The Home Improvements Thread (3)

Forgot I can share too.

Spur of moment decision. This is the bathroom in domestic quarters which we never used in the 8-9 years we lived in this house.

Now thinking of letting the domestic stay with us during the week , to solve a problem for her and us.

It will now have walk in shower , new sanitaryware , and tiled around (not floor to ceiling) - cost is about 22k all in. I guess it's fair. Hopefully I haven't overpaid.

Edit: what was freaky was when bathtub was removed was that roots had come in via ground and outlet pipe and was attached to the walls and growing.


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TedLasso said:
Forgot I can share too.

Spur of moment decision. This is the bathroom in domestic quarters which we never used in the 8-9 years we lived in this house.

Now thinking of letting the domestic stay with us during the week , to solve a problem for her and us.

It will now have walk in shower , new sanitaryware , and tiled around (not floor to ceiling) - cost is about 22k all in. I guess it's fair. Hopefully I haven't overpaid.

Edit: what was freaky was when bathtub was removed was that roots had come in via ground and outlet pipe and was attached to the walls and growing.


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Keen to follow this and see the costs and the end product.

I'm buying a small flat soon and most likely will need to put a shower in too. My folks can't get in and out of a bath safely.
 
TedLasso said:
Forgot I can share too.

Spur of moment decision. This is the bathroom in domestic quarters which we never used in the 8-9 years we lived in this house.

Now thinking of letting the domestic stay with us during the week , to solve a problem for her and us.

It will now have walk in shower , new sanitaryware , and tiled around (not floor to ceiling) - cost is about 22k all in. I guess it's fair. Hopefully I haven't overpaid.

Edit: what was freaky was when bathtub was removed was that roots had come in via ground and outlet pipe and was attached to the walls and growing.


View attachment 1734957View attachment 1734959
Click to expand...
22k for bathroom renovation is cheap as chips got a great deal!
 
ToxicBunny said:
Yeah I did a reno about a year ago and I was in for about 40k and that was with me doing most of the labour and plumbing and such myself.
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Although I might be slightly callous as I'm smack bang in the middle of a kitchen reno with a utility room add on 22k is half the plumbing bill
 
Snyper564 said:
Although I might be slightly callous as I'm smack bang in the middle of a kitchen reno with a utility room add on 22k is half the plumbing bill
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Nope.. that's cheap.. paid 37k a year ago for a bathroom not much bigger than that.. very basic plumbing, absolute minimal wall tiling and knocking down half of the single brick shower wall..
 
WAslayer said:
Nope.. that's cheap.. paid 37k a year ago for a bathroom not much bigger than that.. very basic plumbing, absolute minimal wall tiling and knocking down half of the single brick shower wall..
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I think you missed what I was trying to say.

I'm saying his reno is super cheap.

I'm numb to expenses at the moment with that reno cost being just half my plumbing cost
 
Ok, so it's a great deal. Will share final cost when complete. I now am certain he is going to say it costed a bit more. The guy may have misquoted.

I had also done a minor repair job in the master bathroom by the same guys last but I sourced the materials. This was a redo of a job last year, because my wife didn't listen to me when I told her the replacement tiles for that job should have been black (we were trying not to do the entire bathroom again)

Material costs :-
3sqm tiles - R1500 ( from Spain) and only ones I could find that were pure black

1.5 sqm black glass mosaic for shower flow R4900 () - herringbone pattern - wife chose it, and I was just shocked and paid when the guy showed us the invoice - now: feels amazing on the feet (unintended benefit)


1x New waste drain ( round kind as I got rid of the modern rectangle one which caused flooding ) and other materials such as waterproofing, grout, etc

New toilet cos they cracked the installed one (was from Italy). -R2800, but was warned it could happen (just didn't expect them to move the toilet after our discussions)

= R12.3K

Labour to do all that, plus reinstall shower, glass (a specialist shower guy charged me 4k for that last year for the stuff I already had) , paint ceilings in two bathrooms, reseal 1 shower (removed all the old gunk), and cornice repair , replace waste traps in two basins cos I couldn't get them out myself and some other small stuff

= 12.5K too!

So, on reflection , yeah I think I may have scored for the domestic bathroom redo since he is providing all materials.
 
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Snyper564 said:
I think you missed what I was trying to say.

I'm saying his reno is super cheap.

I'm numb to expenses at the moment with that reno cost being just half my plumbing cost
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Was there 4 years ago. It started with a patio roof repair, a solution to a problem we were having. R4k . It actually worked.

Happy with guys work, and before you knew it - R250k later, crap tons of stuff redo of foundations in patio, garage, around pool, because of poor workmanship by previous owner and then solving drainage issues etc

The patio roof was repaired/replaced in 2022, because there was one small leak still manifesting, by a guy with 30 years experience and highly recommended, who left it fscked up more than it was and disappeared because his words meant nothing, "I stand by my work" --35k down the drain literally

Then got these guys that are doing the bathroom to redo it (I think it was 45k) late last year. It's now perfect and 100% waterproof for the first time ever, and hence using them again for the other work.

In the 8-9 years , we have lived in this house, we have spent about 460k(conservative estimate) in repairs/replacement - and we haven't got to the kitchen, bedroom cupboards , or the other half of the wooden windows yet.

Perhaps renting would have been cheaper !!
 
TedLasso said:
Was there 4 years ago. It started with a patio roof repair, a solution to a problem we were having. R4k . It actually worked.

Happy with guys work, and before you knew it - R250k later, crap tons of stuff redo of foundations in patio, garage, around pool, because of poor workmanship by previous owner and then solving drainage issues etc

The patio roof was repaired/replaced in 2022, because there was one small leak still manifesting, by a guy with 30 years experience and highly recommended, who left it fscked up more than it was and disappeared because his words meant nothing, "I stand by my work" --35k down the drain literally

Then got these guys that are doing the bathroom to redo it (I think it was 45k) late last year. It's now perfect and 100% waterproof for the first time ever, and hence using them again for the other work.

In the 8-9 years , we have lived in this house, we have spent about 460k(conservative estimate) in repairs/replacement - and we haven't got to the kitchen, bedroom cupboards , or the other half of the wooden windows yet.

Perhaps renting would have been cheaper !!
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R50-60k per year. Not too bad I think.

I have given up on the idea of the property value growing and getting a + return when you sell it one day. I would rather have it the way I want it to be. And use it, live it, etc. than worrying about if I am gonna get my money back.

I already overpaid in my moerr in with my main residence, I would be lucky to sell it for what I paid never mind the extra stuff I had done.

Renovate, extend, do whatever you are capable of doing to make it nice and the way you want it. Then experience it. Forget about returns or over-capitalizing.
 
W@P said:
R50-60k per year. Not too bad I think.

I have given up on the idea of the property value growing and getting a + return when you sell it one day. I would rather have it the way I want it to be. And use it, live it, etc. than worrying about if I am gonna get my money back.

I already overpaid in my moerr in with my main residence, I would be lucky to sell it for what I paid never mind the extra stuff I had done.

Renovate, extend, do whatever you are capable of doing to make it nice and the way you want it. Then experience it. Forget about returns or over-capitalizing.
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100% agree with you.

Only thing that hurts , is we paid x for house. Paid y for repairs/improvement. So one expects to at least get x back .

With the way this country has gone, it's now x-500k. But we love our home and it's hosting great memories for our kids and us which is priceless
 
As a rule of thumb you can expect to pay 4% of your properties value per year in repairs and general maintenance.
 
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