Take our advice:. Think of renovations like surgery: to avoid getting the wrong knee replaced, make sure—then make sure again, then again, then one final time—that the proper knee or bathroom is marked and agreed upon.
Think you can remodel your bathroom head to toe for a couple thousand dollars? NKBA estimates that, broken down, most of this cost comes from fixtures and plumbing about 29 percent , followed by counters and surfaces 21 percent , labor 20 percent , and cabinetry and hardware 16 percent. You may be tempted to upgrade your bathroom with a dramatic freestanding bath.
Freestanding Bathtubs. The simplest way to light a bath is a single diffuse light in the center of the ceiling. A pair of wall sconces should be sufficient. Thinking about ceiling-inset downlights? Place with care: avoid installing directly over light-colored countertops since those will reflect the lights , and place close to the wall over a vanity to maximize light when looking in the mirror.
And if you spend a lot of time applying makeup, consider vertical fluorescent light fixtures on either side of the mirror.
Or, you share your bathroom with your spouse, but only installed an outlet on one side of the vanity. Start by drawing a plan of your bathroom as it is now. Bathrooms contain various items connected to the electricity supply, water supply and drains. To dismantle your old bathroom safely, do the job in the following order: first remove the electrical appliances, next remove the furniture and finally remove all the items connected to the plumbing. Turn the power off at the main switch before you start work.
Remove the radiator or towel warmer. Fit a quick connector or terminal block to each exposed wire for maximum safety. Remove the light fittings in the same way.
Turn the water supply off at the mains and at the supply points to each item before you start work. Leave the drains and pipes in place for the moment. Start by removing the shower panels, then remove the seals and detach the enclosure from the wall. Remove the shower drain fitting. Move the enclosure away from the wall just enough to access the water supply pipes and disconnect them. Remove the shower enclosure. When removing the shower, if possible, remove the enclosure panels first, to make the next steps easier.
Remove the mixer and taps, then the drain fitting. Remove any silicone seals around the tray, then detach and remove the tray itself. Lastly, remove the drain pipe. Depending on how you want to lay out your new bathroom, you may need to modify the plumbing. Take care with pipe diameters.
Supplies and drains have different requirements. Turn off the water supply at the mains. Refer to your plans and install whatever new supply pipes you need. Always use suitable tools and materials. Follow standard pipe-laying practice. In vertical piping, the cold pipe goes on the right and the hot one goes on the left. Essentially, you will retain all the materials cost but save the labor costs. That savings will buy a lot of shampoo. Of course, convenience is its own luxury and one that might be worth paying for.
In this case, luxury doesn't mean a spa-like bathroom with Tuscan tile, but the luxury of having someone else do the heavy lifting while you keep your hands clean. There is certainly value to having skilled pros do the work faster, and perhaps better, than you can do it yourself. Bottom line: The truth is that most DIYers with a moderate amount of experience can do at least the surface remodeling of a bathroom, especially if they use the same contractor-grade materials that pros depend on.
But should you do it yourself? That's a different question, and arriving at an answer involves looking at the individual considerations in a major bathroom remodeling project.
Balanced against the cost savings of doing the work yourself is the brutal reality that DIYers usually take a lot longer to do the work. You can save an incredible amount of time—weeks or months even—by hiring professionals. A busy homeowner squeezing remodeling work into a hectic schedule might take six months to painstakingly remodel a spare bathroom, while the same bathroom can be whipped into shape in a couple of weeks by a contractor and his team.
Your head will spin as you watch professional contractors do a number on your bathroom. In the morning, you have no shower. The workers come, and you go off to work. You come home. Now there's a shower. Bottom line: If you have only one bathroom, you should hire pros. If you have a second bathroom and can afford to have one out of commission for a while, then the DIY option is more realistic.
The basic carpentry work involved in building walls, boxing in shower or bathtub alcoves, and installing insulation and vapor barriers is not all that hard. Most DIYers are perfectly able to do this work, though it does require carefully following the specifications of your fixtures and cabinetry. Precision is important when it comes to the framing work. Bottom line : If you know your way around a hammer, give it a go. The mechanical systems in a bathroom are subject to all kinds of rules and regulations, and professional plumbers, electricians, and HVAC contractors deal with these issues every day and will know the particulars of local code requirements.
Unless you are an experienced home plumber and electrician, it is a good idea to leave the plumbing, wiring, and HVAC rough-in work to professionals. Bottom line: Even experienced DIYers often leave major wiring and plumbing work to the pros. Plan on a primer coat , then two coats of the final color. With this project that is more time consuming than challenging from a skills perspective, be patient and make sure the floor is fully coated to prevent nicks or chips in the future.
To paint like a pro in the bathroom, use a paint with a satin finish — which will be more durable than eggshell or semi-gloss in areas of high moisture, advises Consumer Reports.
Before painting, thoroughly scrub the bathroom walls using a sponge with a mix of 1 parts bleach to three parts water to cut through any mildew that could be lingering on the wall. Paint corners and nooks with an angled sash brush for more control than a flat brush.
Sliding frosted glass shower doors can make a bathroom feel dated and small, but luckily, removing them is a lot easier than it looks. Then use a screwdriver, removing the visible screws from the frame with a counterclockwise turn. With the screws removed, the only thing holding the frame in place is caulk.
Carefully cut through the caulk using an X-Acto knife or other sharp blade. Cut along the caulk and the wall and tub, not against it to avoid nicking the tile. Fair warning, you will have to spend a fair amount of time scraping up the excess caulk from the tub and walls , according to a guide from Apartment Therapy.
In many counties, this project does require a permit, so double check before you throw out that porcelain throne. Once the toilet is dry, disconnect the water supply line. Next, tackle the bolts connecting the bowl to the ground with an adjustable wrench. Wiggle the toilet back and forth to break the wax seal line, then lift it off and remove it. Scrape off remaining wax and plug the hole with a rag to keep sewer gases from leaking into your bathroom.
Apply the new wax ring to your new toilet. With help, turn the toilet right side up, and align it with the existing bolts in the floor. When picking out a new toilet for the bathroom, take some time to consider size and style.
A standard height toilet is about 17 inches off the floor, but there are also chair height toilets measuring 19 inches off the floor better suited to people with mobility limitations — perfect for a dual master suite property hosting multi-generational families.
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