Renovate A Bathroom
Proper planning and a reasonable budget can put you on a path to a new remodeled bathroom. Feel the tension of the day melt away; your favorite music plays in the background as you gaze upon the rich, warm colors and textures of your renewed bath.
That might be nothing more than a daydream – for now. But with the proper planning and research, and the proper budget, it can become a reality.
There are many reasons to renew a bath, the first one being, of course, for your own pleasure and comfort. But could be just as important when making the decision as to whether or not to direct your budget to the bath, is the fact that a renewed bath improves the price of your home in a very positive way. In that sense, the cost per square foot to renew a bath may be higher than any other room in the house, because unless you yourself are a contractor, or a handyman extraordinaire, you can expect to be hiring a plumber, an electrician, a tile installer, a cabinet installer, and a painter or wallpaper installer.
Making the decision somewhat painful is the fact that renewing a bathroom is one of most costly things you can do in your home, when looked at on a per square foot basis. The main reason for this is the high cost of materials, like fixtures and floor and wall tile. A renewed bath will also involve paying skilled labor, since few homeowners have the abilities to do a job like this by themselves.
The biggest fixture, tubs are now high-tech devices, good for therapeutic massages as well as a plain old-fashioned soak. Tubs can define your decoration, or complement what you’ve done with the other fixtures and wall coverings. The countertop itself can be as simple as a laminate, or you can pick from among more exotic materials like granite, tile or marble. Faucets come in hundreds of design and many different finishes, and can range in price from under $30 to hundreds of dollars. You can pick a customary self-rimming sink, an undermount, or could be a vessel that sits on top of the countertop like an out-of-date wash basin.
The showcase of any bath is usually the bath tub itself. Again, here your options are many; do you want an out-of-date claw-footed tub mindful of another era? Or a high-tech spa, complete with jets of water to soothe your aching bones? Or could be a tub and shower combination? Again, you can see that there are so many decisions that have to be made. Many bathrooms have tile walls and floors. These can be relatively cheap and easy to install, or they can be big-ticket items made of exotic materials, such as porcelain or marble. Toilet bowls can be simple and functional – but are you remodeling to be “simple and functional?” No, you are remodeling to express yourself, to bring comfort to your life, to enhance the decoration of your home. Here again you are faced with a myriad of options: one piece or two? Gravity flush or power flush? Plain white or color? The list goes on and on.
Coverings coupled with matching fixtures, enabling you to pick a bath right off the shelf – a custom bath ready-made! Remodeling a bath can be a difficult and daunting task without the proper research and planning. But it going to be a lot of fun making all the options, and should provide you with decades of pleasure and relaxation.
Frank Sarntarpia
