DIY Home

Save thousands of dollars over contractor’s prices with a DIY bathroom remodeling project!

The bathroom, while being one of the more private rooms in your home, is nonetheless visited by guests and provides a refuge for you to reduce your everyday stress, indulging in a nice warm tub, do your hair and nails and emerge fresh and ready to face the world again. A beautifully appointed bathroom is far more enjoyable than one that’s outdated, with ‘old’ written all over it. Women tend to use the bathroom as a place to have an at-home spa treatment. Still, the man of the house can also appreciate a nicely decorated bathroom, simply for aesthetic reasons.

Everyone knows that kitchen and bathroom remodels are the most costly improvements. Hiring a contractor to execute your remodel can run up quite a bill. However, you have another option that is quite affordable and can be done over a period of time, according to your budget and available time. This is the DIY bathroom remodel. You may be surprised to know that even a beginner can tackle such a DIY project.

Here we take a look at each of the elements involved in a DIY bathroom remodeling project, the skills and resources, as well as some nifty inexpensive tricks that are available to do it yourself. Take one step at a time and easily create the bathroom of your dreams.

The shower and tub can do more to detract from the appearance of your bathroom than you might suppose. If yours is old, it’s probably the plain Jane white and has discolored over time to the degree that even the best cleaning agents can’t improve. You don’t need to replace, as the old unit is functional and suffers mainly from cosmetic flaws. There are a number of paints, in an array of colors, which are specially made for bathroom fixtures. Remove old grouting, mask it off and give your tub and shower a brand new face! If your budget allows, try replacing the faucets and shower head with something fancy and elegant.

Is your sink in a similar condition? Give it the same treatment. A colored sink basin is an instant update. Again, if your faucets are old and outdated, replace them with a set that matches your tub. You begin to see how easy a DIY bathroom remodel can be. If your sink is a freestanding pedestal style, you’re all set. If the sink basin is enclosed in a cabinet, you probably want to retain that valuable storage space. If the cabinet is old and ugly, you’ve got a number of options. You can purchase a new cabinet, which is quite easy to install. You can also repaint the bottom portion to match your new wall paint (what’s a DIY bathroom remodel project without new paint?) and install drawer and door pulls with some lovely hand-painted ceramic or brass ones quite inexpensively. You might also get a small piece of laminate to resurface the top sink surround. Tiling is another option.

Assuming everything in the bathroom is about the same age, your flooring may be looking a bit shabby or is simply of an outdated design. Replacing old linoleum with new vinyl flooring in tiles is an easy weekend project. Another attractive and inexpensive option is planked wood flooring, which comes in boxes of tongue-in-groove lengths which are a snap to fit. By now, your DIY bathroom remodel is really starting to take shape, with just a few techniques employed that are out of your skill set.

Tiling the walls and floor requires a bit more skill, but there are books available at the DIY centers that can teach you everything you need to know. Be aware that tiling floors will probably require that you get under the floor and install sturdy reinforcements to the sub-flooring to accommodate the weight of the tiles. This would constitute the most difficult task in a DIY bathroom remodeling project.

When you’re in the planning stages of your DIY bathroom remodel, remember that the little touches make a big difference. For example, installing wooden shelves below the mirror, stained and sealed, adds beauty and additional display space for moisture loving plants or an attractive vase of flowers.

When you go to the DIY home improvement store, check out their books. They have a book which describes all of the skills, tools and techniques to complete every DIY project mentioned here, as well as tons of decorating ideas in inspiring photos.

You can do your own DIY bathroom remodeling project and save thousands, creating the perfect bathroom!

Tags: Bathroom, DIY, Remodeling

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 3:10 pm and is filed under DIY Bathroom Remodeling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.