The Joys of Bathroom Renovation

End of Day #1 - just a bare 3m x 2m cavern.

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Are you getting a separate shower with a door? Under ‘wack things’ category I always hate the usual setup of having the entire bathroom become the shower area. I swear I will never endure it again. Hopefully.

Curious to know what 150k gets you.

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OK, now that looks like a normal Taiwanese bathroom.

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Yes, there will be a proper Shower Screen.

$150K gets a full rebuild - Tiles, Ceiling, Lights (LED), Extraction Fan, Shower with Screen, Toilet, Basin, Tapware, plus the usual accessories. 5 people turned up, though 1 was the boss, two others helpers to get things ready, and 2 workers who then proceeded to remove what was there and take it all away. Now on neighbours blacklists due to the noise, though warning was provided. I guess the workers may change sometimes depending on the job - tomorrow will obviously be some plumbing preparation, and tiling. All done via Hola/Home at Neihu.

I was quoted 50,000 to redo mine, why so expensive?

Not having been there before, I cant compare the price, though the selection of pieces would add or subtract, and also make sure its an ‘installed’ price. Some figures are ‘supply’, without installation.

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My neighbor who is in the business -has his own independent remodeling company- quoted me 100k but without doors. Swore would take only 3 days.

Now that I mention it, my bathroom door came off the frame because the itsy bitsy termites ate the frame away…from the inside…

On the 7th floor, gravity makes it no longer your problem. Even in cases of clogged pipes and greywater overflowing, by the time it reaches floor 3 orn4, it will be paused…so not your problem at all :slight_smile:

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The issue jsnt whether you have one or not. The issue is nearly 99.999999% of all “septic tanks” in taiwan are BOTH total shit (pun certainly intended) and undersized. And there is almost never a septic field unless you have land and built it yourself.

Easy fixes, should just be built right. But contractors are less trustworthy than the KMT so nevermind. To stop your bubbles, try pumping it out. Thats the issue here, they arent big enough, often not even partitioned, so solids build up. Plus people love dumping cleaners down their drains which kills the bacteria eating up solids and helping thungs “dissolve” amd float up, where they can rightfully flow into the septic field (aka the ditch).

Just read the lower posts on prices. My 2 cents: pay for quality materials and plumber/electricians that developed some brain cells. Laying tile and thoae jobs are easy and fairly straight forward. Hiring a guy who puts a 220 outlet next to your sink cause he is nice and thinks cause youre from a backwards country and have a 220v hair dryer that this is helping…avoid. Be his friend. Not his employer :wink:

I often spend more money on an electircian who is both capable, knows the code and will listen but also argue if what i say is too far off the idiot scale.

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I’m on the 2nd floor. Literally, the sh** stops here.

We have a septic tank. I’ve seen it. We paid to have it cleaned/drained 2 years ago.

Yes. I know you have one. My only point is it is a shitty one. If it is bubbling, it is not a good one :slight_smile: as are almost every single one sold in taiwan and dropped into a hole j der the house. That is the problem :wink:

It isnt about your house or anything. This seems to be one part of cnstruction literally every single contractor knows zero about here. So much so it is just they think it is fine to be shitty. Only worth fixing if you own the house though as it requires taking up the floor digging a big hole, throwibg out that gloriffied cesspool and putting in a proper one. Not fast or cheap but also not insanely difficult.

Ah got it.

If you hear my landlady, she will wax on poetically about how they built this place with their own hands…like right off the boat from China…

The joy of seeing a Taiwanese bathroom demolished in front of your eyes. For me that would be a semi-religious experience.

Can someone do their kitchen next?

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I second this. I’d love to see a kitchen that isn’t your standard Sakura prefab of empty space + sink + one foot of prep space + two gas burners sticking up that take up the same amount of space as four + a wall and no where near enough cabinets if you cook anything and then put that food on plates. Tried to make coffee this morning while also prepping my lunch and was about to collapse on the floor from frustration of there being NOWHERE to put ANYTHING.

I’m curious to know how a bathroom remodel is only 150K. I feel like a bathroom remodel in the US using the most crap materials and unqualified contractors will run you easily 20,000 USD. My parents spent nearly USD60K, but they only did the remodel because the floor boards were rotting and the bathtub was about to fall to the basement, so the price made sense. If it’s so cheap to remodel a bathroom, I might just buy a cement box and pay to make it look nice…

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You either have very high standards or very lousy at judging contractors hehe. I rnovated an entire houseb albeit small at 800 square foot, for 30 k. Thats new foundation, roof, floors, walls literally almost a brand new house. But doing the work ourself. A bathroom for 60k better have golden faucets and a waterfall.

But taiwanese have way different preferences and bathrooms are easy to do cheap.

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At least it’s dry.

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It was technically 2, as a ceder closet was converted into a shower to connect to an existing half bath. They used Kohler faucets, idk if that means anything. Kohler seems to be crap of late. And they made the counters at a comfy height for our all over 5’10" (180ish cm) family. Like I said, the floorboards needed to be replaced, so that might have been the bulk of the cost, but it took my parents over a decade of not signing contracts because keeping costs within 50k would mean the contractors trying to sneak all sorts of crucial things out of the project.

When you said 30K, are you also saying USD? What kind of counters and other built-ins did you have? At 800 square feet, I’m assuming that’s a one bathroom sort of delio. I’ve seen tiny houses built for over 150,000 USD, which makes me wonder what the point of living in 400sq ft is since that’s not even getting you the land it’s on. Also, I always got the impression that labor is as much if not more than materials, so you obviously saved yourself a lot of costs there too.

Day 2 is done - plumbing and electric conduits installed. The hand basin will be in a different location than before, hence extra plumbing. Tomorrow is concrete the floor day.

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Well it depends on what you’re asking for.

Are you asking for plain old Taiwanese bathroom tiles? No shower doors? Just new fixture, sink, tiles, etc.?

You have lots of ways to shave off prices depending on what you want. Normal Taiwanese bathroom tiles aren’t that expensive. Maybe the tiles aren’t in such a bad shape and you just wanted new fixtures…

I mean if you want stone tiles, shower door, new lights, electrical, etc. then yes things get expensive.

going rate for worker seems to be about 2000nt per day per worker. So if the job is done in a couple of days you’re looking at 10,000nt max, just for work.

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I recommend putting in a 4-in-1 exhaust fan, which has a heat lamp, a fan that can both blow in cold air and suck out stinky air, and some even have an added light. It helps keep the bathroom dry, which is very important for Taiwan. We have one by Toto, a worthy investment.

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