Great, so you have decided you to renovate your bathroom? Will it be an entire overhaul including gutting the room or a more subtle approach? Either way, there are some important things to consider before you begin. This two part blog series discusses everything you need to know about re-doing your bathroom.
- Budget: Before you begin you need to decide how much you can afford to spend. This is relevant whether you are doing is through your mortgage or cold hard saved money. Once you have the budget set it will help you decide what you can have in your remodel. Remember the budget needs to include the labour costs and materials.
- Time: Although to you it may not seem like a mammoth task, to the plumber there is a lot of "behind the scenes" tasks that need to be done. Do you have an older house? Any Dux Quest Pipping will need to be removed. This alone can often be a weeklong task. You need to allow time from you deciding on your vanity, shower, and bath etcetera, to its being ordered and shipped into store. Planning time is crucial to those with only one bathroom as other arrangements will need to be made so your family can still shower. Don't forget also for a toilet alternative if your current loo is being taken out.
- Works sequence: Seems obvious right? There have been plenty of home owners who have splattered white ceiling paint on their new wooden bathroom floors. Make sure you start at the top and finish at the bottom.
- Hidden Problems: As mentioned briefly above, older houses may have plumbing issues behind the walls causing potential damage that you don't even know about. If it is a major upgrade you are undertaking, it is perhaps worth doing a "full gut" to ensure there is no water damage behind the jib.
- Style and functionality: Of course you want it to have the WOW factor upon first impression, but make sure it is functional too. A claw foot bath may look stunning but in a modern new build it may not suit the rest of the home. Keep in line with the rest of the home design to create a fluid feel.
- Space: There are three limitations when it comes to bathroom renovations. One being the overall size of the bathroom (it is usually the smallest room in the house), secondly is the location of existing pipes and wiring (these of course can be moved for added cost) and finally the size of you bathroom fixtures. Have a thorough precise drawing of your bathroom before you head out shopping so you know exactly how much room you have to play with. Once decided on fixtures, draw out the size of them on the floor (so long as it has been pulled up) to get a feel for it.
