6 Wonderful Bathroom Remodeling Ideas

Whenever we think of remodeling our home, bathrooms come at the top of the list because they are high-traffic space and up the resale value significantly. However, designing and decorating a bathroom is somewhat tricky because you have to arrange lots of things in a small space. Besides, you have to think about the wear and tear resulting from the multiple water elements and frequent use. The best remodeling plan should focus on incorporating brightness wherever possible and include materials that are easy to maintain.

A lot of homeowners choose wainscoting wall paneling in their bathrooms. Whether it looks strictly traditional or is given some modern twists, the design feature is a terrific way to protect the walls and add interest.

The frame and panel construction can be arranged in various profiles featuring square, rectangular, or long panels raised, recessed, or flat along the wall. You can choose to cover up to two-thirds of the wall or the entire ceiling to add a sense of height and width to the room. Tiles are another fitting choice for the walls due to their aesthetic and durability. They can instantly freshen up a place with their ability to reflect light. If you are seeking smart bathroom renovation ideas, see what's posted by Model Home Makeover.

You can apply them in multiple ways – covering halfway up or the entire wall, creating a thin border for the decorative purpose, or combining them with other style elements. The porcelain tiles can be a good option, even in shower areas, because of their non-porous nature. In addition, they don’t create hygiene hazards and are easy to maintain.

Flooring is another important area that demands extra attention during a remodeling project. As the place will regularly be exposed to water, you have to select a material that can stand up to water and slip resistant. In addition, it has to be something that feels better on barefoot, and the patterns and textures should match the design of the bathroom.

Larger patterns will suit a small space while busier compositions will nicely integrate into a large bathroom. Vinyl is a great option for the flooring because it’s safe, easy to maintain, and feel better under foot than ceramic tiles. If you have a great love for the wooden floor but don’t have the budget for it, choose wood-effect vinyl instead. You can make a choice between various types of styles and they will lend the place an authentic wooden appearance to creating everything from varnished to rustic impressions. 

Lighting is one of the most important aspects of a place – whether it is kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom. A well-lighted room looks bigger and creates a relaxing effect. Furthermore, good lighting is the nucleus around which the other design elements will shine. Go for large overheads, wall scones, and downlights to illuminate every nook and corner. Use LED lights as they are energy-efficient and don’t heat up a place like the incandescent bulbs.

You may not care for a bathtub, but it’s a strong selling point if you ever intend to sell the home. Any buyer will like a tub coupled with a spa-like environment that evokes the feel of elegance and freshness. In addition, keep a well-defined shower area. Choose the floor tiles of those spots carefully because they have to have sufficient traction to prevent slipping and a less than 3% water absorption rating. 

 

Choosing the finish and fixtures of a bathroom depends on a couple of factors – who will use them, how frequently the place will be used, ease of cleaning, and low maintenance. Select fixtures that will resist scratches and withstand the aftereffect of water splashes. If it’s a kid’s bathroom, pick up something durable and inexpensive such as plastic laminate on the countertops and floors.

Whether you have planned for renovating a small or large bathroom, these tips will come in handy. Nevertheless, you can always improvise and implement your own design ideas with more budget-friendly or luxurious elements.

Create A Renovation List For Your Wants And Needs

At least once a month I meet with a perspective client at their home to talk about what they would like in terms of renovations. Once I am there and we start talking about what rooms they want to renovate the list becomes longer and longer.

The longer I actually stay with the homeowner the more the renovation list grows as we talk about what they would like and how they would like the house to function when the renovations are completed. 

One of the problems with this scenario is that the renovation list grows as we talk about it from an initial single renovation like a kitchen to a multi room renovation or a whole house renovation. This on the surface is good for us the contractor as the job grows in size but in reality when the job becomes to large then the homeowner gets scared away from doing any renovation by the large price tag of the entire home remodel.

As the contractor I try to refocus homeowners to make a list of their renovation requirements, it should be broken down into wants and needs. Here are some examples of what a want is and what a need is;

Wants;

• New light fixtures.
• New Paint.
• New Floors.
• Open concept rooms by removing walls.

Needs;

• Fix leaky roof
• New Kitchen.
• Replace old windows.
• Repair rotten areas.

A want is something that you want to help the home function better for you or an update that will bring the home up to newer style. A need is something that needs to be completed before any of the wants list can be completed as it will cause problems or damage to any renovations that are completed. Anything that leaks water should be repaired or replaced before you ever get to the stage of renovating for an update.

If you start with a list like this then you will start to understand the cost of your needs list first and that will then tell you how much you will have leftover for your wants list.

Remember that a contractor can only make recommendations on what you should do to your home, ultimately its up to you the homeowner to decide what you want done. Make your wants and needs list, it should help focus you down on not only what you want to achieve in the renovation but what you can afford.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc. 

Renovating that house you just bought

Here's a typical scenario, people buy a house and from the time it takes for the offer to be accepted to the day that it closes and you get to move in you are dreaming about what changes you are going to make to the home.

Everyone wants to change something in the home that they just bought, whether its wall colours or larger more extensive changes like kitchens and bathrooms. My advice to people is that you should start by repairing anything that requires immediate repair and work from there.

