If you are a do-it-yourselfer, and have done some remodeling in your home, than you may feel ready to tackle a small bathroom remodeling. A bath remodel is a more unique experience than any other kind of home improvement job. While it’s true the bathroom is probably the smallest room in your house, it also is one of the most technical and complex areas in the home. Plumbing pipes and electrical wires are strategically run in, around and through the space to operate the many functions and can cause big problems for homeowners tackling a bathroom remodel. Here are some quick tips and information to consider before you go it alone on your DIY bathroom remodel.
Begin the Plans for your Bathroom Remodeling Project
- Planning
Planning a new look in your bathroom is much different than moving around the furniture and pictures in a living room. It’s not possible to move a bathtub or toilet to a different area whenever you feel like making a change. Make a detailed bathroom remodeling plan and think carefully about where you would like everything to go. After you have a design plan, consider your bathroom remodeling costs such as designer bathroom accessories, to make your bathroom look more stylish in your budget. Try using a bathroom remodel cost estimator. Some can be found on line
- Demolition1
It can take some practice in patience to remodel your bathroom. It may be difficult to hold off on making improvements while you are doing the demolition work. Shut the water off in the bathroom and remove everything that is going including walls and appliances. Thoroughly clean and tidy up the demolished space before you begin to rebuild anything.
How Much Will it Cost for a Bathroom Remodeling Project?
- Be Budget Conscience
Bathroom remodeling costs can add up quickly. Repair or refinish as many of the items you already have as possible instead of just buying everything new. Chrome polish can do wonders on old corroded faucets and knobs. Home improvement stores also sell a bathtub refinishing paint like substance to spruce up an old porcelain bathtub. A tub liner is also a good option for those of you who can’t replace the old bathtub.
- Vents
Bathrooms without proper ventilation become a breeding ground for mold and mildew. The bathroom must be vented out to fresh air via a vent somewhere in the bathroom. Preferably near the shower where the most steam and moister are created. Bathroom lights often have a multipurpose vent/light fixture.
- Paint properly
Unlike most remodeling projects in other areas of the home oil based paint is recommended in the bathroom. Water based paints are usually preferred in other areas for easy of clean up. In the bathroom oil based paints will look better longer because they are impervious to water and moister. You will need paint thinner for clean up, make sure that’s ones of the things on your shopping list during the planning stage.
- Flooring
Using ceramic tile or snap and lock flooring looks great in a bathroom remodel, but they are expensive and difficult to install in small spaces. Using solid sheet flooring will give you easy maintenance as well as easy installation that is light on the pocket book.
- Leave Your Pride at the Door
Even with the best of intentions and a wealth of information, there may come a time when you realize you are in over your head, or you realized you came across a plumbing issue that you aren’t sure how to fix. Call in a professional remodeling contractor if you are ever in doubt. There is no sense causing yourself more money by trying to avoid paying a professional for a small job, making more problems on top of the problem that already exists. It will be much more costly for the plumber or electrician to come out and fix multiple problems that were caused by you attempting to do more than you could during your bathroom remodeling process, instead of coming to repair one small issue.
