Bathroom Remodel Tips to Make Your Renovation a Success

Bathroom remodels are one of the best ways to freshen up the style of your house and increase your home’s value. A recent study found that the average full bathroom remodel costs $15,737, for which homeowners can expect a return on investment upon resale for the renovation of roughly 60 percent — about $9,400.

The Dos and Don’ts of Bathroom Remodeling

From form to function, here’s your checklist for a bathroom remodel.

Do: Focus on the Cosmetic

In most cases, cosmetic upgrades garner more bang for your buck than a complete bathroom gut renovation. A good approach to take when remodeling a bathroom is to tackle simple upgrades first. When possible, avoid the temptation to overhaul the room’s layout, focusing instead on upgrading things like fixtures, tile and lighting. Work that involves moving plumbing lines or relocating electric circuits can make the cost of your remodel skyrocket. 

Don’t: Forget About Functionality

Sure, you want your new bathroom to look great, but don’t let those bathroom remodel ideas on Pinterest distract you from the fact that this is still a space that will be used. Choose vanities with storage, install fans and/or windows that provide proper ventilation, and opt for flooring materials that can stand up to the rigors (and moisture) of daily use. This means that the carpeted bathrooms of decades past should stay firmly in the past, and hardwoods are best left to the rest of the house.

Do: Install Water-Saving Features

By replacing old, inefficient toilets with WaterSense labeled models, the average family can reduce water used for toilets by 20 to 60 percent. They could also save more than $140 per year in water costs, and $2,900 over the lifetime of the toilets. The former “low-flow” toilets of the 1990s were sometimes associated with performance issues and poor user satisfaction, but manufacturers have worked diligently since that time to redesign and reengineer their products to achieve both efficiency and performance.

Don’t: Overlook the Importance of Lighting

Good lighting can make or break a bathroom from a buyer’s perspective — nobody wants to shave or apply makeup in a dimly lit mirror, but it also isn’t very spa-like to have fluorescent lights flooding the room during an evening bath. Depending on the size of your bathroom, consider including sconces next to the mirror in addition to any overhead light fixtures to provide different levels of light. Dimmer switches are another easy way to control light levels and add a soothing element to the room.

Protect Your Investment

Safeguard your livelihood and your home during the renovation process with umbrella insurance — talk to your Farm Bureau agent to learn more about this affordable coverage.