Not-So-Free

When I began this project almost two years ago, I dreamed of doing this entire project for free.  I know - a crazy dream!  Can you really take a framed, stubbed half bath and expand it to a full bathroom and finish the entire thing for free?  Maybe!

Okay, maybe not, but we are trying!  I figured there were a few things I would never find for free on Craigslist.  Nobody is really going to give away copper tubing and fittings, right?  After all, thieves will pull the wires from houses under construction, strip the insulation and sell the copper!

At this point in the project, I just need to get it done.  I can't wait around for free stuff to show up on CraigsList.  So I am pretty much buying what I need at each step.  Later today I will buy 14 2X4s and 6 bags of QuikCrete for the floor.  It is okay, though!  It is time to get the project done!  I will keep looking for deals for what I need, but I will also buy what I need at the time.

So here is a financial update on this project, having just completed one stage.

Building Permit:  $231.00

Cutting the floor to plumb the shower drain:  $7.20  Thanks to my friend Brett, all I had to buy was some plastic drop cloths to cover the vents, washing machine, furnace, etc.

Shower drain supplies:  $97.88 (I bought some 2" ABS pipe at the Habitat ReStore to vent the drain, and since I am not using it, I am hoping to re-sell it on CraigsList.  Hopefully that will bring this price down.)

Water lines supplies:  ?  (I just bought some copper tubing and fittings today for about $80, and I hope to return some of it, so we will see...)

So as of now this project has cost me $275, including the permit, but not including the water line supplies.

Maybe I should have called this the one thousand dollar bathroom project!