Renovating your dream bathroom - minus the tears
Making the decision to renovate your way to your dream bathroom is hugely exciting. But as someone who’s renovated with a young family in tow – and who help others renovate bathrooms every day – we know the excitement can be just as quickly replaced by the overwhelm and stress of making hundreds of decisions.
Bathrooms renovations aren’t cheap, so it can feel like a lot of pressure to make sure the decisions you make will last the long haul.
That’s why we’ve shared these six tips to make sure your bathroom renovation is as stress-free as possible!
Get planning and know your budget
Before you pull out any tools or head to your tile shop – take the time to plan and budget for your renovation. Do you want to replace just a few fixtures to update those 1980s taps and tiles? Or will you be overhauling the entire layout and design - making extra space for growing family or that dream bath you always wanted?
If your work involves relocating any fixtures – like a freestanding bath, toilet or basin – it’s most likely going to increase the price. Moving pipework will always up the overall cost.
2. Link up with licenced trades
Next, it’s time to find your trade partners. Make sure your trades are all licensed with the QBCC (if in Queensland) or other state authorities.
Bathrooms (and kitchens and laundries) all require several trades normally and if it’s a big renovation, you may even need a qualified builder managing the job.
Not only does a licenced tradie know the Australian standards, but it also means they’re insured. If things take a turn for the worse, you want to know you’re protected.
If someone says they can do the plumbing, electrical, tiling, waterproofing …and it sounds way too good to be true…it probably is.
Make sure you have the right qualified team of tradies working on any renovation projects because we all stick to what we know best and then work together great!
3. Communication is king
You want to make sure you are communicating with your trades ALWAYS. It's expensive to re-do works. Not only are you paying for the materials again, but also the labour.
Bathrooms have an “order” and each trade needs to do their bit at the right time.
Make sure all trades or builders are aware of the final finishes so no services are in the way of the final product.
There’s nothing worse than having your trades standing around doing nothing while they wait and you’re still paying them! Sounds simple right?!
4. Functional versus fabulous fixtures and fittings
When choosing your fixtures and fitting, don’t just get swept away by the pretty items. Make sure everything you choose is functional and practical.
All the fixtures and fittings you choose need to last the long haul. So while you might have seen something fabulous on The Block – it may be completely impractical for your young family lifestyle.
We always recommend speaking with your trades before making any final purchases on fixtures and fittings.
Get your trades to look over the spec sheets to make sure they will work in with your design – as sometimes what looks amazing isn’t always functional in the space.
Will your sink be above or in the vanity? Do you want a mixer or separate taps? Does your vanity allow for this?
And if you’re choosing those gold swan spouts (yes, I have seen these and they were amazing) – will the spout length actually reach your basin!?
Do you need a bath? A double shower?
If you have a free-standing bath, do you want to be able to clean behind that? Can you clean behind that?
And for sinks that sit on top of a vanity. Remember, kids are messy…with water being spilt behind the sink, will it annoy you and is it easy to clean?
Toilets have different distances off the wall. Does it go right up to the wall, or is there a handy little dust collecting area? Let’s face it, no one wants to clean those spots regularly!
And don’t forget about storage! Simple things like a mirror cabinet or a larger vanity can be simple decisions to adding extra storage.
These are all decisions you’re going to have to make. Everyone is different, but as a mum with three young kids, one of my biggest considerations when choosing all my fixtures and fittings was how easy it would be to clean.
5. Purchasing, Warranties and replacements
It’s also important to consider warranties and replacements for the future. Sometimes having a ‘one of a kind’ item means it’s hard to find parts if it needs replacing – and that’ll costs you more in the long run!
And when you’ve made your purchases, make sure you have all your fixtures and fittings on-site, ready to go, so there’s no waiting on orders or holding up other trades. You don’t want to pay unnecessary labour costs.
6. Remember to enjoy the ride
And this is just a final reminder to remember that while renovations may still bring the odd unexpected delay, if you can do your best to enjoy the ride and the creativity that comes from renovating your dream bathroom – it’s well worth it – and something you’ll always be proud of each time to take that shower! P.S Our highly qualified team has over a decade of experience in home renovations, so we’ll be here from tile selections to complete transformations - just contact us here.
