Bathroom Renovation

The bathroom is one of the most complex rooms in the modern home.  In the bathroom you have several fixtures that use water, the need for electricity, and the walls, floors, and everything in the room needs to have some degree of water tolerance.  With all of this having been said, renovating your bathroom is not going to be an easy task.  To do it yourself, you will have to have knowledge about plumbing, electrical work, and general carpentry skills, but it still can be done.  Since the majority of the plumbing has already been run, you will just need the know how to install new fixtures.  If the guts of your bathroom needs to be replaced, it is best to hire a professional to ensure that all codes and standards are met.

Here is a basic step by step guide to the general process of bathroom renovation.  While some designs may need to skip or add in steps, this is the basic process you will follow.

1. Design and plan out what you want in your new bathroom.  If it need to be larger, which way is it expanding?  If you're replacing the bath tub or shower, will it be going in the same place?  After you have designed your new bathroom, price the supplies you will need, including equipment.  Since you will most likely be working with some aspect of the plumbing, you will need a welder or soldering system.
   
   
2. Purchase your supplies.  This will include drywall and wet boards, new fixtures, screws, nails, everything you will need for this project.
   
   
3. Start removing the current bathroom structures, starting with the vanity, cabinets, and mirrors.  These are the largest and easiest to remove thing in your bathroom, so take them out first.  The extra space will make the rest of the demolition easier.  Take out the mirror first to avoid breaking it.  Once this is complete, you can tear down any tile work and drywall that you will be replacing.  Don't forget to remove the flooring if you plan on renovating that.
   
   
4. If you only have one bathroom in your home, it is important to leave the toilet and bath tub to be removed last and installed first.  If the rest of the drywall and wet boards are removed, then this can easily be done in a day.
   
   
5. Install all drywall and and wet boards and finish all seams.  Wet boards and special drywall are used in bathrooms due to the high level of moisture in the room.  This room will need special wiring as well or this reason.  All wiring must be GFCI protected.
   
   
6. Once all major fixtures and walls have been repaired, you can start to worry about tile.  Tiling in bathrooms is very important, since it provides protection for the walls and floors underneath.  Make sure you plan out your tile pattern in advance, since one wrong tile can ruin and entire wall.
   
   
7. After the tiling is finished, it's time to paint.  This keeps things like the vanity and medicine cabinet from making messy borders and seams and keeps paint off of these objects.
   
   
8. Once the paint has dried, you can install your vanity, medicine cabinet, mirrors, and anything else that's left to put in.
   
   
9. Time to decorate and finish.  Finishing involve removing all paint and excess grout from tiles and cleaning up any dust or scraps left after your renovation.
   
   
10. Enjoy your new bathroom.

Bathroom renovation can be a costly and very difficult if you don't know exactly what you are doing.  The most important thing to remember is that you can ask for help, and if there is something you are not completely comfortable with doing, you can hire a professional to finish the job or do certain tasks.

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