Your Bathroom Remodel

Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category

The top three remodeling projects in the United States last year were bathrooms, kitchens, and basements respectively.

When we decided to remodel our bathroom, I assumed that it would be a simple job, costing a maximum of $1,500. We didn’t count on the fact that a wall would have to come down in order to accommodate a new tub, or that we would have to replace our out-of-date toilet. The bids that we received were approximately between $10,000 and $17,000, which was way out of our budget.

Our home was built in the mid 1960’s, and though the retro look has come and gone several times, our bathroom needed a new look. The thirty-year-old toilet still worked great, but we were wasting approximately 5 gallons of water per flush, the sink was triangular shaped and butted against the tube in such a way that it was impossible for the shower curtain to close all the way so water always ended-up on the floor. Because of how the sink was installed, we couldn’t install shower doors to stop the water either, which over the years had ruined the floor. Something had to be done.

The first step was to come up with a design. When deciding to remodel a bath, you have to consider how your needs and those of your family will change over the years, including any safety concerns you may have. If you plan to tile the bathroom floor, you must choose a tile that will not become slick when wet. Other concerns you have to consider are sharp corners, hard edges, breakable glass, and scalding hot water when designing your bathroom.

Deciding to do most of the work ourselves, we installed extra safety fixtures for when our parents visited. However, it is my personal opinion that all bathrooms should have safety grab bars installed for when individuals must balance themselves as well as pressure-equalizing device on the showerheads so that no one has to experience a sudden increase in water temperature if a toilet is flushed or another facet turned on somewhere else in the home. In addition to these extras, we also installed a shower that was large enough to accommodate a wheel chair or walker if needed. All of these items are more costly, however with the reality that our lives were changing, as were our needed and those of our family members, these extra features will eventually pay for themselves.

When designing your new bathroom, there are several other options available to you, including heated floors, large windows, extra lightening, ceramic tile, multiple sinks, bidets, and Jacuzzi tubs just to name a few. Several people even isolate the toilet area with a partial wall or privacy glass from the rest of the bathroom. When deciding to remodel your bathroom, think safety first, then look are all the wonderful options you have.

For most of us, the decision to handle any remodeling job ourselves is due to our expensive tastes and our modest budgets.

Often we have a vision of what we want to accomplish yet when we acquire bids from contractors we soon discover that our dreams are far out of reach of our budgets. For this reason, we suddenly decide that we can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars and do it ourselves. After all, it looks easy enough on all the do-it-yourself home shows we’ve watched on television.

Before you begin ripping out walls and tearing up your floor there are a number of questions and things you have to look at. The first question you have to ask yourself and be honest is do you have the skills, tools, and safety gear or can you acquire these skills, tools and safety gear? The next question you have to ask yourself is if you rent the tools and safety gear will you still save money. Then you have to look at the time that it will take you to complete your project. Many times when you tackle a remodeling project and you have never attempted anything on this magnitude, go ahead and get the mind set that it will take you twice as long as the professionals. Therefore, you have to also add in what your time is worth and be honest with yourself as whether or not if you have the time to do the labor. Once you have answered these honestly, then you will have the answer as if you should tackle the remodeling job yourself or hire a contractor.

Unless you are a highly skilled and confidant with your abilities as a do-it-yourselfer home remodeling projects that may be dangerous or, which require a great amount of skills you may want to consider hiring someone who will do the job right in the first place, avoiding you from making costly mistakes.

Last summer, my husband and I did a portion of the work in remodeling our bathroom ourselves. We tore out a wall, ripped up the vinyl flooring, and removed the old bathtub, sink, and toilet. Because we had tiled our kitchen the summer before, we felt confident that we could tile the floor and shower area. However, we left the plumbing to a professional plumber simply because we were moving the location of the tub and toilet and neither of us felt comfortable with this task. Once the plumber had moved the piping, my husband and I installed Hardibacker in and around the areas for the new tub, faucets, toilet, and sink. We then laid the stone tiles, and installed all the fixtures. The plumber returned and inspected our work at no extra charge. The next step was to prep the walls and apply two coats of undercoat, before we painted the walls and finished the job. The complete project cost us approximately $2,000.00 including what we spent when we hired a plumber and we saved over $3,000.00. We ended up with a very professional job that also added to the value of our home.