John, Plunging In ! Here goes. Brief There is no reason you can't renovate your own bathroom, should you do so you can save up to 30% ( builders margin ) control the project/trades, However, You need to be home the first week ! ............. A Bathroom Renovation is about organizing and bringing together 6/8 + different professions/trades and knowing the potential problems ( can the water to the bathroom be isolated, is there a safety electrical switch ( no electrician in NSW will work on an unsafe home )............. A specialist business/builder takes on this responsibility...Working on a FOUR-week renovation ( any briefer you will get poor quality ) Each trade/profession apart from the Head contractor ( name on contract) and tiler ( 3 days +) Carpenter can't be assessed until after strip out, may have water damaged timber, plumbing studs in timber frame homes 2/3 days at $ 70/hr their time on the project is brief..an example ..Plumber, water rough-in 4/6 hrs at $100+/hr......Some work has mandatory regulations e.g. Asbestos Removal, plumbing. electrical,( waterproofing some states?..A good tiler is in demand, he rarely advertises for work expect to pay in NSW ( ave size bathroom ) $ 3,750/$4,000 +.I Cheap Tiler, cheap work... I hope this has been helpful .. All comments appreciated..

Hi John, you can definitely project manage yourself, whether you get a better result or not in the end is more difficult to quantify as you can't really know unless you do both I guess. It'll cause you more headaches and like Beach Bathrooms points out it'll more than likely take a lot longer because all the different trades you get won't necessarily work together and managing their individual timelines often doesn't line up exactly, at least that's what we found. We have renovated four bathrooms now over the years and always project managed ourselves including getting on the tools, but for us it's been mainly about managing our budget. If you have more than one bathroom in the house definitely helps as that way the timeframe for doing it yourself doesn't matter quite so much. For us the thing that helped was having a good plumber that was really accommodating and worked in with us as they knew how we were working and so were great at having us phone up and say 'hey we're ready for this bit can you squeeze us in'. We originally had a good tiler too but he ended up taking a break and so we had a bit of trouble replacing him, and in the end the guy we went with, tiling was ok, but he didn't get the measurements of our hob right even though hubby had told him measurements, left him the info from highgroves bathroom - we were using their shower screen. In the end we paid what we would have for the shower screen from highgrove, and the tiler covered the difference of getting stegbar to make the shower screen to suit, costly exercise for the tiler. We now have another two bathrooms that we'll be renovating in the house we have just bought, and we'll be doing the same thing and project managing ourselves. Good luck with your decision! :)

If you are thinking of managing the project yourself, it does help to have at least one tradie for the job, preferably the plumber, that understands what you are after and that you trust. They might even know a tiler/waterproofer and other relevent tradies from other jobs they have worked on and that they know do a good job. The key to success is to research the process thoroughly, know exactly what you want and have all the supplies and fittings for the new bathroom on standby before a sledgehammer touches the old bathroom. Precious time is lost with indecision and stock delays. Also momentum - tradies tend to disappear to other jobs quick smart if they cant get on with it!

Have you got a second bathroom to use while yours is being renovated? As a professional I have project managed two bathroom renovations for myself (at different stages), and I can tell you it takes a lot longer than using a bathroom contractor to do the whole thing, it is easy to make expensive mistakes, there will always be unforeseen costs and at the end of the day it won't save you a lot of money. I learnt that not all tilers are the same and you get what you pay for! Good tilers are the divas of the building industry - expensive, hard to get, but worth the wait.

There is also the issue of fault - a tiler may blame unevenness due to the sheeting under the tiles (no good tiler can fix wobbly walls), the plasterer will blame the chippy for the bad frame, the chippy will blame your crooked old house, etc. At least with a head contractor it doesn't matter and there should be good quality controls in place at each stage so that a crooked old house doesn't end up with crooked new tiles. I wouldn't do it again due to the stress of managing the project competing with my work and family commitments.

Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls and Dr Retro Virtual Visits.

John

I am working with a relative to renovate his own bathroom, he wishes to do some of the work, learn new skills ( he is in the corporate world ), and save $...He is thinking of stripping out, plumbing studs, framing for wall hung vanity, recessed cabinet niches waterproofing ( under my direct supervision, for Waterproofing Certificate )

The sequence of a bathroom renovation

Design..Homeowners wife has a theme

Friday 9th April Visited home, discussed ideas with wife and husband

Photographed bathroom

Monday 12th April Two AutoCAD designs emailed to owners, ( Owners considering a seat in the shower, Frequentrequest from stressful owners )

Monday 12th Notified plumber of project

Tuesday 13th Contacted owners Electrician ( Home has Solar Panels, Battery, Car charging, Home offices, )

Tuesday 13th Contacted stripout businesses, emailed photographs of bathroom ( I will attempt to persuade owner stripouts appear easy, however, they are hard work and around 1 ton of waste requiring disposal ). and he will need help )

Waiting for quote/s, their payment terms, and availability

Wednesday 14th Text tiler owner used on his other bathroom, requesting his availability