Pinterest, Houzz, and HGTV have fueled your fantasies of a glistening, new tile floor; a Hollywood-esque vanity mirror; a glass enclosure shower; and a luxurious Jacuzzi tub.
Then, with your hopes high and your dreams big, you start looking at prices for these beautiful, new fixtures. Suddenly, the best-case scenario for your bathroom remodel isn’t so ornate.
Bathroom remodels have this kind of inspirational effect on people. Once homeowners know they can transform their tired, old bathrooms, their imaginations run wild. Then, when they realize how costly their ideal remodel is, their hopes are dashed.
As experienced bathroom remodel contractors, we think the best bathroom remodel you can afford doesn’t need to be a disappointment. It’s an opportunity. You just need to follow our list of Things to Consider Before You Contract Your Bathroom Remodel.
Find Out What’s Underneath Your Tiles
Tile installations don’t necessarily fail because of manufacturing defects or contractor error. Rather, many tile failures happen because there’s something wrong with the underlayment. Many older homes, for example, have what’s called wet bed tiles. The original contractor installed the current tiles directly on top of a concrete slab that they poured into your home’s floor system.
Wet bed tiles are costly and challenging to remove. Depending on your budget and your floor’s condition, you may want to forego this part of the remodel.
For some homeowners, however, the underlayment is an essential part of preventing tile installation failure. If your bathroom has this problem, you may have to appropriate a large amount of your remodel budget to fixing this issue.
Decide Which Kind of Floor and Tiling You Want
Assuming your underlayment is secure, you’ll next want to decide on flooring. For example, are you interested in radiant floor heating? Many Las Vegas homes feature this efficient floor-based heating system. It keeps bathroom tiles warm, heating up your bathroom over the course of an hour. They’re remarkably energy-efficient and long-lasting. You may not have to replace your floor for 40 years.
Now think about the kind of tiles you’d like to have in your new-and-improved bathroom. The tiles you choose should match up with your lifestyle.
Busy professionals tend to prefer low-maintenance, easy-to-clean tiles like porcelain. Homeowners with small children, on the other hand, tend to like nonslip floors, which help prevent falls. For these family-focused homes, we recommend smaller tiles with multiple grout lines, textured surfaces, and tiles that have matte and sand-embedded finishes.
Consider Upgrading Your Plumbing and Wiring
If the framing in your shower is wide enough, consider replacing your current 1.5-inch pipes with 2-inch pipes. This cost-effective upgrade will significantly decrease the amount of debris your pipes collect. Over time, this reduced buildup means fewer plumbing emergencies.
If you’re open to upgrading your plumbing, then you also should consider replacing your bathroom’s 15-amp wiring with 20-amp wiring. Just like the pipe upgrade, a wiring replacement won’t cost you a substantial amount of money. It will, however, ensure that your electrical appliances won’t blow a fuse.
Examine Your Bathroom’s Dimensions and Weigh Its Size Against Your Remodeling Goals
Let’s say you have a standard tub in your bathroom. It’s about 60 inches long and 32 inches wide—about 13.33 square feet.
If you use that tub regularly to bathe your young children or to relax after a long day, then you should consider keeping it.
However, if you use that tub less than 10 times a year, it’s taking up valuable space in your bathroom—space that could be utilized by more drawer storage, a medicine cabinet, or a brand-new vanity.
It’s important to be realistic about what should stay and what should go during the bathroom remodeling process. Take a good, long look at your bathroom’s dimensions. Using those dimensions, decide what makes sense to remove from your current set of fixtures, like the tub you rarely use.
Then, create a rough list of the items you know would make your bathroom more functional.
These items could include things like a stand-alone shower or a small linen closet. Next, talk to your contractors about the specifications of each fixture and ask whether or not these items will fit appropriately into your bathroom. Expect to cut some of these items from your list and refine them as the remodel approaches and progress.
Before you contract your bathroom remodel, review this list of Things to Consider Before You Contract Your Bathroom Remodel!
Discuss your plans, budget needs, and concerns with one of the experts at Rakeman Plumbing. We guarantee you complete design freedom, implementing whichever fixtures, colors, and styles you want. You can rely on our team’s meticulous craftsmanship during your bathroom remodel.
To learn more about our bathroom remodeling services, call us today. We provide comprehensive plumbing services to the greater Las Vegas, NV, metropolitan area, so don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know how we can assist you.
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