Remodeling your bathroom can be a substantial undertaking. It requires some time and monetary investment, and it results in significant changes to a very important room of your home. In light of that, it’s natural to pause before starting a bathroom remodel and wonder if you should be starting one at all.

1. Aging plumbing. Over time, pipes may begin degrading, which could lead to water leaks, reduce your ability to use certain appliances, and lower water quality. So, if you notice such plumbing troubles in your bathroom, it may be time to replace the pipes and remodel the room.

2. Water fixtures can degrade as well – at least in terms of efficiency. Older showers and faucets do not always function as efficiently as they once did, or as compared to newer models. As a result, updating such fixtures during your next bathroom remodel could also save you money on your utility bill.

3. Bathroom tiles are another bathroom feature that often show age, perhaps even doing so to the detriment of your bathroom’s style and safety. Chipped, scratched, and otherwise worn tiles can undercut interior design and present tripping hazards.

4. Walls can become a similar point of concern as time runs its course. Scuffs in the paint or peeling wallpaper can bring a haggard feeling into a room that ought to be a place of relaxation. Moreover, such damage to your bathroom walls can leave them vulnerable to mildew, taxing fashion and introducing safety concerns.

5. If your bathroom storage doesn’t meet your standards, that can be reconciled as well during a remodel. There are many ways in which a home improvement project could improve storage capacity. Moving a wall, for example, could make the room more spacious, and updating the cabinetry could make whatever space you have more efficient.

Renovations are a comparatively light home improvement. They involve surface level adjustments, such as fresh paint or new flooring. During a bathroom renovation, you may utterly change the room’s look and feel, but you won’t be changing the room functionality or physical structure.

Major changes to the bathroom’s functionality and/or structure would be part of a bathroom remodel. The remodeling process affects the major aspects of a room in major ways. During a bathroom remodel, you might rework the plumbing or move a wall, after which point you could also make those smaller changes that we identified as belonging in the renovation category, like a new paint job.

At times, people use the terms ‘full’ and ‘partial’ generically to describe the magnitude of a given bathroom remodel. Someone who talks about a full bathroom remodel, for example, might simply be indicating that the remodel affected the entire room. Likewise, saying that something was a partial bathroom remodel could simply mean that only parts of the room were affected. However, in other cases these same terms are used to label specific remodeling services.

At Renovating KC we offer a customizable full-bathroom remodeling package. In this package, we provide the best of bathroom flooring, lighting, appliance selection, and more to give you a completely new bathroom.

There are a number of ways in which you can prepare your home for a bathroom remodel.

1. Clear the room of all loose items – towels, soap dispensers, shower curtains, etc. Even if remodeling work won’t directly affect the areas in which those items belong, taking them out of the room will protect them from dust and potential damage.

2. Prepare the space around your bathroom in a similar way. Decluttering the hallway up to your bathroom, for example, will make it easier to reach the room with materials and equipment.

3. Make sure that what cannot be decluttered is protected. For example, if there is a piece of furniture inside or very near the bathroom, you can cover it with a cloth or plastic sheet to prevent dust from collecting on its surface.

4. Home improvements can be stressful for pets, but you can help them stay calm by creating a special place for them in the house, away from project noise.

Just how long the bathroom remodeling process takes depends on a number of factors. The first of these would be project magnitude. The more work there is to be done, the longer it will take to complete. Project permits may be necessary for your remodel. Depending on the municipality in which you live, it may be necessary to obtain certain permits before work can begin on your bathroom.

In addition, complexity has a way of increasing the duration of home improvements. Whether the project is inherently complex, or if it becomes so thanks to mid-project discoveries, it will take longer to finish up than a simpler one.

That’s why it’s beneficial to have someone with a lot of experience in the field to help you simplify your next bathroom remodel. Learn how we can help you by giving us a call or visiting our office.

1. Laying the groundwork: The first step of a bathroom remodel is planning, because it enables you to complete every step that follows efficiently. As you plan, you’ll want to set your remodeling goals. Our team of professional designers can help with this step immensely, as they are trained to observe how you use your space and make suggestions as to what goals can be set that will ensure your new space fits your lifestyle and tastes.

   Speaking of tastes, this phase is your time to consider bathroom design. While certain aesthetic decisions can – and, arguably, should – be made later, it’s a good idea to make some of them now. For instance, it’s a great time to pick out colors for a fresh paint job, but you may want to hold off on selecting a new light switch plate until you’ve seen those colors coated on the walls.

   We can walk you through the various design decisions during this phase through our Personalized Design experience. We can also offer assistance during the following phases, as well.

2. Clearing the floor: Our team will remove anything in your bathroom that you’d like to replace, as well as anything that could obstruct upcoming remodeling work. You can think of this step as the ‘out with the old’ phase before we can reach ‘in with the new.’ Some of the ‘old’ can be removed intact, and if it’s in proper condition it can either be reused in your bathroom or resold elsewhere.

   Vanities, for example, can often be displaced without damage. On the other hand, tiles that have been mortared in place may require a more forceful hand to detach from the bathroom floor or shower wall.

   That being said, caution is essential all throughout this phase, so that nothing is removed which ought to have remained – and vice versa. Thankfully, we have the experience and training to be appropriately cautious, so you can be sure we’ll complete this phase of bathroom remodeling with excellence.

3. The waterworks: Having set the stage, we can address the major water-related features of your bathroom. This is the time to replace old pipes, if necessary, as well as replace and/or move your bathroom appliances.

   Now, as you may have guessed, this phase of bathroom remodeling will require some attention to the walls and, potentially, the floor, so as to expose the pipework. We’ll patch up any resulting surface tears during the next phase.

4. Defining the atmosphere: In addition to patching up torn surfaces at this time, we’ll finish them with your choice of wallpaper, paint, tile, or flooring. Or even a combination of both – a tile backsplash looks wonderful against a fresh coat of paint.

   We can also update your shower or bathtub to give your bathroom a whole new look, whatever the starting condition of those items may be.

   Lighting presents another way to give the room a new look. There are so many types, shades, and shapes of lights that it’s easy to personalize your bathroom illumination.

5. Final touches: As we wrap up a bathroom remodel, we’ll be installing things like the baseboards, along with the door trim, faucet, and vanity. In addition, we’ll check freshly painted surfaces for nicks and chips. Once we touch up such areas, we will finish the look by adding the bathroom accessories – towel racks, shelves, etc.

   After that, we leave you to your new bathroom.