flooring - deciding how much to do

[cranberry]

This afternoon, I'm getting an estimate to replace my bathroom floor. It's probably 30 years old and there's a dip near the toilet that needs to be repaired (a toilet leak has been repaired, but there was also an issue with carpenter ants, since resolved).

So replacing the bathroom floor is a definite. But I'm tempted to replace the kitchen floor as well. It's been down for 15 years and, well, I just don't like it. It also looks very dated.

The new bathroom floor would also look great in the kitchen and down the hall. I can pull money out of savings to do both, but feel like I shouldn't because I'm not earning that much right now. (I wouldn't be pulling money out of an EF.)

In the meantime, I may be selling the house in a few years.

So I need angels and devils on my shoulder - angels to say "save your money until you're working more" and devils saying "You want to replace the kitchen floor, might as well do it now."

Which side would you be on?

[Waffle]

I'll be your first devil. Get the floor you want, where you want so you can enjoy your home. Besides, when and if you do sell in a few years, it will show better with more modern flooring.

(If you had said the money was coming from an EF - I would have had to have given you a different answer.)

[RoadToRiches]

I would wait until you are working more. I am on a same boat. I desperately need new floors. I actually bought them on craigslist long time ago along with granite vanity top and undermount sink. But I am waiting for my debt payoff to be done to start the work on it.

[mcsangel2]

Devil #2. I am in a similar situation to you (and will be replacing both bathroom and kitchen flooring). It will probably be more than a few years before we sell, but it will help the value. Also, it just saves time and trouble to do things like this at the same time.

Replace both.

[qofcc]

If you're going to sell the house, you obviously need to fix the bathroom. If you're going to do the kitchen at some point, you might as well do it at the same time as the bathroom. Doing both jobs at the same time is going to be cheaper in the long run than doing them separately. Also, it will probably look nicer to have identical material and you might have trouble finding material that matches exactly at a later date.

Since this is not your forever house, be sure to choose a material that has a wide appeal and aim for the lower end of the price spectrum for the material chosen (tile?). You don't want to sacrifice quality, but you also don't want to pay too much of a premium for style because you probably won't recoup the cost. For example, you can spend $.50/sf for a closeout pattern ceramic tile that is good enough or $4.00/sf for a custom pattern that is absolutely gorgeous. If you're tiling a large area, you probably won't recoup the additional cost of materials for the gorgeous tile when you sell. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't spend a few extra dollars on an inset pattern or laying the tiles on an angle if that would take the look of the job from average to custom.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jun 6, 2011 10:31:23 GMT -5 cranberry said:

This afternoon, I'm getting an estimate to replace my bathroom floor. It's probably 30 years old and there's a dip near the toilet that needs to be repaired (a toilet leak has been repaired, but there was also an issue with carpenter ants, since resolved).

So replacing the bathroom floor is a definite. But I'm tempted to replace the kitchen floor as well. It's been down for 15 years and, well, I just don't like it. It also looks very dated.

The new bathroom floor would also look great in the kitchen and down the hall. I can pull money out of savings to do both, but feel like I shouldn't because I'm not earning that much right now. (I wouldn't be pulling money out of an EF.)

In the meantime, I may be selling the house in a few years.

So I need angels and devils on my shoulder - angels to say "save your money until you're working more" and devils saying "You want to replace the kitchen floor, might as well do it now."

Which side would you be on?

I'd ask for quotes for the bathroom and a separate quote for the kitchen and/or hallway. Is the subfloor in the bathroom ok or is that going to need to be replaced too?

[Deleted]

"Is the subfloor in the bathroom ok or is that going to need to be replaced too?"

I suspect that the subfloor in the bathroom is damaged, hence "the dip". This should be repaired/replaced ASAP since it's near the toilet. Besides the obvious (you don't want to go crashing through the floor when you're sitting on the can!) even over time the difference in levels between the floor can cause the toilet to rock, break the wax ring and voila you have a leak again.

Cranberry, if this house isn't high end I would look at buying remnant sheet vinyl. We did this several years ago for our kitchen (subfloor was ok) for $100 + the glue. The hard part was stripping off the old flooring that was glued down by mastic.

I've also replaced a bathroom floor with vinyl tile but I used a plumber to pull and reset the toilet. It's too heavy for me to try to handle by myself.

[share88]

When I consulted a local floor store, they had a minimum job fee - making the bathroom alone a ridiculous prospect since it would have cost a fortune. I opted to wait until I wanted more done, but just fyi you may run into such a thing.

[RoadToRiches]

If you can get stuff you like on craigslist, that would save you TONS of money if you are lucky. I bought 2 black granite vanity tops with undermount sinks for $200! Home Depot has ONE top WITHOUT a sink for 500 bucks. These were brand new in a box. I am not sure how that guy got them, probably fell off the trunk or something lol

I also bought porcelain tile for 50 cents, brand new, all in boxes...same tile at Home Depot was almost 5 bucks per tile!

If you can get your stuff on craigslist and have someone install it for you, you could really do it all fairly inexpensive.

[cranberry]

Thanks, everyone!

It turns out that doing both rooms together will save me about $350, so that will be the better deal. Unfortunately, it's still a pricey job and the estimate I got doesn't include paying a plumber to move the toilet, seal everything, and put it back after the floor is in. It does include repairing the dip in the bathroom floor.

In the meantime, right after the guy left I got a letter from my health insurer saying my monthly premium is going up $80 a month. Plus some other issues are cropping up.

So I'll probably replace the floors together, just not right now. In the meantime, I know I should be working on my business and have been wanting to continue with a professional certificate I started in April. I think putting money toward the certificate is going to trump replacing a kitchen floor that is in good shape, but that I don't like.

But maybe in the fall or winter. We'll see how the rest of the year shapes up.

Thanks again!

[8 Bit WWBG]

Although I won't say "when" to do it, I am a fan of trying to have a job done all at once. Part of the cost is just getting the person/team/equipment in the door, and its better to pay that once than twice.

You have already booked the bathroom job though, so this complicates your decision.

[cranberry]

Actually, I haven't booked anything yet. I was just getting an estimate. So I'm putting both projects on hold for the time being until I feel better financially.