How to Plan and Execute a DIY Bathroom Makeover
If you’re looking to make a bathroom upgrade, look no further.
Renovating a bathroom can be exciting but it seems like a daunting task to many people. The bathroom is one of the most visited rooms in the house, so you’ll need to do several things to ensure that you remodel it correctly.
Despite what people think, doing a bathroom facelift on a budget is a viable option. You don’t need to break the bank hiring a home improvement company because they’ll end up pocketing a lot of money for something that doesn’t take long.
Continue reading to learn how to do a DIY bathroom makeover the right way.
Make a Budget
The most important thing you’ll need to do before starting your bathroom makeover is come up with a budget. Many people want to remodel their bathrooms but end up spending too much or not having enough.
To save yourself from going into hefty debt or not being able to complete your project, set a budget that you know will get the job done. Bathrooms can be expensive to remodel, so expect to spend several thousand depending on what you’re doing.
Create a Design
The design process will be crucial because this will help you come up with a budget. You can browse a variety of bathroom design tips, but you’ll ultimately have to decide whether you’re remodeling for personal taste or to increase your home’s value.
Some of the things that will increase the value of your home are marble counters, new fixtures, and color schemes. If you’re remodeling simply because you want to change things up, you won’t have to worry about what you get. Providing that it fits in your budget, you can choose whatever you’d like.
Gather Tools
After you’ve decided what exactly you’ll do to the bathroom and have made a budget, you’ll need to start investing in tools and supplies. Some of the essential things that renovators use are safety masks, gloves, goggles, hammers, and power drills.
If you plan on removing and replacing fixtures, you’ll need pry bars, chisels, caulking guns, silicone sealant, wrenches, and screwdrivers. It’s also a good idea to get a vacuum that can remove liquid because you might end up dealing with spills if you work on the toilet or sink.
Removing and Demolishing Fixtures
As you start working on the restroom, you’ll want to take things one at a time. The reason for this being that if you work on multiple things, you’ll create a clutter that will make it difficult to work in. Be sure to have your vacuum and trash bags on hand for quick removal of any trash.
If you’re gutting the bathroom, you should start by turning off?fixture water and draining the toilet. This will prevent you from spilling water everywhere when you remove the toilet. Do the same for the sink because water sometimes sits in the pipes.
After removing the sink, toilet, and shower or tub, you can start removing the cabinets and vanities. Wait until you’ve removed everything before you start working on the floor because it will take a while to get everything removed.
Installing Shower or Tub Basin
After gutting everything, the first bathroom upgrade you should make is the shower or tub. Showers and tubs typically take up a lot of space, so it’s much easier to install them when nothing else is in the restroom.
Depending on the shape of your new shower or tub, you’ll need to adjust accordingly to get it into the restroom. They usually come in the shape of a rectangle, square, or pentagon. If the floor is rotting or water damaged where the shower or tub was previous, you need to replace that before installing a new one.
One way to cut down the installation cost and make the job easier to DIY is to use a macerator pump to connect your new shower and tub drains to your existing sewer line without making a hole in the floor. A macerator pump can pump out waste from multiple water fixtures, including the shower, tub, toilet, and sink, and send the gray water to your home’s septic system.
Installing New Fixtures and Features
The next thing to do is install your vanity and cabinets. Providing that you’re installing them in the same places they were before, you won’t have to worry about rewiring anything. If you’re installing them in new areas, you must install new outlets to accommodate them.
In cases where you need to install new outlets, it’s best to hire an electrician because they’ll save you a lot of time. An electrician will also prevent you from accidentally damaging something, which could potentially cost you more money in the long run.
Flooring
Flooring is one of the last steps you do because you need to get everything installed so that you know what dimensions you need. If you install a floor before installing fixtures, you could run into situations where one of your fixtures isn’t balanced.
Most bathrooms have tiles, but you can opt for a coated wood flooring. Be sure to use a chalk line so that you can see where your tiles need to be laid. The chalk line will act as an indicator so that you can keep the tiles aligned.
Start Your DIY Bathroom Makeover Today
When you’ve decided that you’d like to renovate your bathroom, start creating a plan. You can look at both large and small bathroom makeover ideas to inspire you and help you think of what you want. A DIY bathroom makeover isn’t as hard as many people make it out to be, you just have to be smart about it.
As long as you follow the tips in this article, you’ll be able to do a bathroom makeover without a problem. Remember to set a budget and think of what you want so that it can help you plan. From there, you can buy the tools and new things that you’ll install.
Browse our articles if you’d like to get more DIY home improvement advice.