Establishing a Bathroom Remodeling Budget

Designing and planning your bathroom remodel project is one of the most important steps of the bathroom remodeling process. Planning your bathroom remodel is not as easy as going to the local home improvement store, buying some tile, a new vanity, and some new fixtures, and going home to start tearing your bathroom apart. If you try this approach, you will quickly realize that it is not an effective or productive approach.

A very important component of the bathroom remodeling project is establishing your budget for your project.. To provide you with a starting point, I detailed the basic material costs for a bathroom remodel. Please realize that these costs are general estimates for a basic bathroom remodel to guide you when establishing your budget.

* Permits - I budget around 10% of the total construction costs for permits fees.

* Tile - $7 to $15 a square foot

- The cost for tile varies by the amount of tile needed and type of tile chosen

- For more information on tile, please refer to the previous articles that I recently wrote

- Along with the tile you will also need grout and tile sealer

- In-floor heat $14.00 a square foot.

* Bathtub - $500.00

- This is the average cost for a 60" long by 30" wide bathtub; 60" long bathtubs usually range in width from 30" to 36" and in height from 14" to 18"

- Soaker tubs start at $1,000

- Whirlpool tubs start at $1,500

* Vanity - a good estimate is $125 per linear foot for the vanity

- This amount is for a semi custom made vanity of Maple, Cherry, or Oak, with soft close drawers

* Vanity top

- Cultured marble - staring at $80 a square foot

- Granite - starting at $90 a square foot

- Cambria - staring at $90 a square foot

* Sink - A good starting estimate is $200

- Depending on the vanity top that you select, you may need to purchase a separate sink. Cultured marble vanity tops have the sink molded in the top as one unit.

* Bathtub and shower Faucet - $350

- The finish you select for your faucet will impact your cost; a chrome finish is generally less expensive while brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze cost more.

* Vanity Faucet - $150

- The finish you select for your faucet will impact your cost; a chrome finish is generally less expensive while brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze cost more.

* Mirror - $200

* Bathroom Accessories - $200

- Towel bars, toilet paper holder

- Again, the finish you select will impact the cost

* Lights - $200

- Be sure to have adequate lighting in your bathroom; the bathroom is where you begin and end each day.

- Use more than one light for the services of the bathroom such as vanity, mirror, and the shower space.

* Primer, paint, accessories - $125

- To help with lighting in the bathroom, I suggest using a subtle color for the walls to help reflect the light.

* Construction Materials - $10 a square foot, this is a good starting point.

- Construction materials include tile backer, thin set, screws, drywall, joint compound, and etc.

- If you have a 5 foot by 8 foot bathroom, you have 40 square feet. I would budget $400 for materials.

* Dumpster - $300

* Plumbing - $1,000

- Disconnect the sink, faucet, toilet, bathtub, and shower valve

- Install a new sink, faucet, shower valve, toilet, and bathtub

- Install new shut off valves for sink and toilet

* Electrical - $800

- Inspect bathroom for a dedicated circuit to comply with current electrical code

- Update electrical, install new outlets and lights

- Connect in-floor heat

- Install bath fan switch

- Remove and replace vanity light

It is important to stay within your overall budget. Once you have a budget established for the items that are needed, it is time to decide who is going to complete the work. Undertaking a bathroom remodel can be a time consuming and stressful situation if you decide to complete the remodel on your own. Some questions you need ask yourself before attempting a remodel on your own include:

* Do you have the time to complete the remodel?

A bathroom cannot be properly remodeled in one weekend. As a contractor, I suggest that you develop a remodeling timeline, and then add extra days. Some unforeseen problems will occur. To save yourself unneeded stress during the remodeling project, pad your timeline by a minimum of a few days.

* Do you have the necessary tools to complete the remodel?

Whether completing the remodel yourself or choosing to work with a contractor this information should be helpful in deciding what you would like to spend on your remodel and what you expect for your money.

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Small Bathroom Remodeling And The Do-It-All Renovations Contractor

Managing a small bathroom remodeling project

Remodeling your small bathroom, or any sized bathroom for that matter, can be a very rewarding and satisfying project. It can also be the source of much stress and many sleepless nights when things go wrong and believe me they can go wrong. Managing home improvement projects isn't as easy as it might seem and a bathroom remodel can be one of the most difficult tasks you can undertake in your home.

How to minimise the stress of you r small bathroom renovation project

The most important thing to do before starting your bathroom makeover project is planning. You must decide not only what you are going to do in your small bathroom but you must also decide how you are going to do it. So what are your options?

