A bathroom remodel is definitely one of the projects that would make the greatest difference within your home. Why? Well, because it affects both the quality of life in your household and its resale value. However, while the majority of people fear the countdown to the commencement of works, what they often lose from sight is the fact that the bulk of work takes place in the preparation stage. Setting your goals and making them align with your budget. Prioritizing tasks. Deciding whether to outsource or not. All of these things are something that you need to do as soon as possible. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know before bathroom renovation and a few tips to prepare for it.
1. Know your goals
The first thing you need to keep in mind when it comes to a bathroom renovation is that you know what you’re doing it for. For instance, you may feel the need to improve the quality of life within your household and improving the bathroom would definitely be the simplest way to achieve this. On the other hand, you may also intend to improve the resale value of the place in which case you would have to take a different route. You see, for a lifestyle improvement, a major bathroom remodel would be advised but the resale value increase may not justify the expense (ROI-wise).
2. Is it necessary?
Once you get an answer to the question of goals, it’s vital that you return to the issue once more with the question of – is it really necessary. A bathroom renovation is a massive undertaking and sometimes it might be for the best to just stick to a thorough professional toilet repair. The effect may not be the same but the cost-effectiveness will weigh heavily in your favor. We’re not trying to dissuade you from the idea of going for a bathroom renovation. It should definitely be your first choice if money is not the issue. However, sometimes the circumstances will make you lean towards a more frugal option.
3. Pick the major features and fixtures
Now that you have your plan, you need to start prioritizing future bathroom upgrades. You need to start with major decisions like picking the color scheme and the materials used. Second, you need to make a decision of whether you’re replacing old features or adding new ones. Will this require any additional plumbing work? If you were, for instance, keen on changing the location of utilities, the project itself would become far more expensive than if you were to just replace an old toilet with a new one. One more thing worth considering here is whether you want to reduce the environmental footprint of your bathroom by going for LED or low-flow fixtures. As you can see, the list goes on and on.
4. Getting the necessary equipment
The biggest question that you’ll have to ask when deciding to do a bathroom renovation is whether you should do it on your own or should you consult professional help. Entrusting the task to professionals is a simple thing. You negotiate the price and the work to be done and there you have it. With a DIY remodeling, however, things are slightly more nuanced. First of all, you have to get all the necessary equipment for the job at hand. We’re talking about items like a caulking gun, a hammer, tape measure, power drill, pry bar, adjustable wrench, flathead screwdriver and much more (depending on specific tasks that you’re about to handle).
5. Prepare the pathway
While it is true that the works will mostly take the path in the bathroom, you can’t fit all your tools inside of the bathroom and they won’t be able to just magically appear there when you need them. The same goes for your fixtures. You need to have a clean, clear pathway to your bathroom and you need to have the plan for all your fixtures. Where do you keep them prior to installation and where are you going to discard the old ones once you remove them. Keep in mind that this is the question that you need to answer as soon as possible.
6. Take the maintenance into consideration
Lastly, now is the time for you to think about the maintenance of the bathroom in question. What this means is that you can’t just focus on the aesthetics, you have to think well-past it. Some colors are more forgiving and require less frequent cleaning sessions. Some fixtures and plumbing parts are more resilient and don’t need to be replaced as often. All in all, a dollar that you save today may come back to haunt you in the future. Overall, by taking the maintenance into consideration, you’ll have all the major questions out of the way.
In conclusion
Important as they are, bathroom renovations can be stressful and expensive and your main task in the preparation stage is to mitigate these two major problems. With the above-listed six tips on your side, you shouldn’t have too much trouble handling this the right way around.
