I still have high hopes for a happy 2009. The new year did not start out well. At 1:30 AM on the morning of January 1, 2009, I woke up to the sound of rushing water. It was really lucky that I heard the noise (despite wearing earplugs). There was about an inch of water in the bathroom and the water was starting to come into the bedroom. The toilet tank cranked.
It was really strange timing. The day before we had a design guy, Jeff from DreamMaker come out to look at the bathroom and come up with a remodel plan.
On the 3rd, we called our plumber, Art. Guess he's not in business anymore. Tried the company he worked for. They wanted to put in a whole new toilet for a whole lot of money. So, we went to Lowe's. Turns out that our bathroom is an old size so the new toilets won't fit. Our bathroom designer helped us find a toilet. He ordered it and it got installed last Saturday. $500 for a toilet!
In the meantime, the designer comes over with his plans. I had told him what I wanted and gave him a budget of $10,000. He shows us the plans, tiles, etc. It didn't seem like anything special. The bathroom would still be basically the same. Then he showed us his estimate -$22,000! He had no backup plan for a more reasonable amount. I guess he's mad at us since he hasn't returned with a new plan. I had to pay $350 for a plan that was more than twice my budget!
So, now it looks like I've lost my $350. What do I do - keep paying designer fees until one comes up with something reasonable?
Then this guy says the kitchen could be remodeled for $35,000. I asked him how in the world could he say that after quoting me $22,000 for a bathroom.
Here I am -ready to get some work done. With the economy in the toilet, one would think remodeling companies could use the business. Why does this have to be so difficult?
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