Given the staggeringly high cost of bathroom remodeling, it pays to think outside the box and search for smarter and more economical alternatives. After a low-cost and lean bathroom remodel, not only will you have a clean, bright, and functional bathroom, you will have considerably more money in your bank account for remodels or for other things in your life.
Employing quite a few ingredients from your own bathroom, the task couldn’t get simpler. Not only should it accentuate the attractiveness of your bathroom, but in addition supply a safe atmosphere. Ultimately, when you have connected your bath to your bedroom in your thoughts, take another step and connect all of them again to the house for a whole.
1. Changing Bathroom Materials
If you have two bathrooms and you remodel one of them, what should you do with all of those materials? Some homeowners have found that it is cost-effective to migrate materials from one bathroom to the other bathroom. Even materials as trivial as shower curtains, pipes, and picture frames can be moved to the next bathroom.
Not only do you save money because you don’t need to buy new items, but you also save on hauling or dumpster costs. Plus, you get to help the environment by not sending non-biodegradable materials to the landfill.
2. Do Some Plumbing
Intimidated by the idea of doing your own plumbing? Think again.
If you hate calling upon the services of a plumber for remodeling work, stop for a minute and ask yourself what you might be able to do on your own.
With the advent of plastic PEX plumbing pipes and push-in fittings, even the least confident do-it-yourself plumber can tackle light plumbing tasks with relative ease. If your notion of plumbing work is still rooted in the days of soldering copper pipes with an open flame or working with galvanized pipes, give this idea some serious thought. You just might find out that PEX and push-in fittings are perfect for your needs.
3. Paint Portions of the Interior
Interior painting can be accomplished by even the least skilled do-it-yourselfer. For whole-house painting, you may want to consider hiring a professional painter, due to the large scale.
But consider how little painting you need to do in bathrooms. The majority of wall space is taken up with mirrors, showers, tile, cabinets, and bathtubs. In the end, you only have a few square feet to paint. In many cases, you can paint this by yourself in a day or two.
4. Install Your Own Toilet
Plumbers are worth their weight in gold. But if you have the strength to carry a toilet, avoid calling in a plumber to switch out the old toilet. Instead, install your toilet by yourself.
Toilet installation involves very few waterline hookups. The hardest part of installing a toilet is physically moving the toilet into place. For that, buy an inexpensive hand truck or enlist the services of a friend.
5. Install a Pre-Fabricated Shower
The most expensive option for a new shower is to hire a pro to build a custom tile shower from scratch. While site-built tile showers and tubs can be gorgeous and unique, consider a prefabricated shower unit, which typically costs a lot less.
If you want to have that tiled shower, fusing a poly shower pan with the tile saves hassle and costs. Building a tiled shower pan takes some time, and it’s usually best left in the hands of qualified tile setters.
6. Install a New Sink Faucet
As with installing new hardware on cabinets, installing a new sink faucet is one trick designers and do-it-yourselfers alike use to make a sink sparkle without replacing the entire top or vanity.
It helps that sink faucets are simple, easy, and fast to install by yourself. You don’t need to call a plumber. This not only saves on labor costs but it advances the time table. Pick up sink faucet in the morning and you’ll have it running by lunchtime; it’s that easy.
7. Design the Bathroom
While bathroom designers are great, they also can break your bathroom remodel budget. Consider designing your bathroom by yourself.
Whole-house remodels, additions, and large kitchens can benefit from the expertise of a qualified designer. But bathrooms in most houses aren’t so complicated. Spending some time studying bathroom layouts and learning the basic bathroom design guidelines (such as recommendations from the National Kitchen and Bath Association) can give you plenty of ideas to get started.