15 Bathroom Points to consider while Renovation : Bathroom Renovations

1. Budget

If you don’t know already you should work up an idea of how much you want to spend on your bathroom renovations. Setting a budget will help guide you as you make decisions about what to include in the remodel. Once you’ve figured out what you can spend and substracted the amount allocated to labor, you’ll have a clearer sense of what you can spend on tile, fixtures, and extras.

Before you start off with any of bathroom remodeling project, it is important that you should be knowing what are your expectations when it comes to how much of the money one is willing to invest in this renovation.

The cost would be dependent on what is the quality of the materials, the exact size of the bathroom and also whether or not you are planning on doing few of the labor work yourself or DIY. Do not forget to also consider the budget for the plumbing fixtures as well as the features. Also take in consideration smaller things such as towel racks, bath mats, soap dishes, towels and other accessories.

2. Time

Many people assume that if they are remodeling a small bathroom it will only take a few days, or anyway it will take much less time than a larger one. This is not necessarily the case. Depending on how many items you are changing in the bathroom your contractor will have to go through all the same steps as a larger bathroom.

However, planning refers not only to defining the duration of the renovation works but also certain intermediate steps such as ordering and purchasing tiles, fixtures, custom-built vanity or cabinets to make sure they can be delivered when your contractor needs them.

Planning time is also crucial for those with only one bathroom in their house as they will have to make arrangements where to take a shower and use the toilet while the bathroom is taken apart.

In general, it is said that the remodeling of the bathroom would mostly happen in three different phases and each of these phases are known to be having their own separate timeline. Even though the phases of the bathroom remodeling would vary from time to time but all of these remodels are said to have these three common phases.

A good contractor would tend to always keep the home owner informed during each of the step of the process so that the owners can accordingly make their own plans and also they can anticipate as to when they would start to have access to the bathroom.

The first phase is called as designing and planning phase that may take from one to three weeks, the second phase is the construction phase which is known to be taking around two to four weeks of time, and the last phase is called as the final touches phase that can take anywhere between one to three days’ time.

3. Works sequence

When it comes to bathroom renovations by completing the job in a specific sequence you can save yourself from a lot of clean up time and mistakes. Whether you are demolishing sheetrock or simply repainting, you always want to start at the top of the room. Remodel your ceiling first, walls second, and floors third so you can prevent damage to your new components.

4. Hidden problems

If you are doing a major upgrade to your bathroom consider doing a “full gut”. When done by a professional with expertise you end up with a zero problems bathroom that will function flawlessly and add tremendous value to your home for many years to come.

Depending on the age of your home and how well it was built the biggest hidden problem you may encounter is water damage, so look for structural deficiencies in the floor framing, not properly vented plumbing, old corroded plumbing, non-waterproof tile shower/tub surrounds, etc.

5. Design style and functionality

When first starting out start by thinking about the look you want for your bathroom. There are many factors to consider like paint color, tile choices, vanities, showers, tubs, faucets, etc. It can get overwhelming very quickly so start with some research.

You can start to piece together elements that you like into what will become the final design of the bathroom or you may choose a design item you want to feature in the bathroom and then work the rest of the bathroom design around it.

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Design should work hand in hand with functionality so consider who will use the bathroom and how, consider an eventual resale of the house and also take a moment to think how the bathroom design will fit in with the rest of the house.

6. Measurements

There are 3 major limitations which really make size matter in bathroom renovations: the overall size of the bathroom (usually the smallest room in the house), the location of existing plumbing pipes and electrical wiring and the typical standard dimensions of bathroom fixtures.

Therefore make sure you have the correct measurements and specifications when you go to the store. More frustrating than trying to shop without measurements is to end up purchasing stuff that doesn’t fit.

7. Contractor

Hiring a contract for a conceivably DIY job? Well, yes, that is a smart thing to do given the complexity of the job and difficult operations involved (electrical, tiling, plumbing, etc.). Therefore do not overlook the advantages of hiring a contractor and save yourself a load of misery and time.

Many of us would agree to the fact that by getting a proper referral from a family member or a friend would anyways be a better way of selecting the bathroom contractor. But unfortunately there would be times when our close people whom we trust may not know of somehow whom they can refer for in terms of bathroom renovations or for carrying out any other improvement based project.

Hence at such times the online reviews would be helpful and is considered to be a great source having an unbiased testimony for the local contractors. There are couple of things you would need to look out for and those include, checking the licenses of the contractors, question them about their work experience and if possible carry out site visits for better clarity, you can otherwise also check out the photos of their work they have carried out, also you would need to ensure that they are insured.

8. Plumbing fixtures and features

No renovation is complete without remodeling or repairing fixtures and features, which could very well make a separate checklist themselves: shower, bathtub, toilet, bidet, sink, faucets and shower heads. You should also update or repair your mirrors and shower doors.

You can also change the look of your bathroom very easily by changing out door handles, drawer pulls and the hardware for your shower doors. If you have the budget a new set of shower doors can completely change the look of your room.