Do it all yourself
Do part of it yourself and hire a project manager to hire a contract team.
Hire a project manager to control the whole bathroom remodel
Project manage your small bathroom makeover and hire a team of contractors yourself.
Find a multi skilled contractor to complete your whole bathroom-remodeling project.

I knew that I didn't have the time to manage a team of bathroom contractors and I would hold them up if tried to do any of the work myself. I only had the one bathroom so I couldn't afford to have the job take any longer than necessary. So that left me with the options of hiring a team of bathroom contractors and a project manager or finding someone that would do the whole job by themselves.

Preparing your bathroom remodeling plan of action

Before I took the plunge and remodeled my own little bathroom I took the time to talk to people who had some personal remodeling experience of their own. I talked to friends and their friends and I talked to the staff in bathroom showrooms. This is the best way to help you decide how you are going to get your bathroom makeover done. It's also a very good way of finding contacts for suitable contractors.

While I was doing all this talking, that went on for several months, it became clear to me that the people who had the least amount of problems and stress with their small bathroom remodels where the people who had involved the least number of contractors to do the work. They also seemed to get their remodeling project completed much faster.

Hiring a multi skilled contractor to remodel your small bathroom

I decided then that I would look for a bathroom-remodeling contractor who would be capable and prepared to take on my small bathroom renovation from start to finish. I was convinced by what I had found that they do exist but I knew that they would be in high demand. In the end I was very pleased with the result and encourage you to consider this route to your dream bathroom.

I was right about the rarity of the one-stop bathroom-remodeling contractor. Lets face it, there are a lot of skills required and it's hard to see how one person can be a master of them all. On the other hand none of it is rocket science and anyone determined enough to put their mind to it can do a very reasonable job of it all.

After a lot of searching for names and referrals I chose 3 possible contractors and asked them to quote. I found the pin boards in many bathroom showrooms to be a valuable resource in finding contractors, as many of them will leave a card there for you to pick up.

I asked them all for references so that I could go and see some of their work and talk to their clients. This is an important and very reassuring step that can help to ensure that you don't end up with a rogue who runs off with your money.

Be prepared to wait for your small bathroom remodel

The guy that I chose to remodel my small bathroom was booked up for 6 months in advance but I felt that the wait would be well worth it. So we set a time and went with it. I was not disappointed with the result.

A Top-Notch Bathroom Remodel Requires a Plumbing Contractor

Bathroom remodels can be one of the most rewarding home activities in terms of increasing your property value and the beauty of your home. However, bathroom remodels can also be one of the trickiest to pull off when doing the task yourself. Unlike in other rooms, mistakes can result in costly damages if they are not performed correctly. That is why those seeking top-notch, quality work should consider plumbing contractors when remodeling their bathroom.

The first obstacle that DIY homeowners face is water. That's right, the same liquid which keeps us alive and clean is arguably the most destructive force on earth. This is especially true in the home, given the ability of water to rot wood, rust metal, and disintegrate sheet rock.

A bathroom remodel performed by a plumbing contractor is much safer from two points of view. First, plumbing contractors have the training necessary to keep water in the pipes and out of your crawlspaces. Second, reputable plumbing contractors are licensed, bonded and insured, and their work must carry a warranty in most locales. If something is done incorrectly by a non-professional, you are left to foot the bill.

Another obstacle to DIY homeowners is the sewer. Because sewers are interconnections of pipes among many rural or urban dwellers, they are owned by the city or utility company. As such, not just every non-professional is privy to hook up and dump waste. Sewer contracts may be necessary between your household and the owning entity.

Unless you have experience in the field, you may be getting into a real headache. Plumbers and contractors should be able to accomplish this task according to the building codes of your location, and if they don't, they are liable for any damages caused to your home or the city and/or utility company.

Here is one more reason for hiring a plumbing contractor to perform your bathroom remodels redo. You don't have to do it yourself. While it may be obvious, what is not always obvious is the difficulty of the remodeling task. Toilets, tubs, sinks, cabinetry and counter tops can be very heavy and cumbersome to lift. Installing pipe and fittings requires contortions in tight spaces and is not a task for those with aches or claustrophobia.

In addition to these problems, installing fixtures such as toilets requires a process which, if not followed to the letter, may cause the DIY homeowner to remove the fixture and try again. This takes time, money and labor which you may not want to put into the remodel effort. Finally, all the old fixtures must be removed from the property and disposed of according to law.

Plumbing contractors will likely have preconceived systems for removing waste fixtures which may even result in recycling or donation. So, do yourself a favor, think about having real plumbers do your plumbing. While it may have added costs, having professional work completed in your home will have lasting benefit in home beauty, property value and functionality.