Bathtub replacement can not do DIY

gingerwoman5, May 22, 2:42am
So my beloved husband of 20 years had a stroke on New Years day that the hospital said was "unsurvivable". He passed away Jan 2nd he was only 48.
Anyway he left a bathtub outside to replace bath inside which has a huge crack. I don't know the first thing about DIY and my friend looked under the house and said the floor under the bath is all rotten and bath could fall through.

So this place called "Handy Crew" said $1700 to replace bath and wall lining stuff around bath but would not give quote for replacing floor which they would also have to do, so that makes me nervous as i have no idea what cost of flooring would be and they won't tell me. Plumbers say job too small.

People tell me to get more quotes but the only place I've found is this "handy crew" (I live in west Auckland) other places want you to be renovating whole bathroom which is money I probably shouldn't be spending so I don't know.

I have no skills or knowledge of DIY I have a learning disability which affects hand eye coordination. Anyway apparently the floor under the bath is really rotten.

nukhelenc, May 22, 5:02am
Ya need to find a builder to quote it for ya. Get 3 maybe. Start looking in the phone book

jonners2013, May 22, 5:03am
Sorry for your loss.

It may simply be that the guys who gave you the part quote didn't fully inspect under the house so they don't know for certain the extent of the damage. If it's just the flooring, the that can be replaced with new treated ply and bob's your uncle but if the rot has damaged joists or any other supporting timber, the. It's a whole other issue.

You need to get some more building to come check it out.

nukhelenc, May 22, 5:06am
I'm thinking if the place cant quote it then i wouldn't want them doing it. The work that is.

gingerwoman5, May 22, 7:14am
See it's tricky cause it's bath being replaced and a new one put in. So plumber/ builder? I'm confused.

gingerwoman5, May 22, 7:15am
The bath is surrounded by some cheap crappy timber and so that apparently costs to have the timber taken off and then built around the bath. The quoted $1700 but that does not include flooring which they said they couldn't quote until seeing what's underneath. But of course by the time they do that I'll have no choice but the pay.

jonners2013, May 22, 7:22am
it's perfectly reasonable for them to say that they are not prepared to give you a firm figure until they can see the extent of the damage to the floor. If you demand a precise quote for work that can't be fully inspected beforehand then you would obviously expect that quote to be high to cover the worst possible scenario.

annies3, May 22, 7:38am
Have you got someone who could come in and get under your house to have a proper inspection? if you are not claustrophobic you could probably get under yourself with a torch and have a good look, use a tool to tap the flooring and joists to see if there is any damage, treated ply of a sufficient thickness is what is needed to replace the floor boards, and if the joists are rotten well its going to be a big job, yes you will need a plumber to plumb the bath and a carpenter to do the other work.

dave.nicki, May 22, 7:44am
List the job on Builders Crack. good site to find the right people. Maybe the floor could also be covered by insurance if the rotting was caused by water damage

dave.nicki, May 22, 7:46am

johotech, May 22, 8:35am
Keep in mind that you might have to get the flooring (vinyl?) re-done as well, as it is quite possible that when they repair the floor, they will have to replace more outside where the current bath sits.

A lot of good comments above. See if you can find any other local smaller builders. They will be able to do all the work and probably arrange the plumber as well. Local papers, or "trade personal" or "home services" section of the newspaper often have advertising for smaller builders.

However, in my opinion, anyone who needs to advertise, may not be the best around - as the best ones are always busy and don't need to advertise. Referrals are always best if you can find them.

Another option could be to ask at your local Mitre10 or Bunnings - if you go to the trade counter or trade yard and ask the staff. Often their staff are semi retired builders and know many of the local builders. Or the trade account managers should know which builders might do that sort of work.

buddytom, May 22, 9:04am
Yes I would second Johotech, they would be able to reccomend a good chippy, We have used a very good one who can turn his hand to most things, is honest and reasonably priced.

unclejake, May 22, 11:53am
Concurred. I know that's not great news for you OP as you want to know what your up for financially, but sadly it's the truth

gingerwoman5, May 23, 6:27am
Thanks johotech I got the only referal I had from asking at Hammer Hardware. The places I found on the internet all said the job was "too small".

subs1, May 23, 7:07am
I guess you want a free quote ? But then you want a builder to go under the floor to inspect the damage , so that could be at least a couple of hours including travel time and time on site . Until the bath is stripped out nobody can see what damage is there . and price accordingly .

chippy06, May 23, 10:32am
Have you tried insurance,cracked bath must have been an accident.I do reinstatement work for insurance you'll be surprised what you can claim

pisces47, May 27, 8:18pm
Just had a bath removed, floor replaced as it was rotten, new waterproof gib fitted ,top and bottom scotia replaced, new corner shower fitted, gib stopped ready for painting. Cost was $2500 . Lino in bathroom and toilet replaced $600. West Auck

koru67, May 27, 9:17pm
I would also recommend builders crack as a place to list your job. We had our elderly parents bathroom done by a builder listed on there Dave Kopua of Abode2go and he did a fantastic job. And is also very nice to deal with and hardworking. Good luck.

viking60, Dec 30, 11:00am
We claimed on insurance for a leaky pipe that we were unaware of in our laundry room at our previous house. It was a slow leak and we didn't notice damage until we pulled out the washing machine to replace with a new one.