂
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Haha, but swapping toilets is fun!
The 33 hours did NOT cover the research or all of the trips to the store; pure labor only.
The result is great! Totally love it!
Hey, thanks! Most bath remodel projects involve upgrading the bathtub, tile and wallpapers, shower controls, sink and vanity area, medicine cabinet, and similar fixtures. You can replace or repair busted, worn out, old components and upgrade to better amenities. Most homeowners say it is worth it 🙂