For example; if there is a leak in the roof or the foundation then have that fixed, or if the furnace doesn't work properly then have it replaced or repaired. Painting is another thing that you can do as soon as you move in as it doesn't create a lot of dust and the cost is relatively low compared to other renovations. Besides the best time to paint is before you have hung your pictures.

If you can have the major problems fixed before you move in then that is ideal, but most people don't have the luxury of getting their home early and not having to move their furniture in until the demolition and repairs are completed.

Once you have the immediate problems fixed or repaired then you can start to concentrate on other things like storage, kitchens, bathrooms, floors, additions, fences and decks. These are all things that should be thought about and planned out before you go ahead with them. 

What you will find is that if you live in the home for any length of time you will find that the answers, designs and styles of what you want to renovate will come to you organically. The best way to find out how a home will function best is to live in it.

Once you have a plan in your head then you can talk to a contractor about the cost of the renovations and the timing for them.

Bathroom and kitchen renovations can be disruptive but only in small parts of the house, these types of renovations tho inconvenient can be easily worked around while you are living there.

The best advice I can give is that you should take your time to plan properly before starting any major renovation, the old saying "fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail" is correct in this case.

Rob Abbott

Village Builders Inc.   

Is The Drywall In The Bathroom Special?

Q:

Is The Drywall In The Bathroom Special?

A:

In years past the drywall in bathrooms was the same as in every other room of the house, in the shower or bathtub areas plywood was used as a backing for the application of tile. Then contractors started using cement board in the shower and bathtub areas as a tile backer, the difference was that the cement board did not rot if/when water seeped through the tile or grout like what happens to plywood.

As time went by and building science evolved a lot of thought and effort was put into the elimination of moisture, mold and mildue. Installing bathroom fans with the ability to move large volumes of hot moist air out of the room to the outside was the first step.

The problem with bathroom fans was that you had to rely on people to turn them on and leave them on until the room was completely clear of the moist hot air. Another problem was that in oddly shaped or larger bathrooms the fan wouldn’t be large enough to remove the needed air from every section.

Today there is another option for the drywall in your bathroom, it is called mold or mildue resistant drywall. There are many different manufacturers of this kind of product, some are better than others are resisting moisture. They are now widely available in all building centres in North America, like anything it varies in price but they all work toward the same goal; to eliminate the growth of mold and mildue because of hot moist air that is produced in the bathroom.

The next time you are planning to take on a bathroom renovation ask you contractor about mold or mildue resistant drywall.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Putting An Open Vanity In A Bathroom

Putting an open vanity in a bathroom

If you are planning out your new bathroom or are preparing for a bathroom renovation and you are wanting to place an open vanity in it instead of one that is closed there are a few things that you need to know.

Open vanities are used as a showpiece, that means that there are no drawers to place toiletries in or places to hide things that you don't want other people to see.

If you want to hide things you are going to have to place either baskets or boxes in the open vanity, this will allow you to have some level of privacy.

Open vanities show the complete plumbing system, form the drains to the water supply lines that attach to the sink and faucet. To make them look good you will have to buy chrome plated drains and supplies. This is an extra cost that you need to put in your budget. This plumbing also must be placed in the exact right place because you have no way of hiding it if it's off centered or misplaced.

Open vanities show the back wall behind the vanity and the floor underneath the vanity. You will have to make sure that these area's are finished as well as the rest of the walls and floors of the bathroom.

Most open vanities do not use the same sink, usually they are a raised vessel sink or a sink that looks good from above as well as from below.

Open vanities can help make a bathroom look larger, more modern and welcoming. You just need to make sure that you are prepared for everything that has to be installed with them.

Proper planning will make sure that your bathroom renovation turns out as wonderful as you want it too.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Can I Demolish My Own Bathroom and Then Let My Contractor Put It Back Together?

Q:

I want to do a bathroom renovation but I’m trying to keep the costs down, can I do the demolition myself and let the renovation contractor put it all back together?

A:

You can do it yourself but I would warn you that demolition is not as easy as you think it is, there are a lot of things that you need to know before you start destroying a part of your home that you are living in.

Most people (after watching home renovation shows on television) think that they can walk into a bathroom and just start hitting walls with a sledge hammer and ripping everything out and throwing it out in a pile on the driveway. If you ever saw what happens in those shows before they allow the homeowner to do anything you would understand how complicated it can be when dealing with unknown services in the walls.

A bathroom is usually a small area and is usually in the middle of the home, this means that any demolition you do has the propensity to spread dust throughout the home along with debris and dirt along the path in which you carry stuff out to the driveway. Your contractor will take the time to cover your floors with something to protect them, put up plastic dust screens to contain it and have a garbage bin delivered so that your driveway is kept clean eliminating the possibility of you accidently getting a nail in your tire.

In bathrooms there is a lot of stuff behind the walls, here are some of the things that you are apt to find once you take down interior walls;

• Water lines. Water lines in home that are 15 years old or older are all made out of copper, these lines do not like to be cut into or hit with hammers. If you damage one you could end up with a lot of water damage.

