Best Bathroom Remodel
Based on In-Depth Reviews

What to keep in mind before undertaking a bathroom renovation

Let’s face it. Renovating a bathroom can have a considerable price tag In the U.SThe National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) determined that the average cost is about $16,000. According to HomeAdvisor, an individual could spend anywhere from $6,000 to $15,000. Meanwhile, Angie’s List puts its figures at around $2,500 for low end remodels, to as much as $23,000 for high end ones. 

Of course, these numbers can also come down substantially if you choose to do minor updates on smaller bathrooms (a half-bathroom or powder room redo is considerably less than a full master bath, for instance). The NKBA suggests  a good benchmark is spending between  five to ten percent of your home’s value on a bathroom remodeling project. For a $100,000 home that means an average of $5,000 to $10,000 for a bathroom remodel.

In order to make sure you get the most out of your investment, you should take certain considerations into account before you undertake your project, including general project planning, budgeting, evaluating what the types of modifications you want to make are, considering your project’s timeline, and narrowing down your design aesthetic.

General Project Planning: Sketch Out the Broad Strokes of Your Project

Before beginning to build the bathroom of your dreams, you should have a very clear and precise idea of both what it is you want and what you can actually afford—these two are often at odds, especially if you’ve been going off glossy magazine shoots of the houses of the rich and famous. This is true regardless of whether you go the contracting route or the DIY route. 

Doug King of King Contracting in Florida has 15 years in the remodeling industry and is currently president of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). He says that knowing what you want to accomplish with a remodel is the most essential part of any project, “the main thing is to have the members of the house agree on what they’re going to do. What are the goals? And what's the budget?” If you’re hiring a contractor, this is even more essential, since transmitting clear ideas is key for the contractor to understand what the family wants done, and may even provide a better price if they have a clear understanding of the scope of the project.  

Thorough, meticulous planning tops the list of any bathroom remodeling project, since it forces you to sit down and consider all the different aspects that go into undertaking the work. It also helps you identify what a feasible project could look like for you, and could help against lasering in on fanciful but unrealistic ideas that could welcome trouble and disillusionment. During this first planning stage you should always keep in mind some of the following points. 

Budget Planning and Cost Considerations: How Much Are You Willing to Spend?

 When you’re crunching the numbers to see how much you can afford to spend on your remodeling project, take into consideration the return on investment, even if you’re not considering selling your home in the near future. Setting a budget can narrow down the scope of your project, so that you know which aspects to prioritize and where you can cut costs. If you choose to hire a contractor, having a fixed budget will also help him or her better conceptualize what you’ll be able to achieve in the remodeling process.

 A good idea when budgeting is to set aside a small portion of your cash for any unforeseeable events. For example, you might find your walls are full of mold once the demolition process begins, or your pipes aren't up to code, or even that the floor joists where you want your toilet are pointing in the wrong direction. These types of situations can easily set you back thousands of dollars.  As such, keeping in mind these unexpected setbacks at the beginning of your planning phase—and budgeting accordingly—could soften the blow were anything to go wrong.

 Keep in mind, however, that bathroom renovations can yield a return of investment of around 62% at the point of resale, meaning that if you’re planning to sell the house, you could recoup some of the reno cost. So while skimping on things like hiring a contractor might seem practical, they might not be the most strategic decisions in the long run.

Moreover, if you make any significant updates on your plumbing or electrical system during a bathroom remodel, you could be eligible for a homeowner’s insurance discount, maybe as much to 20% depending on the type of modification performed.

 If you’re looking to undertake the work yourself, the first step is to look up the average prices for all the equipment you’ll need, so you can establish your minimum spend. There are also many tips out there on ways you could reduce your reno costs by prioritizing some things over others. The NKBA lays out various suggestions on how you can save on remodeling costs.

Types of Modifications: What Do You Want to Accomplish With Your Renovation?

 It goes without saying that having a clear set of goals for your bathroom renovation could save you time and money in the long run. Consider what aspects of the bathroom you want to alter or transform, taking into consideration that major changes such as flipping around the floorplan can easily double or triple your plumbing costs. 

Do you want to perform a total renovation that includes bathtub, lighting, flooring, tiling, and the like? Or do you want to go for simpler cosmetic changes that can spruce up the area, such as reglazing your sink or refinishing your countertop?

