Planning a Bathroom Remodel: The Basics Explained

Planning a bathroom remodel is pretty easy when you know what you're doing. Our comprehensive guide here will help get you started.

For many homeowners, remodeling a bathroom is both a high priority and a source of insurmountable dread.

After all, for such an intimate area of the home, you want to be able to enjoy the peace and comfort that comes with an immaculate bathroom design. And while a thorough deep clean can help, there are some issues only a total bathroom renovation can remedy.

But when planning a bathroom remodel, many DIYers don't know where to start. So to tell help you take those critical first steps, here are some key steps to take before you even think about getting to work in earnest.

1. Determine Your Scope

The first step is determining the scope of your improvements. There's a common misconception that renovating a bathroom will add value to your home to the extent it pays for itself. But that's not necessarily the case.

You're less likely to recoup your investment on major renovations to bathroom and kitchen areas than you are from more modest home improvements like new siding or paint.

So while you may want to come up with a new bathroom design from scratch, it may only be worth your while if you plan to live in that home for many years, where the benefit to your quality of life can offset the financial cost. If you don't plan to stay put indefinitely, surface-level alterations make more fiscal sense.

2. Set Your Budget

Once you've figured out the scale of your renovation, you need to set a budget that you can stick to. Costs will vary depending on the amount of work being done, with the average bathroom renovation costing $10,963 in 2021.

That number can balloon quickly once you start looking at gutting and replacing fixtures. And due to the nature of bathrooms, there's always the possibility that you could find issues like water damage or mold that need to be prioritized above all else. So unless your budget is literally unlimited, it's wise to be somewhat conservative.

3. Handle The Remodel In-House, Or Hire A Contractor?

Finally, you need to figure out how the work will get done.

By now, you should have a good idea of the amount of time and energy the project will take. Take a good, hard look at it and decide if this is something you can realistically do yourself.

And bear in mind, while DIY can save you money, it can also cost it if inexperienced hands produce work that later needs to be redone anyway.

Planning a Bathroom Remodel Is About Priorities

The mistake most DIYers make is biting off more than they can chew. The ambition is admirable, but it's an easy way to find yourself living with a half-destroyed bathroom and no way to fix it.

Planning a bathroom remodel around predetermined priorities is essential to prevent that outcome. For example,

sometimes restoring old fixtures is the economical choice over replacing them.

For an idea on how restoration visit Desert Tile & Grout Restore and check our tips on restoring old floors rather than replacing them.