Three things to consider before renovating your bathroom

Author: Samantha Jones

Bathrooms are one of the most common areas of the home to renovate.

When deciding to upgrade a bathroom, it’s important to be clear about what you want and how you will achieve this before you get started.

Your budget

With any renovation project, it’s essential to know your budget – and to stick to it.

When approaching the task of upgrading your bathroom, be sure to have a clear plan in place about what you want to achieve, and be sure to separate the “essential” items from the “wants”.

You should factor in all of the essential components first, and then, once they have all been worked into your budget, if you have leftover money, you can start looking at the items that are more of a ‘want’ than a necessity and include a couple of those in too.

For example, while installing underfloor heating may be on your wish list, ensuring you have intelligent storage options and good quality fixtures and fittings is a more practical requirement that should be factored in first.

Approach your renovation decisions with a pragmatic mindset and then, where possible, add any additional features on your wish list that you can squeeze into your budget – this way, you’ll feel better about including these items into your new bathroom design when it hasn’t put a dent in your bank account.

The original layout of your bathroom

If you’re looking to save money, consider the bathroom’s original design and aim to keep the layout of your new bathroom similar to what currently exists.

If you’re completely replacing the bath, shower and toilet, it can be really expensive to reposition the way they are situated in the bathroom, because this means your plumbing will likely need to be moved to accommodate these changes.

You can save yourself a lot of money by keeping your plumbing in place and simply replacing the old with the new.

Hiring a professional

Most people who renovate will need to hire builders and other tradesman to help complete the transformation – particularly with bathrooms when things like plumbing may need to be considered.

If you decide to hire a professional to bring your bathroom design ideas to life, be sure to look for more than just the cheapest price.

It can be understandably tempting to cut corners and hire the company or tradesman who offers the best dollar deal, but make sure you factor in the importance of their skills, workmanship, availability and commitment to the job. Most importantly, you want to be confident that the person you’re hiring will deliver to the standard you expect.

It’s also a good idea to request to review their references. Ask to see the work they’ve produced in other jobs and if possible, speak to the owners to find out their opinions on the outcome of those renovations.