BATHROOM RENOVATING – IS IT FOR YOU?

One of the smallest rooms but one of the most used, bathrooms have a special place in our lives. A great looking, functional bathroom adds great value to a home and to your quality of life.

Consider first if you want to achieve a functional family bathroom, a luxurious adult retreat, a smart powder room for guests or a combined bathroom laundry with multi purpose, next consider the look and feel and then contact the plumber and electrician to see what “can be achieved” first before you make any concrete plans.

You may find you are restricted by the location of water and electricity supplies to the space and that will greatly affect the layout and function of the room.

STEPS TO PERFECT BATHROOM PLANNING SUCCESS

Follow these steps to ensure your bathroom renovation is a success!

1. THE BIGGER PICTURE
Think about what you need now and in the future for your bathroom?

Are there kids on the way or are you empty nesting? You may not need a bath? What are your ‘must haves’

and what are the ‘luxury items’ and can you afford both? What will be the feature item and what can you spend less on to achieve it?

Is you existing hot water system enough to supply the new bathroom and is the water pressure adequate?

What about lighting? Can you add additional wall lights or extractor fans in the ceiling or is there a slab above?

Ventilation is very important- what natural and artificial ventilation will you have?

2. GET THE FOUNDATIONS RIGHT
Consult a plumber and electrician early on to avoid costly mistakes.

If you plan on radical changes to layout and location of services this is crucial as there will be limits and barriers to what you can and cant do. Also a tiler may help you early on to see what will look best and be more functional in layout.

At this point it might be worth asking about a ‘hobless’ shower recess ( for better access) , the possibility of installing a strip drain, mixer taps, shower rail and for those wanting a modern look; wall mounted taps and spouts or floor mounted bath fillers.

You cannot decide to have a free standing bath, then all of a sudden later on, announce you want a floor mounted bath tap/filler. The plumbing for both these is required to be altered and cut into the slab early on, before any works begin. Same for wall mounted taps and mixer taps. Make sure toilet suites are the right ones to match the existing pipe-works into the floor or into the wall ( s trap or p trap)

3. SEARCH FOR FITTINGS AND FIXTURES WITHIN THE BUDGET
No use planning a glamorous free standing bath tub and floor spout if your budget wont allow. Search around outlet shops, sales and clearances, car park sales and online for the fitting you want at the right price.

At this point be aware of the cheap imports and the need to comply with plumbing WELS rating ( for taps and toilets/showers) Some plumbers will refuse to install not rated, imported fittings that do not comply. Consult the tiler early and learn what is the difference in laying costs for things like; porcelain rectified tiles, stone, slate or natural stone, ceramic tiles with red biscuit, edging strips, mitred edges and all the tiling items like height of tiles and straight or decorative laying patterns- these will all cost you extra. Discuss grout lines and colours, which will show dirt or make the bathroom look bigger/small.

Its vital you do all THIS HOMEWORK FIRST, BEFORE YOU BEGIN.

4. DIMENSIONS AND DETAILS
Take note of the dimensions of the vanity cabinet, mirror, tub size, basin and tap sizes and keep all of the brochures which contain vital diagrams of products that plumbers need. Check with an electrician about things like- heated towel rails, extractor fans and heat lamps, pendant lights and whether the lighting you choose is adequate enough. Its too hard to rectify later! As far as the look is concerned.

Look at the bathroom design magazines, websites such as HOUZZ, PINTREST, BELLE, LIVING ETC, HOUSE AND GARDEN and gather use photos in a look book. Visit the tile shops and work out the tiles you want and look for the similar thing in a tile warehouse outlet like Ceramic Warehouse in Howe Street, Perth.

There are real bargains to be had here – saving you hundreds. Don’t forget the floor wastes – small yet very conspicuous in a lot of cases- a bad or ugly/rusting floor waste destroys the look of your finished bathroom – so go for the square chrome variety, strip drains or channel grate or the fancy tile insert type supplied by plumbing stores. Same goes for accessories- try to get matching hooks, rails and holders that speak of ‘quality’ and not a last minute after thought!

5. MEASURE, PLAN, CONSIDER- MEASURE EVERYTHING!
Including the height of windows, doors, ceiling height, toilet pipe location (called set-back), location of existing floor wastes, height of electrical points and try and map these out on scaled graph paper. Be precise, as the slightest miscalculation will cost you greatly.

Consider storage needs- its no good installing a fabulous wall hung sleek vanity top if there are no cupboards in it to store your stuff?

Same in a powder room- will you need just a wall sink or a small cabinet in there for toilet gear? Discuss with a cabinet maker your needs if you are going custom made, if not explore the combinations of stone tops and units which can be mixed and matched at Bathroom Outlet or your local Reece, Tradelink and Plumbtec stores. Even Bunnings, Ikea and Masters have a good range of bathroom products at great prices.

6. PROJECT MANAGING THE RENOVATION
If you are not confident, then don’t trust yourself to manage the works. Get a project manager in who will provide everything for you including the trades needed, the materials, tiles selection, fittings and make sure they are all delivered to site, ready to go.

Timing is key and having an expert do that for you is simply vital to the success of any bathroom renovation. See our Project management page for our packages and rates. If you are doing it yourself – take time off to supervise, keep checking – everything! Ask many questions, as if it doesn’t look right- it probably isnt right! The tradesmen are your best friend and they are a fountain of knowledge so use their expertise to guide you through. Don’t presume they will ask you – they wont. They are used to being told. A tiler may not be able to advise you on tile colour- thats when you will need a colour consultant or an interior designer to help. See our initial consult or packages on the rates pages.

7. FINISHING TOUCHES
The bathroom will need a good clean at the end and this is the time to check for defects like missing grout, leaky taps or holes behind taps.

As a precaution-

ALWAYS LEAVE A TOWEL IN THE VANITY CUPBOARD UNDER THE PIPES FOR A WEEK. IF THERE IS A LEAK

AND YOU DON’T KNOW THE DAMAGE TO THE INSIDE OF THE CABINET MAY BECOME VERY BAD IF LEFT TOO LONG. Invest in soft new towels, small storage containers and drawer organisers for all those ‘tiny bits’ we all collect. Ikea is a great source for these. Consider window treatments or simply use window film to keep prying eyes out. Make sure the lighting is bright enough or use a stronger watt bulb.

HAPPY BATHROOM RENOVATING!