 Complete re-works that involve demolition and construction work, such as replacing bathtubs, will obviously take longer than simple cosmetic changes, such as adding in some storage units or installing new lighting. How big the space is also plays a role in how long it’ll take to get everything done. 

Timeline: How Much Time Can You Spare?

Renovating a bathroom can take anywhere from 4- 9 weeks, on average. This, of course, is in the best of scenarios, where everything runs smoothly. Individuals who try to undertake this work themselves, with no additional help, might find themselves in for the (really) long haul if they’re aiming for bigger projects.

The truth is, how long it takes to get the work done depends on numerous factors such as how great you want the modifications to be, and whether or not you’ll be tackling the project yourself or have a whole team working on it. One thing is clear: the project will take time. 

Moreover, undertaking a renovation means you’ll be bathroom-less and surrounded by dust and mess for a fixed period of time. Be prepared to make the necessary adjustments. Do you have an extra bathroom you can use while the renovation takes place? If not, have you made the proper living arrangements in the meantime? 

Contractors will usually be able to give you a ballpark figure of how long a project may take after they consult with you and draft their work plans, but even this might not always be accurate since unexpected events (aka that mold hiding behind your bathroom wall tiles) can always set you back some days or even weeks.

Concept and Design: What Are Your Design Preferences? 

All homeowners should have at least some idea of their design goals and preferences. This means that you should have a pretty solid picture of your goal aesthetic before you talk to a contractor, or sit down to purchase fixtures and paints. Not having a clear idea can actually create a host of problems down the road, since you might not convey your ideas properly to a contractor once you hire them, or you might end up picking a combination of products that don’t suit the space you’re remodeling. As contractor Doug King puts it, “the main thing is to have a pretty good idea of what it is you want to do. Sometimes you can spend a lot of money on something like the faucet, or a light that really makes the bathroom jump, and spend less money on the flooring- maybe even keep the same flooring which won’t be so bad if the colors will match the new scheme.” 

At the very least, you should probably have some of these points well thought out: 

• Color scheme

Color schemes can actually go a long way in transforming your bathroom without incurring in costly alterations. You might want to use lighter colors if you’re working with a small, dark space. Is your space already well-lit or does it lack natural lighting? Do you want to play around with artificial lighting and space? The color scheme you choose will depend on all these considerations.

• Fixture Types 

Fixtures can make or break your bathroom’s look. They can also, however, really add up. In order to save, you could look into purchasing lightly used recycled fixtures from places like Habitat for Humanity ReStores.

Hiring a Contractor

DIYing a bathroom renovation can be a suitable option for very handy folks who don’t want to incur on labor costs. According to HomeAdvisor, an aggregator dedicated to pairing potential customers with contractors and other experts, the average rate for contractors can total 10 to 20% of the project cost, which could translate into $300-$400 per day. 

When going DIY, make sure to look into the helpful guides and tips offered by different companies on how to make the best use of their products, as well as look for external info that can help you narrow down your ideas—Youtube and home renovation blogs can be really helpful here  

Having said this, hiring a contractor can make your life considerably easier since you’ll be delegating the work to experienced professionals who know the ins and outs of planning and construction. Not only will it remove a lot of the burden and stress of undertaking the project yourself, since contractors not only provide the actual labor and manpower to get the job done, but they can also serve as soundboards who can guide you into making the best and most cost-efficient decisions. 

• Contractors help organize your ideas into feasible projects - legitimate contractors will work as sounding boards, trying their best to turn your ideas into reality, They can tell you what is and isn’t possible within a given budget, as well as provide suggestions and design ideas to enhance or complement your own.

• They have the expertise to make sure things run smoothly and quickly - if you only have the weekends to work on your bathroom renovation project, chances are you might be overwhelmed by the amount of time it may take to complete such a task. Moreover, you might end up encountering unforeseen obstacles along the way that set you back even longer. Hiring an experienced contractor from the outset could speed up the process as well as reduce the risk of making rookie mistakes that force you to spend more in the long run.

• They have the contacts and the manpower - perhaps the biggest benefit to hiring a contractor are the many connections an expert will bring to your project, including plumbing, electrical, and supplier contacts, taking care of all the outsourcing. Moreover, if anything were to go wrong, the contractor will have the contacts needed to aid in resolving the issue. As Doug King puts it, “typically in a bathroom remodel, you've got about 15 to 20 different trades that would be involved, including the suppliers, and not many homeowners have the fortitude to make those contacts, keep the chain of communication open throughout the entire project and make it happen timely.”