Bathroom floors - builder or contractor?

A

Anteater Bruin

New member
We are purchasing a new home and the plan is to go very basic with the upgrades (barring things that cannot easily be added later such as recessed lighting, extra outlets/lift switches,etc).

I have heard it is much easier to get he bathroom floor done by the builder, while the rest of the floor can be done later by a contractor.

Any clue if this is the case, and if so, why?
 
Replacing the bathroom floor is not a big deal.  Just need to reset the toilet afterwards and make sure nothing leaks. 
 
Yep, it also most likely void your warranty, but I never had issues with mine when I went outside, I'd say this is true for a vast majority.
 
We closed with no flooring in our previous house which meant the sinks/toilets all had to be reset when we put in flooring. The tile setter included resetting the toilets and the powder room pedestal sink. Never had a problem with any of those resets.

This time we didn't have the option to close with no flooring so we paid the builder's plumber to reset the toilet and the pedestal sink which kept the warranty intact. It was slightly over $200 for both (flat rate no matter how long the plumber takes). The reason we paid the builder this time is the flooring person didn't cover it and we added board and batten to the walls ourselves. That brought the wall out and we weren't sure the toilet connection would fit exactly and sure enough it didn't. Plus there isn't a lot of room between the pedestal sink and wall so we didn't want to mess with it. The plumber was here for over 2 hours and had to use his blow torch to adjust the connections.

He caulked the sink and toilet and they look great. Well spent $200 imo. We easily saved that much on the flooring in the powder room alone.

Plus if you decide to get a different sink or faucet after, the plumber can just put those in for the same cost.

 
Ready2Downsize said:
We closed with no flooring in our previous house which meant the sinks/toilets all had to be reset when we put in flooring. The tile setter included resetting the toilets and the powder room pedestal sink. Never had a problem with any of those resets.

This time we didn't have the option to close with no flooring so we paid the builder's plumber to reset the toilet and the pedestal sink which kept the warranty intact. It was slightly over $200 for both (flat rate no matter how long the plumber takes). The reason we paid the builder this time is the flooring person didn't cover it and we added board and batten to the walls ourselves. That brought the wall out and we weren't sure the toilet connection would fit exactly and sure enough it didn't. Plus there isn't a lot of room between the pedestal sink and wall so we didn't want to mess with it. The plumber was here for over 2 hours and had to use his blow torch to adjust the connections.

He caulked the sink and toilet and they look great. Well spent $200 imo. We easily saved that much on the flooring in the powder room alone.

Plus if you decide to get a different sink or faucet after, the plumber can just put those in for the same cost.
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That's a great idea to ask builder's plumber to reset the toilet and keep the builder's warranty.  And that $200 is indeed well spent.



 
I would go with the builder on bathroom flooring because of the issues you will have with the upstairs bathrooms.  For the wet areas upstairs, the flooring contractor will need to add a layer of cement board to prevent the tiles from cracking when the floor flexes.  This will make your wet area flooring 1/2"~3/4" higher than non-wet areas.  The transition between the master bedroom and master bathroom flooring for example will be uneven and difficult to rectify.  I would assume the builder will account for the height of the cement board when doing the flooring so you won't have this issue.
 
Anteater Bruin said:
Wow I didn't even consider that. That's very helpful. Thanks!

Does this not apply to the downstairs bathroom?
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Not a problem in the downstairs area, since the tiles will be laid directly on cement, no need for additional cement boards.
 
Sorry to bump from the grave, but is this standard policy for all builders?  Did you have to go through the builder first to get the plumber to come out and reset the plumbing, or did you go directly to the plumber?  Thanks in advance.

Ready2Downsize said:
We closed with no flooring in our previous house which meant the sinks/toilets all had to be reset when we put in flooring. The tile setter included resetting the toilets and the powder room pedestal sink. Never had a problem with any of those resets.

This time we didn't have the option to close with no flooring so we paid the builder's plumber to reset the toilet and the pedestal sink which kept the warranty intact. It was slightly over $200 for both (flat rate no matter how long the plumber takes). The reason we paid the builder this time is the flooring person didn't cover it and we added board and batten to the walls ourselves. That brought the wall out and we weren't sure the toilet connection would fit exactly and sure enough it didn't. Plus there isn't a lot of room between the pedestal sink and wall so we didn't want to mess with it. The plumber was here for over 2 hours and had to use his blow torch to adjust the connections.

He caulked the sink and toilet and they look great. Well spent $200 imo. We easily saved that much on the flooring in the powder room alone.

Plus if you decide to get a different sink or faucet after, the plumber can just put those in for the same cost.
Click to expand...
 
We went directly to the plumber that the builder uses. Both the builder and plumber confirmed we would keep our warranty if they did the work (actually they only have to reinstall, we could use anyone to uninstall the sink/toilet).
 
We are in the process of doing the flooring; did most bathrooms and laundry room through the builder but are re-doing the rest of the flooring ourselves (tile and hardwood). It is a tremendous pain to be honest. The tile demo (since builders put standard tile in wet areas) has generated so much dust. It is true that the toilets need to be re-set by the builder's plumber to protect the warranty. This is also true of ALL OF THE APPLIANCES when they are removed to do flooring ie. built-in refrigerators, dishwasher, stove, etc. So the appliance installers through the builder have to put them back to protect the warranty. So far it has been much more painful than I thought it would be, but much cheaper ;D That's why the builder can overcharge, saves a lot of time and headaches...
 
BruinDoc said:
We are in the process of doing the flooring; did most bathrooms and laundry room through the builder but are re-doing the rest of the flooring ourselves (tile and hardwood). It is a tremendous pain to be honest. The tile demo (since builders put standard tile in wet areas) has generated so much dust. It is true that the toilets need to be re-set by the builder's plumber to protect the warranty. This is also true of ALL OF THE APPLIANCES when they are removed to do flooring ie. built-in refrigerators, dishwasher, stove, etc. So the appliance installers through the builder have to put them back to protect the warranty. So far it has been much more painful than I thought it would be, but much cheaper ;D That's why the builder can overcharge, saves a lot of time and headaches...
Click to expand...

so if you had to do it over would you go with the builder?  in this predicament right now.
 
dethman said:
BruinDoc said:
We are in the process of doing the flooring; did most bathrooms and laundry room through the builder but are re-doing the rest of the flooring ourselves (tile and hardwood). It is a tremendous pain to be honest. The tile demo (since builders put standard tile in wet areas) has generated so much dust. It is true that the toilets need to be re-set by the builder's plumber to protect the warranty. This is also true of ALL OF THE APPLIANCES when they are removed to do flooring ie. built-in refrigerators, dishwasher, stove, etc. So the appliance installers through the builder have to put them back to protect the warranty. So far it has been much more painful than I thought it would be, but much cheaper ;D That's why the builder can overcharge, saves a lot of time and headaches...
Click to expand...

so if you had to do it over would you go with the builder?  in this predicament right now.
Click to expand...

If the budget allows I'm pretty sure I would. The only exception is if one wants to do crown moulding or wainscoting, that can tear up the floors. In that case go with the builder's standard flooring in those areas, abuse it during placement of crown moulding/wainscoting, and then put in your desired flooring after all of that stuff is done. I never knew but the installers use scaffolding and long ladders to put in the crown moulding, and if the floors are not properly protected, it can do quite a number on the flooring. It's also less costly and faster if they don't need to prep the floors.
 
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