Your Bathroom Renovations Checklist
Planning a bathroom upgrade is exciting, but also very daunting! It isn’t until you start thinking about bathroom renovations that the scale of a project like this really becomes apparent. Bathrooms might be small spaces, but there’s a lot that goes into them, so you really do need a bathroom renovations checklist to keep you on track. Here’s what you should include on yours:
Preconstruction Planning
Long before you can start picking out tile and fixtures, there are several steps you need to take to plan your bathroom reno. These include:
- Calculating your budget, which will determine how much you can do in your bathroom, so it really is the very first step!
- Contact your local council to find out what kind of building permits you need, and start the process
- If you live in a strata owned community, you will need permission from your strata too
- Start looking for contractors, and when you approach them, ask to see their certifications and insurance information – if they don’t have any, they should not be on your shortlist for the job!
Design Phase
Once you’ve got the big legal and regulatory issues out of the way, the next thing you will need to do is start the design process. This will usually include:
- Hiring a bathroom designer if you plan to use one – many contractors also offer design services though, so you might not need both services
- Decide when and how you will handle demolition
- Hire an electrician and a plumber – even if you’re managing your own project, you need to hire people who have the right qualifications and certifications to do any plumbing and electrical you need
- Hire other trades, including tilers, waterproofers and plasterers
- Start selecting your cabinetry, sanitaryware, fixtures and fittings and tiles – these should all be ordered early, so that they arrive before they are needed
When you’re designing your bathroom renovation, remember that moving your toilet, bathtub, shower and sink will add a lot to the cost of the project. So if you’ve got a smaller budget, keep them where you are so you can spend more on labour and materials.
Construction Phase
Once the permits, planning and design is taken care of, it’ll be time to get the work done. This will usually take at least a week or two, depending on the complexity of the job, so make sure you either have another bathroom to use during the renovation, or a plan to go somewhere else for that period. You can live without many things, but a working bathroom is not one of them!
If you are managing all your trades yourself, find out what their schedule will be, and what order they need things to be done in, so you can plan accordingly. Or, if you live in Adelaide contact Precise Services. They’re bathroom renovation specialists, and they can take a lot of the planning and project management tasks off your plate!
Michelle Joe is a blogger by choice. She loves to discover the world around her. She likes to share her discoveries, experiences, and express herself through her blogs.