• Vent pipes. These pipes are black PVC and are usually a lot harder to damage then the copper water lines, the problem arises when you cut or remove one, these are the venting of gas for your plumbing system, if you damage one you risk allowing methane gas into your home.

• Electrical wires.  Most walls in homes have electrical lines running through them, if you cut one or damage one of these lines you could end up causing a fire, injuring yourself, damaging the tool you are using or causing the contractor to have to fix it which could increase the cost of the renovation.

• Bearing walls. If you start cutting out walls you might remove the wrong studs, a lot of the walls in homes are not just there to partition off rooms they are actually load bearing walls. Load bearing walls are walls that accept a load from above (either from the floor above or the roof) and transfer it down towards the foundation. Basically they are helping hold up the house. Damaging one of these walls could end up causing significant damage to the structure or roof of your home. If you damage the structural integrity of the home then you are in for a big repair bill.

• Drain pipes. Drain pipes are made out of the same material as vent pipes but they have a different function. They transfer the waste water from your toilet, sinks and showers to the septic or sewer system. If you cut or damage one of these then you will end with a strong sewer smell through the home and the next time someone uses the bathroom above where your working you will have a leak. That means that you could end up with sewage leaking in the home.

• Structured wiring. Depending on how old your home is it could have structured wiring in it. This wiring is the wiring that runs your phones, internet, speakers and thermostats. These wires are smaller and do not handle rough treatment very well.

• Heating vents. Heating vents in your home do not work as well once you damage them, they require the vents to be free of obstruction, holes or kinks so that the air can travel freely from floor to floor and room to room. Return air vents do not have any ducts they use the wall cavity as their duct so if you remove or block one you might not even know you have until it’s too late.

These are just the things that you can find in the walls of your bathroom, there are many other things that can happen when you start doing your demolition. Removing toilets, vanities, tubs or showers without the proper knowledge of how to turn off the water supply to them can end up with you causing a lot of water damage to other parts of your home.

I have witnessed homeowners spend days demolishing their own bathrooms to try and save a couple thousand dollars and then realizing that the damage they caused in doing so is going to cost them double that to have everything repaired or put back the way it was before you started demolition.

I would recommend that you let the professionals handle it, the money will be well spent and you wouldn’t have to worry about any surprises.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

I want to remodel my bathroom what should I lookout for?

Q:

I want to remodel my bathroom what should I lookout for?

A:

Bathroom remodeling is the bread and butter of the renovation industry. The bathroom is one of the most used places in a home. It is also one of the places where people spend the least amount of time (unless of course you are a teenager). Because of this problems in bathrooms usually go unnoticed for years before anyone tries to fix them or correct the problem before it causes damage.

One of the biggest things that you need to lookout for when doing a bathroom remodel are the places where water has been leaking. In a large bathroom there are a lot of places that water can leak and collect without you the homeowner ever knowing that it has happened. Water can leak and collect in and around the following locations:

• Behind, around or underneath the toilet.

• Behind, around or underneath the tub.

• Behind, around or underneath the shower.

• Underneath or in the bottom of the cabinet of the sink.

• On the walls because of humidity.

The first house that I ever owned was built in the fifties and had been re-faced a couple of time but never completely remodeled. I started by gutting the entire bathroom (the only one in the house), my plan was to do demolition all day having the toilet re-installed and working by that night. This would give me a working toilet (a place too read my book among other things). Boy was I wrong.

After gutting half the bathroom I got to where I was going to remove the toilet and set it outside until I could re-install it later that day so that it would function as the remodel continued. What I found when removing the toilet was that the toilet had been leaking for probably at least 10 years, because of this the floor was completely rotten around where the toilet was sitting (I had only owned the home for 18 months at the time). The only reason anyone never fell through the floor into the crawlspace below was because the plumbing was well fastened to the floor joist. Basically the drain for the toilet was holding up the toilet (and anybody who sat on it), the vinyl flooring and the rotten plywood.

The removal of the rotten floor and reframing the area took several days, I also had to bring a plumber in to re-pipe the toilet because I was forced to cut the plumbing out of the way to repair and replace the damaged plywood sheeting. I ended up having to stay with my parents for a couple of days while all of this happened. Luckily for me there was not a lot of mold created from the leakage of the toilet and that the toilet was the only fixture that had been leaking. It also helped that there wasn't a finished basement underneath to damage just a dirt floored crawlspace.

I have found worse things in other bathrooms, I have opening up walls behind showers and found mold. Mold  to the point where we had to spray a water-downed bleach solution all over the inside of the wall cavity just to kill it before we could continue working safely. I have found living snakes, mice and other creatures that like damp places and have found whole rotten rim-joist on the outside of the walls in houses where the shower drain was leaking. Rotten rim joist that were in such bad condition that when you looked at the outside of the home you could see that the wall and the roof were sinking in the area.

So when you are asking me what you should be looking for when you remodel your bathroom  you should plan on having a contingency fund. You are almost guaranteed to need it. Remember also that you should plan to spend the money fixing things properly while you have the opportunity, waiting to do it later will only cause you more of a headache and will also cost you more money.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.