advice on remodeling bathroom
 

Will need new sink fixture, tiling, and new stand-up shower.

What is the in-thing with tile? Travertine?

Thought about doing the fixture thing and cabinet through Ikea.

Shower, not sure what the options are, but I just might get the standard corner plastic shell.

The fancy glass ones look prohibitively expensive.

any advice?

If you don't want to do a glass shower because it's prohibitively expensive, then so is travertine.

There are some very nice ceramic tiles that look like travertine. If you were coming to my open house, you'd see some.

Regarding the shower, I'd at least get bids on a tile shower with glass enclosure. It makes a HUGE difference in the looks and tile is considered an upgrade. You could also look at cultured marble as an "in-between" as it is generally cheaper than tile. Though when we got bids for our house, the tile guys we used were actually cheaper than the cultured marble.

In short, get bids for all your different options and then decide. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I've got tons of suppliers/subs for you to get bids from if you're interested. The guys that did our tile were actually our flooring company and their prices were fantastic.

The other big thing lately is granite for the countertop, though that might be overkill in your house/neighborhood.

Also, if you're looking for prefab stuff (cabinets, sink, shower, etc.) as well as good prices on tile, etc. check out Seconds and Surplus. They have good prices but you pretty much have to buy it while there as what is in stock changes. We got our front door there for like half price. They have a couple of location in the metroplex. We went to the one downtown.

Nice, way to take a slap at mikes neighborhood.

I'm not getting bids. My dad is doing it.

Never even been there. But from what he has said about his house / neighborhood, it sounds to me that way.

I'd look at Seconds and Surplus for tile, etc. then. If you/your dad are doing the labor yourself, I'd definitely think you could do a tile shower for equal to or not much more than a prefab.

I put in some nice Italian ceramic that look as good or even better than travertine. I would do it myself and use tile rather than a prefab, although i would use a pre-fab pan.

We did travertine on the floor and around the shower room wall. We love it. You can get good travertine for around $3 a square foot and even as low as $2 a square foot. I love the variations and the feel of travertine--but there is some maintenance in it than just ceramic tile. You will need to seal it every year or every other year.

In regards to vanities (instead of cabinets)...you can get some funky and some cool vanities and then put a sink in it and you now have the sink and cabinet space. A place like Costco carries a nice vanities, but you can find them anywhere. Anyway, good luck.

il Padrino's remodeling tip of the day:

When in doubt, go with a dark paneling. Even on the floor.