5 Mistakes to Avoid During a Bathroom Renovation

Do you dream of a spa-like bathroom out of a magazine? The sunken huge tub, walk-in shower, the epitome of luxury all around.

You get your money together and you decide to pull the trigger on your dream bathroom renovation. But, after the hammer hits the wall, the you-know-what can hit the fan pretty fast if you don’t know what you’re doing.

To make sure your bathroom renovation goes well, and you don’t end up with mud on your face, here are our top 5 mistakes to avoid during a bathroom renovation.

1. Not Sticking to the Budget

The worst mistake you can ever make in any home renovation is not adhering to a tight budget. It’s very easy to start racking up superfluous accessories and other upgrades. If you’re not paying attention to the budget your $5,000 bathroom becomes a $10,000 bathroom real quick.

Plus there are a lot of things that could go wrong during a bathroom reno specifically. You could uncover super old piping, leaks, mold, or other nasty surprises none of which are cheap to fix.

In order to maintain wiggle room for surprises make sure to make a budget and check it twice every time you make a choice for the room.

2. Attempting to DIY Plumbing and Waterproofing

There’s a reason why people say you should always hire someone when it comes to electrical and plumbing.

The worst thing you can do is weekend warrior a renovation and find out when you’re all done that you messed up the piping behind the wall and there’s now a leak. Or, you start running the shower and realize it’s not waterproof and your entire wall becomes soaked.

Leave bathroom renovations to the professionals, it’s worth the time and money saved to do it right the first time.

3. Lack of Proper Ventilation

What does the bathroom have in it that is essentially enemy number one to your home? Water.

Hot water at that. Every time you take a shower or bath and get the room all steamy and wonderful, you’re putting the room at risk.

The factor that allows the bathroom to maintain this abuse day after day is ventilation. Without the proper ventilation, you’ll end up with peeling paint, or worst case, mold. Make sure you’re installing an exhaust fan and windows to extract all that steamy moisture.

Using paint that is meant for wet areas is also beneficial. Consider oil-based paints or mold-resistant bathroom specific paints.

4. The Wrong Materials

Speaking of waterproofing, all the materials used in a bathroom renovation should be specifically rated for bathroom use. They need to be impervious to moisture and mold-resistant whenever possible.

If you’re using hardwood or porous stone they both need to be sealed before taking your first shower.

5. Drainage is Essential to the Life of Your Bathroom

Whenever you’re building a wet area in a home the floor needs to have something referred to as “fall”. This means that the floor is not perfectly level but, rather slopes inward slightly towards the floor drain to make sure all the water drains away effectively and allows the room to air dry completely on its own.

Using large tiles in your flooring can make this harder to accomplish. Make sure you have a tiler that is familiar with bathrooms. They’ll set the fall with the amount of topping added underneath the floor tiles.

The maximum size of your floor tiles should be 11×11 inches to allow the tiler adequate manipulation of the slope. If you want tiles larger than that you’ll have to install linear floor wastes instead of a central drain.

They lie along the sides of the room in addition to the central drain allowing for easy cleanup.

Your Bathroom Renovation Will Add Tons of Equity to Your Property, If You Don’t Make These Mistakes

The best move to make before beginning any sort of home renovation, especially a bathroom renovation, is to find a professional team to complete the project.

Make sure you ask for examples of their previous work, whether they are licensed, bonded, and insured, and what their estimate for the job will be.

If you’re on a very limited budget let them know upfront and ask if there is anything you can safely do yourself to save money on the job and still have professionals handle the heavy lifting. Or, ask how you can keep the budget down while still getting a look similar to what you want.

Ready to start your bathroom renovation? Contact us today for a quote!