Although the bathroom could be the smallest room in your house, it’s the room that is considered your happy place. It’s where you take baths and relax, get pampered up and ready, apply your skin care routine, shave and freshen up. You wouldn’t want to do all this stuff in a bathroom with broken mirrors, stained walls, corrosive ceiling, blocked drains, or rustic handles. If you thought of renewing your bathroom because you happen to have any of these things, that is a wise idea.
We know that the repairing process is hectic and that’s why we have curated some useful tips and tricks for you to follow for a painless bathroom renovation.
Do a thorough research
Since you decided on revamping your bathroom, you should take all the time you need to search for everything you want to renew in there. You want to look up some websites for designs and get inspiration from a variety of photos on the internet. It’s best to look up every detail so you don’t miss or regret a thing; look for the styles you want in mirrors, tiles, handles, doors, cabinets, windows and bathtubs. Also, you should think wisely where everything should be; you want to picture where the sink, toilet and bathtub would be placed. For example, you may need to replace the water closet in an old house. Old toilets use up to 4 gallons of water per flush (gpf), and the current federal standard is 1.6 gallons and water-efficient sanitary units use 1.2 gallons or less. When making any upgrades in your new place, always consider which option is more cost-effective in the long run.
Consider your budget
Renovating is a charming thought that might tempt you to forget all about the cost. You don’t want to pick high-end designs and get disappointed when you realize that you can’t afford them. For that reason, you better consult experts and ask stores about prices; also you can substitute an expensive fancy item with another that is cheap and still looks good. You must put in mind that two-thirds alone of your budget will be spent on labor, so you should be careful while choosing the bathroom’s new accessories to be within the estimated budget. Also, put in mind what exactly needs renewing; is it just the tiles you want to repair? Or do you want a whole new plumbing and electricity installation?
Consult an expert
After you look up for the styles and designs you want to apply, you should seek a professional guide. You need to discuss the selected options with a professional designer, who could give you useful advice about what to purchase, what have got bad quality and what wouldn’t match. An expert would also help you avoid bathroom renovation nightmares and tell you the average prices for everything and if it’s available in the market or not. With the help of an expert, your choices would narrow down to one or two that you can start to work on them immediately; you would also have enough confidence when you’re buying everything because you already have a background about the price range.
Choose a trusted contractor
At this stage, you should start asking your neighbors, friends and family for contractors’ numbers and choose one with a good reputation who is trusted to get the job done. You may want to consider the timing you hire the contractor in; usually in summer, contractors get less business, so they will offer competitive prices that help you choose what suits you the best. Another thing you want to make sure of is not to start any work until you sign the contract; you need everything in documented papers with all the details of what work will be done, how many workers will carry on the job and how much the total cost would be.
Manage your time
When you sign the contract and it’s time for workers to get started, the contractor should advise you with the work time frame. Also, ensure that the estimated time is mentioned in the contract; you don’t want to leave any chance to miscommunication. Through that estimated time make sure your tiles and fixtures are ordered some time ahead since they can take forever to arrive, especially if they’re high-end products; they tend to have a slow-paced delivery. You also want to know exactly how long this whole process will take to manage how you and your family will spend this period, especially if that’s the only bathroom in your property. Also, take into consideration that handmade or hand-painted tiles take way longer than other kinds; they could take up to 12 weeks to arrive.
Small things you could forget
They might be small in size, but they make the greatest difference in your renovation journey. Take time to think about the colors you want your tiles to be considering the size of your bathroom. If you have a small one, consider smaller tiles with bright colors to allow the eyes to see a wider space. You should also match the wall color to that of the tiles; you want a relaxing view to the eye. Also, you might care for placing some fake plants here and there to give a fresh feeling of nature to your bathroom. Don’t forget to shop for curtains, towel bars, towel holders, soap dish and towels; these accessories make a huge difference.
Keep an eye on the final touches
Most of the time workers tend to forget some instructions you’ve given them, so they end up improvising without getting back to you. So what happens is that you tell the worker that you want to place the toilet paper holder on the right side of the toilet; yet he places it on the left side instead. That’s why you should always keep a close eye on the final touches to avoid any mistakes. Also, there would be several workers around; we’re talking about plumbers, electricians and builders; a thing which forces you to pay even more attention to small details.
After all the hard work is done and completed, you get to enjoy a satisfying room, where you spend a good amount of time. Yes, you will exert some effort to reach that feeling of satisfaction; yet it’s definitely worth it. It doesn’t matter how long the process takes and how tiring it can be as long as you successfully restore your favorite place in your house and feel comfortable and happy with the final result.