Related Post: https://www.bathroomcontractors.com.au/melbourne-plumbing-bathroom-repair/

9. Cabinets, storage and shelving

Planning cabinets, shelving and storing solutions is a tricky problem in most cases. In small, irregular shaped rooms like the bathroom, it is even more so. They need to be functional and accommodate all your stuff while keeping everything easily reachable, they must fit into the available space and make the most of it and on top of it all, they need to look stylish.

10. Walls and flooring

Virtually any material can be used to surface walls and floors in the bathroom as long as it’s waterproof, either naturally or by means of an impervious finish. Depending on your budget and style, ceramic, marble, and granite tiles make handsome and highly durable flooring and wall surfaces for baths.

For flooring additional options may include cement (painted or stained), sheet vinyl or vinyl tiles which are inexpensive and look better than used to. Whatever your choice, always mind another key criteria for choosing your bathroom flooring: durability and slip-resistance.

11. Lighting

A bathroom can be rendered impractical or downright dangerous without adequate lighting so plan for design lighting that is functional and also creates atmosphere. Plan for maximizing natural light first, whereas for artificial light it is advisable you should have least 4 watts of incandescent lighting per square foot.

There are basically four types of lighting which can be best suited in the bathroom ambience and those are task, sparkle, decorative and accent lighting. The task lighting is the one wherein you would be able to best see yourself. It is important to have proper task lighting at the mirror section.

It is mostly recommended to make use of a pair of sconces that are also mounted on to the eye level on either side of the mirror so as to provide an illumination that is shadow less. For those who tend to enjoy the art that is kept in the bathroom can make use of the accent light which would show it off properly.

The decorative lighting is known to be adding a visual sparkle. It is mostly advised for using just a single pendant in the bathroom that is square shaped to just get that right touch. The ambient light on the other hand is known to be acting as a filler light.

In those bathrooms wherein there are taller ceilings having a cove details then having the ambient lighting fixture would be helpful wherein it can be installed along the perimeter of the space that is present.

12. Accessories

Although apparently insignificant in the bigger picture of the overall project, no remodel is complete without new accessories. And surprisingly enough, the small stuff like new towels, wash clothes, soap dishes, mirrors, towel racks, bath mats do add up to the final bill. If you are on a budget, new hand towels will be better than nothing.

13. Ventilation

Ventilation is crucial in a wet room like the bathroom. It is also a tricky task which needs good planning: choosing the right fan, the right position for its installation and dealing with the electrical wiring. Poor ventilation can leave your bathroom damp, mouldy and can even harm your health.

A well-ventilated bathroom, however, isn’t just a healthy bathroom. Continual airflow can also prevent both the decay of any wooden trim or fixtures and the saturation of building insulation.

14. Going green

Even if you personally don’t care about going green one way or the other, the market is trending toward this so it’s something to consider. And there are many budget friendly options for adding a green touch to your bathroom: a low flow toilet that uses less water and saves you money in water bills; low-VOC or no-VOC paints; vanities made from sustainably harvested wood; recycled glass tile surface countertops, etc.

15. Final clean

The final clean should include a thorough cleaning of all cabinetry, inside and out, duct work, walls, floor, windows, and light fixtures. Although often overlook in the planning phase, in the case of a major renovation you may want to consider contracting a cleaning service which means additional costs that impact your budget. If you feel up to doing it yourself, you may need to add a day or two to your initial timing.

Apart from keeping the above mentioned pointers in mind, there are a lot of unexpected things which one should be prepared for. You should be expecting more time, expenses or costing, problems as well as disruptions than you have actually planned for. Since there can be surprises in one form or the other are said to be a common affair when you plan for a bathroom renovations.

Some of the problems are predictable whereas few others are not predictable. When you tend to expect the unexpected then there is a lot of way it would help in reducing unnecessary stress. Many a times there are a lot of home owners who seriously have no clue about what are the hidden costs when it comes to remodeling and also there are a lot of contractors who may not advising their clients beforehand of those hidden costs either since they feel that the client would tend to run away from doing any remodeling if they spill out the beans.

Few of the hidden conditions would include an improper form of wiring, damage caused by the termites and a need for getting those repaired, an outdated case of plumbing, repair of the floor joists and abating asbestos. All or any of these are known to somehow cause stoppage to the entire remodeling process halfway through and also at the same time it would be adding on to the time as well as money to the project.

Hence it becomes important to plan out for these smaller things in advance and that can be done only by setting aside around ten to twenty percent of the cost for addressing these kind of issues.

There is a great deal of time that goes into getting the old or the outdated systems updated wherein there are things such as the galvanized drains, corroded cast iron or the water supply drains.At times it has been seen that even a copper water supply lines can turn out to be a hidden problem when the joints get corroded.

However, the flexible PEX piping which is joined along with the push fit connections tend to be offering an easy to use and also an alternative method to soldering the copper lines for those who would want to go ahead with the replacement.

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