Remodeling your bathroom is a rewarding experience. Adding your own style to a space that you use everyday can pay dividends in personal satisfaction and your homes’ market value. However, these benefits are only fully realized if you manage to avoid some of the most common bathroom remodel problems.
Bathroom renovations are the most commonly failed home improvement project, so it is important to be aware of the many pitfalls in order to avoid wasting your time, money, and energy. Here are some things to look out for when you decide it’s time to remodel your bathroom.
Hiring the Wrong Contractor
If you are hiring a contractor, make sure that they are the best person for the job. The bathroom has an incredibly specific use and requires a specialist to get it running properly. Ask to see portfolios and hear from multiple references. There are companies that exclusively build bathrooms and will be most equipped to help you handle the variety of problems that may pop up at the lowest cost and shortest time.
Mold
The damp environment of the bathroom increases the rate of mold growth. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that moist environments can lead to coughing and wheezing in healthy people, so, like your health, this issue is of the utmost importance.
Look for black spots on walls and drywall that appears wet before remodeling your bathroom, as these are signs of mold. Getting rid of the mold growing in your bathroom is necessary to keep it from spreading around your house and may require a deep mold remediation by a professional before construction begins.
Procurement
Procuring the necessary materials for a bathroom remodel is a tricky job, both on the consumer and supplier ends. Besides the obvious tub, toilet, and vanity, there is a multitude of behind-the-scenes items one needs from trims and valves to schluter strips and molds.
Ordering all of the correct and corresponding items is one thing, actually receiving them from the manufacturer is another. It is quite common for delays to come about because of incorrect, missing, or damaged materials.
Plumbing
If you hear rattling behind the walls while running water or experience leaky pipes or changing water pressure, you may need new plumbing. Call in a professional plumber and be sure to check this license and insurance to make sure the problem is permanently fixed rather than patched up.
Venting
Bathrooms need an exhaust fan and an outside vent to remove moisture from your house rather than allowing it to linger and cause mold and mildew.
To gauge whether or not you need a venting update, run a hot shower and turn on the fan. The mirror shouldn’t fog over and the drywall shouldn’t sweat. Once the shower is off, the bathroom humidity should decrease. If any of these occur, you may have an improperly vented bathroom. It might just be a quick fix of a damaged fan but you may also need to install new, correct venting, a timely, but necessary, task.
Mismatched Design
Be sure that the different elements of your bathroom have the same finish when buying parts, like a faucet or tub spout, or redoing your shower, toilet, or sink. The same color finish may look different from different manufacturers, so it is best to buy them all together from the same location.
You don’t want your remodel ruined by ugly mismatching you’ll to notice every time you brush your teeth.
Inexpensive Parts
If you want your bathroom done correctly, you must be ready to pay for the correct parts so that they won’t cost you more money later. Inexpensive sealant leads to mold and cheap hardware looks bad and leaks over time. Buy sealant from a tile store and faucets with ceramic disk valves and high-quality finishes.
There’s plenty that can go wrong when you remodel your bathroom, but most of it is completely avoidable. In most cases, using a contractor should help mitigate any problems and hiring one assigns an experienced individual to address them if they do occur. If you chose to a do-it-yourself approach to the project, understand that each situation presents its own unique challenges and it will rest on you to check all the boxes.
