What You Need to Know About Redoing a Bathroom

Redoing the bathroom is one of the biggest projects you can start in your home. It requires almost a complete overhaul because you’re going to have to remove tiles, plumbing, vanity tops and, of course, the bath itself.

This is complicated work that often requires the help or at least the guidance of plumbing professionals. The best way to go is to prepare in advance and cover every eventuality, but still have plumbers do the main part of the job – detaching and attaching the bathtub.

Patience

There are a lot of moving parts in the process of renovating a bathroom. You’re going to need floor tiles, pipes, glue, countertops, possibly even some furniture depending on how large your bathroom is and what kind of changes are you making. It’s best not to start working until you have everything you need.

Being patient with starting the actual work can be difficult due to scheduling issues. If you can’t wait for everything to arrive before you get to work, at least make sure you get the parts in the order you’re going to need them. That way you will be able to do everything you can before the next set of parts arrives in the mail or in the stores.

Measuring

Obviously, you can only start working after carefully measuring the bathroom and preparing the blueprints for the new layout. Depending on the size and the complexity of the project, you can do this yourself or have a professional designer or engineer draw up the plans for you.

However, there are also other measurements to take which are often overlooked. It might be a good idea to measure the bathtub itself, the doors and the hallways of your home in order to be able to move freely while the work is being done.

Plumbing

The plumbing is going to be the most difficult part of this project. It’s also going to inconvenience you and your family for a while, even beyond using the bathroom. You’re probably going to have to cut the water off in your entire home before you’re able to remove your old bathtub.

If your house is old, then so are the pipes, meaning that this might be a good time to replace them altogether and have a new set of plumbing pipes together with the new bathtub. This isn’t a job you should attempt to do on your own. The best way to go is to call local professionals, such as the ones from Fix It Right Plumbing, because you want to make sure they have the right tools.

Updating the lights

The lights are a relatively small part of the bathroom remodel, but a lot of people tend to forget about them completely. This is a shame, because small changes in the lighting can mean a lot for the mood and overall look of the bathroom.

It’s usually a smaller room, so the lighting should be used in a way that will make it appear bigger and more comfortable. This isn’t always easy to achieve, especially if you have limited resources, but using cleverly placed task lights usually does the trick.

The materials

If there’s one trend that’s dominating bathroom design, it’s the fact that bathrooms are seen and used as a place of luxury and indulgence within your home. A big part of creating such an effect is in the materials used to decorate it.

This is something you should think about before the whole project starts, because there are ways to save quite a lot of money by choosing the materials carefully, even without compromising on the quality. For instance, using porcelain instead of stone will accomplish a similar luxurious look for a fraction of the price.

Going green

A bathroom remodeling is also a good opportunity to make the changes to your bathroom that you have always put off. There are tasks that everyone wants to do eventually but never get around to doing. One of such tasks is adding more eco-friendly features to your bathroom. It’s a shame to put this off, because it’s also a savings tool that will pay for itself in the long run.

The simplest of these features are the touch-activated faucets, which you can install yourself and which save a significant amount of water.

Redoing your bathroom can be a large project, so you need to plan for it in advance and mustn’t hesitate to call professional assistance. At the same time, it can also be an excuse to make a lot of smaller changes that you’ve been putting off for a while.