Bathroom renovation
Terrytu 
JC.Marie 
Ihatebees 
Nellejoy I second Mazzeo Master Masons! They renovated our bathroom and kitchen last year and the work is beautiful! They were prompt, professional, neat, and reasonably priced!
Rmmjs First thing you should do is go to NKBA.org (FYI, the National Kitchen & Bath Association has been headquartered in H'town for 40+ years) and has great resources for homeowner kitchen & bath ideas, hints and planning. Second thing, there are no doubt a number of local firms that do good work but never use HD or Lowes for your job.
ExTownie
Chel I second the idea of the NKBA! Mazzeo Master Masons is a member of the association which is how we found them. I agree with extownie-stay away from Home Depot and Lowe’s for this kind of project.
I have used the Heintz Brothers for my Bathroom renovation. They are fairly priced, work hard, and are well experienced. They can help you to every detail or work around your needs such as design idea, plans, recommendations to other areas for supplies pending your budget. Top of the line experience and worth a call.
Call Ernie - 973-615-9559
Tell them David T. from Hackettstown recommended you.
David T. Square One Building LLC
Highlights info row image
(908) 892-6866
MECK Brothers Home Improvement & Construction
(201) 230-6681
nutty Does anyone know the avg. cost of a bathroom remodel? Just looking to replace tile shower stall, toilet, vanity? Know it varies completely but wondering the base estimate.
Hi TownFriend,
The bathroom remodel depends on style and finishing's to be honest. If you plan on doing this project my recommendation would be to get a few pieces and store them. I did that and made my project so easy. I purchased my vanity and vanity top, toilet and fixtures (Shower, Sink, towel rod, etc.), Please DO NOT BUY TILES IN ADVANCE. I made that horrible mistake and my tiles warped. So tiles I recommend doing that at time of install and just pay for labor for installation of each piece.
“Second thing, there are no doubt a number of local firms that do good work but never use HD or Lowes for your job.“ why? you don’t give a very convincing argument here. i used HD to renovate a laundry room and it was a good experience. they subcontract the labor to a local firm with plumbers, electrician and carpenter. the laundry room came out beautiful. i actually had a worse experience with a local handy man/ renovator on another bathroom - the project went beyond expected budget and took far too long to complete and one of the fixtures was scratched. it was very stressful. at least with our HD job the price was fixed, the schedule was set and all the work was guaranteed. the cabinets were manufactured in NJ also.
CraftBeerBob HD and Lowes in-store designers may be trained and knowledgeable but they do have to bid out installation work to the lowest cost contractors. I'm acquainted with the man who was the national head of kitchens and baths for all 2000+ HD stores and they (HD) have never been able to achieve better than a 50% consumer satisfaction rating with their installation work. Sure you can get a good job but, you have an equal chance of a bad job. HD may guarantee the work but you probably face a fight over it, true you can get a bad job from a local guy too but, if you hire them, you should have checked them out carefully first.
Please, please do not use the contractors from Lowes or HomeDepot. They are not local people.
Generally speaking you can purchase all your items from a specialty store for roughly the same price. They will try to match as best as possible.
Nutty we had a long valley contractor show up to do work on our house that was bid out by home Depot. He works with them because he does not have to run the business side of things. They feed him work all year long.
I second Meck brothers remodeling contractors-I have there phone as 908-235-3035 I
excellent work
I have designed and remodeled bathrooms, and one thing I can tell you is that a lot of what makes a good bathroom are little things that most people don't see or think about. And thinking about those things are what make a good designer or contractor.
For example, one of the nicest bathrooms I remodeled was done about 7 years ago, and yet it looks and functions as good today as it did the day I finished. I didn't just use drywall in the tiled shower, nor did I use common cement board--I used HardiBacker, secured with proper coated screws to resist rust. And I put overlapping tar paper behind it, and I taped the seams of the boards with fiberglass tape. I used a quality, durable sub-flooring, then a layer of HardiBacker, and I properly secured it with many screws. I didn't use the cheapest tile or tile adhesive--I ordered quality, thick, Italian porcelain and used acrylic adhesive. And 7 years later, none of the tiles or grout lines have cracked, anywhere in the bathroom.
I didn't use cheap particle-board cabinets--they are all solid wood, so they're not peeling and warping. I used moisture-resistant drywall on all of the walls, and I didn't use cheap flat paint, and all of them still look like new. I secured studs where all of the towel racks were to be installed, so they are screwed into solid wood instead of drywall and are not falling off the walls. I used quality towel racks and lighting, so the metal is not corroding from moisture. I bought a quality toilet, not the cheapest one available, so that it would be less likely to clog.
I installed an ultra-quiet fan, instead of the cheapest fan I could find. I installed a heat lamp--a proper one, designed to be used as a heat lamp in a bathroom, not just a common lamp with a heat-lamp bulb. I installed a grab bar next to the toilet, making it more convenient for use by elderly or infirm guests. I installed multiple towel racks, including double racks, so there is always room for enough towels. I installed bright lighting, so you can actually see yourself in the mirror. I designed the room with places for things like a trash can and a bathroom scale--things many people forget about, until it's all done. There is even a lighted switch, so you don't have to go fumbling in the dark if you need to get up in the middle of the night, and all of the switches are convenient rocker switches.
