Bathroom shower install

[04FXSTS]

Not my idea but still reasonable, wife wants to have the tub/shower taken out and just a shower in extra bathroom. Some day one or both of us will probably have problems getting a leg over the tub possibly falling. So this is not something we need done right now, but looking into it in advance. I am thinking I could do the job but nothing I really feel like getting into if I don't have to.
Not sure how "Bonded and Insured" works and what all does it protect for the home owner. Does it protect against a crap job from a contractor? We will look at references etc. but that is not always an indicator of a quality job. Twice in the past we have had more than one job done by the same contractor and got a great job done the first time. Couple years later same contractor did a barely passable job. All advice will be appreciated as always, Jim.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Bonded/insured doesn't protect you from generally shoddy work. If they damage something/get injured/etc their insurance is on the hook not yours. If the shoddy work includes something that is hazardous it may also cover it. Let's say doing electrical work improperly that causes a fire.

 

[HoughMade]

There are no 100% guarantees, but you can't do much better than talking to friends who have had remodeling done and are satisfied with the work. Sure, sometimes people get lazy, but what alternative is there? It's much more reliable than getting a list from the contractor and then talking to the people hand-picked to be on the list.

 

[gregkl]

Yeah, bonded and insured is like a lifetime warranty. Neither is an indication of quality work. Quality work my be inferred by those items, but not guaranteed.

Finding good contractors is becoming increasingly harder as time goes on.

If I wasn't so handy and had to rely on a contractor I would find the one that is busy, has plenty of good references and is more expensive than most.

I would also try to find that local guy that doesn't have to advertise/promote much. The guy that let's word of mouth keep him busy.

BTW, in my three bathroom house we eliminated tubs in two of them and replaced them with showers.

We kept one in case the next owner wants one for bathing children or maybe themselves.

 

[Frosty]

I just remodeled out bathroom, redid floor joists, tile, basically everything. I’ll say this if you do plan to diy it, you can learn a lot about tiling from YouTube, and if you plan to use a shower pan, it’s not much difference than tiling around a tub, but if you want a full tile tub, personally, I’d hire a tile contractor, those can easily leak if not done right and it could go unnoticed for a long time.