move rough in

Hi! My husband and I are installing a bathroom in our basement. The rough ins were placed in a hodge podge, so we need to move the sink drain and toilet drain. Both are only moving about 3 feet. My question is about breaking up the floor. We had an estimate for the whole job and about fell over. My husband is nervous though about breaking up the floor. He is afraid if he starts at it with a chisel and hammer, a running crack might go across the basement. I don't see this happening, but what do I know? Any advice on the best way to tackle this? Thanks!

It seems to work out better if you cut the floor, then break out the bits, but if you end up with a crack, you probably would have gotten one anyways. The work is hard, but doable by a non-pro.

If there is tile in your future, check out www.johnbridge.com. They can help with your project, too.

A chisel and hammer would take forever. You should be able to rent a small jackhammer. Even then, expect to be at it all day. If you're worried about a crack, you can rent a concrete saw as well.

changed plan

We chickened out and decided to leave everything where it is! We got a quote from a handy man today of $700 to run the water lines, set the fixtures and such. I think we are going to get one more though. The money may just motivate us to get brave and tackle the job ourselves!!! I did used to love that pipeline game, the one where the green slime is running through and you have to make a pipeline for it out of different shaped pipes...unfortunately, I never was very good at it!