I had all of the rough plumbing work done by a licensed, insured contractor (Matt Musum Plumbing & Heating), because I knew that he would do the job right, that it would be up to modern building codes, and that it would pass inspection.
All of these things cost time and/or money, and they may not be what you want or need. But when you talk about your project with a designer or contractor, these are the options THEY should be discussing with YOU. Because if they aren't, then most likely, they are just going to do the cheapest, quickest job possible, with the lowest-cost materials, and you are going to get exactly what you paid for.
JerseyWolf 
Rebecka 
RAS Unfortunately, I'm not a licensed and insured contractor. I flip houses for a living. The bathroom project I discussed was actually a favor for a relative.
But I AM flattered. :)
I just did mine with a combo of existing and new. I more or less agree with JW except IMO he might be a little overboard with the waterproofing. Mine started with needing a new shower and to lighten up, and it kept going and going....
To save cash, I went existing tub and floor/wall tile. Kept the vanity bottom. Like JW's, it was hard wood, in good shape, but stained dark. So I popped the top, put in custom countertop, painted the base in high gloss, got good expensive heavy faucets, some Martha Stewart pulls n hinges at HDespot and rock n roll.
Since I had tub n toilet in bisque, I went bisque for the shower base, bisque/mocha swirl for the vanity top. Then I used a color one step towards yellow from the bisque for the vanity base to get even lighter, high gloss. Shower tiles were also a bisque/mocha swirl, different but very close to the countertop so very compatible. Ended up replacing the toilet apparently just before it headed to the kitchen :>) Nice catch and save.
For the walls, used vanity color but with a matt finish since bathroom. Added two small accent walls using one step to brown on the color chart. The six panel door is bright white (to match other BedR doors) with the panels in the accent color, but high gloss. All of this is in contrast to the existing floor and half-wall tile treatment but those tiles have a bisque racing stripe as a wall accent bringing the contrast together with the rest.
Since I opened the shower up, I added a ceiling showerhead, lights, lots of yuge pockets, great glass door, and double-ringed head so you can pull the center part for a hand held. Lots of things to turn everything off an off. Yes, there is an owner's manual :>) Bottom line --- don't change settings much once set but still like the option to change. Love the overhead.
Like JW, huge silent fan with separate light switch, and I love it. Lots of other lights to the point where I have five different switches but you know, I like to change the mood, lighting wise, so it's OK.
Some learnings:
Some things, like toilets, fans, faucets cost more to install than to buy. You don't pay more to install upscale units. Thus, the silent, more powerful fan if you are putting one in anyways.
Replacing old tile is like $20 a 4-inch square so don't break any.... Used grout restorer and a lot of elbow grease to make look new. Worked well. The woman who owns Blairstown Tile is great at helping in selection for new tile.
HomeDespot has custom capabilities and if you go this route, it helps to use HD people but call the mfg direct. I have done this for custom doors and now this counter and got great advice, perfect ordering, and a discount every time. 20% on this one.
Money saved by reusing and painting the base vanity paid for the extras. Paint those stained old things. There's great paints out there today.
Bathrooms have a lot of corners and edges so painting is time consuming. Think about the ceiling being the same color ---- saves a lot of time. And think about paint accents --- I have really dressed the place up with the accent walls, and they are very small ones.
All bisque is not alike but seems to work anyway.
Mixing n matching colors using one step differences on the color chart is an interesting way to add subtle highlights without shocking contrasts. To the decorator-challenged, it's a very safe way to use multiple colors.
Safety bars: missed it and had them previously in the shower so should have known better. Really helpful in the shower stall.
Shower door company is up in Vernon; think you can order direct. Might need door installation expert especially as you go clear glass and frameless. Don't want to mess that one up since you can mess door and tile both.....
Bottom line --- to me, paint matters and made the difference. I blended two similar but different swirl tiles against a color scheme that highlights both swirl colors. Now I have a much lighter bathroom with swirls, accents, and a lot of variations of bisque that you can't notice the variances. Even though the floor and wall tile is the same, the end result was very, very different.
strangerdanger 
Jillvpv CraftBeerBob
I'm glad that you got a local guy. I can attest that most of the guys are not local. And if something goes wrong, its a disaster. Home Depot blames the contractor, the contractor blames HD.
Stick with local guys. Shop local, use local.
Everyone gets upset when the small mom and pop shops close up, well it's the same thing... go straight to the source.
Plenty of local contractors that go above and beyond
Nutty , the difference with Home Depot or Lowes is you have some one to complain to and make it right or compensate you. If Joe Blows contracting screws you then you get to enjoy that battle usually losing battle . People think a contractimg license means something. All it means is the person filed for a license. It could still be the first day they picked up a hammer.
Jdem I’ve been down the HD road. Good luck trying to get them to make their contractors do a good job. Never. Again.
3wbdwnj You can have lots of $ to compensate you for a bad job. But the job still needs to be finished. Too many times a bad job just needs to start again from scratch. That doesn't make up for the lost time.
GC Commenting is no longer available.