Bath Fitter...anyone done it?

[BigAlsGal]

I'm interested in bath fitter. I'd like to revamp a couple of bath/showers but don't want to spend a ton. These look pretty and easy to maintain. Anyone done it? Is it a reasonable cost?

 

[loves to dive]

I thought about it but looked at some at a Home and Garden show and they actually cost more than if I just replaced the tub.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I thought about it but looked at some at a Home and Garden show and they actually cost more than if I just replaced the tub.

Aww really? Man that stinks!

 

[tvguy]

It certainly looks like a good idea, and I don't think it is that expensive.
However, we opted for a complete teardown to the studs remodel of our bathrooms, and there was an amazing amount of water damage hidden that we had to fix. So my concern is that you are doing a nice cosmetic upgrade that is covering up some big issues that have not made themselves apparent......YET.

 

[descovy]

We did a bath fitter in '07 because our tub and tile were in bad shape. It looked super nice.

It was a little slippery though.

We did sell the house a year later so I can't comment on how it held up since then.

 

[RedAngie]

My parents did it in one of their bathrooms. "My" old bath. But it was about 20 years ago and I don't remember the cost. It looked nice and wore well and was easy to maintain. However, before I put the house on the market after they died I did a complete bath remodel down to the stubs because it was looking dated by that point.

 

[Govols1997]

My in laws did it. It was super expensive and looks sort of "fake". I would think there are more efficient ways to re do a bathroom.

 

[BigAlsGal]

It certainly looks like a good idea, and I don't think it is that expensive.
However, we opted for a complete teardown to the studs remodel of our bathrooms, and there was an amazing amount of water damage hidden that we had to fix. So my concern is that you are doing a nice cosmetic upgrade that is covering up some big issues that have not made themselves apparent......YET.

Very true!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I've done it in two bathrooms -one about six years ago and one two years ago. Our master bath shower had lots of loose tiles around the faucets. We were concerned that water would get behind the tile and ruin the wall. We didn't have a ton of money to spend and weren't interested in having someone spend weeks doing a remodel. The Bath Fitter guy did end up ripping out the tile since it was loose. Luckily there was no water damage behind it. He did the whole job in one day and we paid around $6000.

The hallway bathroom tile was decent, it was just dated and ugly. They didn't do any demolition. Everything was installed over the old tub and tile. The guy was a bit slow and did the job over two days. That one cost us just under $5000.

I was looking for inexpensive, clean and functional and that's exactly what we got. It's not flashy like my sister's custom tile job, but it looks nice. It's not difficult to keep clean. You can't scrub or use abrasives. They give you a list of cleaners that won't scratch the surface. Overall we are happy with the jobs they did for us.

 

[barkley]

no personal experience with them but in the event you would be looking at selling the home down the line you might want to do some research on potential building code problems with their work.

I only bring this up b/c a few years ago when I had solid granite countertops put in my kitchen an ad for 'granite transformations' came on the tv just as the owner of the granite company was doing the install. I remarked to him that I imagined he wasn't a big fan to which he started laughing and said it was quite the contrary-he LOVED THEM. loved them b/c in our neck of the woods when their products are installed they bring all counters just outside the legal building codes-so he makes a good chunk of change any time someone with them goes to sell a home and a home inspector catches it (you can't remove them from the old countertops-it's a total rip out and replacement of the countertops which the potential buyers who paid for the inspection made an offer on based on granite-so full blown granite replacement it must be).

better safe than sorry.

 

[NAB]

We have done two bathrooms with bath fitters. It was about $3000 for one and years later $4000 for the second one. It really depends on what you pick though. You get to pick a shower head and taps they can up your price , difference bathtub designs. You have to buy theirs. It is pricer then Home Depot but they won't warrenty the work you don't.

Ours are just plain white. It is a bright white and looks like small tiles. It is holding up great must had the first one for at least 10 years now. I got the ceiling done and was the best thing , no more peeling paint up there. With there bright white we were glad we did the tub over too to match the whites but you can save money and just do the surround.

They do check for water damage behind tiles if some are loose. My sister retiled her bathroom the years after us and now it looks bad again. The grout is terrible , I have none to turn black bonus.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

We used them in our old condo - we couldn't afford to completely remodel. It was $3000 for tub, wall, corner shelf, fixtures and shower curtain rod. It did look nice...



...I was, however, disappointed that we paid $85 for the curtain rod. They'd made it sound like it was a REALLY GOOD one that screwed into the wall. It turned out to be the same one that we could have purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond for $10. Hey, the salesman did his job!

They gave us a list of approved cleaning products that we could use. Not one of them worked to my satisfaction.

And the silicone that sealed the seam between the tub and shower wall quickly turned black. We had to scrape it off and redo it before we put the condo on the market.

 

[NAB]

I have had mine turn the orange/ pink colour in the silcone but just wiped it off with water it is from the soaps and shampoos we use. . Guess I was lucky.

They give you a lot to work with in cleaning products I just use Mr clean like I would a regular bathtub.

Was really happy to get rid of our old metal soap dish and did the same as the above picture with the corner shelf.

I think our curtain rod was free...so I guess they just play with the numbers, only noticed the taps were more then anywhere else.

 

[Nora03]

We had our bathroom redone by Bathfitters eleven years ago. It looks as good today as the day it was installed. I didn't want it as it wasn't as stylish as tiles, etc. However, we've had no mold, no grout issues, and it's clean and looks good. The installer removed the Sheetrock behind and installed new. He told us the key to keeping it mold free was to not line the tub with shampoo bottles, etc, and to keep it dry. It's only DH and me, so it's not used by a lot of people and dries in between showers. We're very happy with it.