How much time do you spend in your bathroom each day? Is this space still one that you enter and leave as quickly as possible, or have you finally managed to turn it into an area that you want to stay in while you relax away the stress from your day? It doesn’t matter which answer you gave, because almost every bathroom can use a little touch-up here and there.
Read MoreBathroom remodeling projects can be a little overwhelming in the beginning, because that is when you need to decide how you want this space to look.
Read MoreWhen you take the time to custom design any room in your home, your goal is to have a room that you love at the end. The creative design process can be tricky, because you need to make sure that all your design elements match.
Read MoreEvery homeowner wants to increase the value of their home, but while they are making improvements, they also want to make sure that they are getting a good return on their investment. Some remodeling projects offer better return of investments than others, which is why you need to be careful of what you choose to do in your home, especially in a room like a bathroom.
Read MoreHave you been dreaming of shiny new materials that are clean and elegant looking in your bathroom? Have you been wondering if it is worth the effort to do some minor renovations or if you should just live with what you have?
Read MoreChoosing materials for a bathroom remodel can be a major pain, especially if you have no idea how you want the space to look afterwards! There are so many options to choose from and one wrong decision can leave you hating your new bathroom for years!
Read MoreA tub and shower combo can give away the age of some bathrooms. Recent bathroom trends have seen less demand for standard bathtubs. Elegant showers with modern features are not only more attractive, they are also safer to use in many instances.
Read MoreA quarter of homeowners have indicated that they will remodel their bathroom within the next two years. Several of those homeowners will take on certain aspects of their project as DIY home improvement projects.
Read MoreHow many things do you think that you need to think about when you are planning your bathroom remodel? Fifty? One hundred? A few hundred? We don’t know the exact number, but there are a lot, and you may overlook a few of them, especially those that involve your budget.
Read MoreSo you have made the decision to take your old nonfunctional or outdated bathroom and turn it into the oasis of your dreams however you have no idea what you want your new bathroom to look like.
Read MoreThe bathroom is the second-most remodeled room in the home for a variety of reasons. It's small, relatively easy to remodel, a little effort goes a long way, and finding trendy items is usually pretty easy. What most people don't talk about are the serious problems that can be discovered along the way and the mistakes often made during the bathroom design process.
Read MoreMany people find it increasingly difficult to endure the constant pressure placed upon them by a chaotic environment such as stress at work or an overwhelmingly busy home life.
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Have you ever stepped out of your tub/shower to find that your bathroom floor is soaking wet because you forgot to pull back tight to the wall, the end of a shower curtain?
Does it bother you when you are trying to clean out the tracks of bypass glass doors or finding that the doors and tracks get in the way when taking a bath or when you have kids in the tub?
Several years ago, I discovered a solution for the above problems while remodeling a small bathroom for my family when we were living in Cataumet. During the remodel, I had installed a deep tub that was doubling as a shower and I had decided that I did not want a shower curtain or liner as they are called elsewhere. And installing bypass doors seemed too confining, even with frameless doors.
This solution I discovered is called a shower screen. Simply put, it is a glass panel about half the width of the tub length that is hinged to the same wall as the water controls. This is an elegant solution that will keep water in the shower while allowing access to the the tub. It also has the added benefit of making a smaller space seem larger.
One thing to keep in mind is that you will need to allow room for the screen to swing out, which can be a challenge in bathrooms where the toilet is located right next to the tub. It maybe worth relocating the water control/spouts to the opposite end of the tub/shower allowing for better access.
If you would like to find out more about shower screens, visit our online supplier ArkShowers.com
We can also help you determine if this is a good solution for your bathroom.
Photo Credit. ArkShowers.com
Everyone loves a good top ten list! Read on and enjoy our “Must Do” for bathroom remodeling,
1. Install a Pocket Door. Most bathrooms are so small that doors can sometimes make them even smaller. Converting the swing door into a pocket door always opens up the space visually as well as physically. Warning: Pocket doors should always be installed by a professional as the installation often involves dealing with structural components of your home.
2. Venting? Always, always, always ensure your bathroom is properly vented. Many homes lack venting in the bathroom, resulting in black spoor-like stuff growing from the ceiling. Also many homes have undersized fans that often sound like an F15 on a takeoff roll. When it comes to venting, our favorite is a remote fan with light. The fan motor is installed in a location away from the bathroom many times in the attic, which reduces significantly the noise you will hear when the fan is on. This style of fan will have a 6″ grill in the ceiling which in the center, has a small halogen light that you control with a dimmer. The actual fan is controlled by a timer with push button presets ranging from 10 minutes to 60 minutes.
3. Comfort Height Toilets are just so much better! Comfort height or chair height toilets are much more comfortable for users. They are about 2″ taller then the old standard. If you have young children, you may want to have one toilet in your home that is at the lower height.
4. Painted Beadboard lends an elegance and look to a bathroom that is classic and clean. For a long time, I did not like beadboard in a bathroom. Why? Because beadboard usually consisted of 1×6 pine milled with a tongue and grove and beaded on the edges and center. As the beadboard was wood, it was subject to moisture changes. The nice tight paint job looked great until the heating season when the beadboard shrank and showed cracking in the paint. The beadboard would look awful until the humidity of summer rolled around.
Enter stage right, a product made by Nantucket Beadboard Company Beadboard.com in the form of 4′ x 8′ and larger sheets of bead-board. Manufactured from premium medium density fiberboard, the sheet beadboard is much more dimensionally stable and less prone to movement. ie a tighter paint job. We also like it because it installs much faster then the piece by piece method of wood strips. If you want to install the beadboard in your bathroom, make sure you purchase the moisture resistant grade rather then the standard grade.
5. Heated Floors. Quick Quiz. Can you name the healthiest, safest kind of heating system? If you said radiant heat, give yourself an A! Yes, we’re big fans of radiant heat, especially in the bathroom. Nothing beats stepping out of a shower onto heated tile on a cold winters morning. Our preferred brand of radiant heat is Warmly Yours. They have a system that is well thought-out and easy to install. The running costs of radiant are minimal for a small area such as a bathroom. AD ALERT: With every complete bathroom remodel, we will supply and install at no charge a complete underfloor heating system!(10/11 This promotion has expired.) Call or email for more information. To find out more about radiant heating visit WarmlyYours.com
6. Handheld Shower. One feature we suggest to clients who are upgrading, is to include a handheld shower in addition to the standard shower head. Handhelds are more flexible then a fixed shower head and allow you to do everything from bathing the dog to cleaning the tub or shower, as you can put water where you need it.Very Important: Be sure to install a handheld shower system that has a wall mounter diverter. We have found the diverter that is mounted into the fixed shower head, is either too hard to use or too high. One system we often install is made here in America by Symmons. (Symmons.Com)
7. Taller Vanities. Like the toilets we mentioned above, vanities have grown up which is a godsend to those who spent many a time stooped over at sinks designed for the vertically challenged! The taller height is more comfortable to use. Don’t forget however, to have a stepstool handy for the little un’s.
8. Flow in Sink. Is a type of sink you can have with a solid surface product such as Corian or Swanstone. The countertop material flows into the bottom of the sink creating a seamless bowl making for easy cleaning.
9. Hooks. Sometimes towel bars can be just too fussy and formal. Big hooks to hang towels allow you to hang and run and you have more hanging space. Some we have used, can be found at RestorationHardware.com Be sure to use the large ones to allow towels to hang freely so they may dry.
10. Creative Storage. One example is recessing mirrored cabinets in locations other then over the sink. Another is creating a space for a 20″ wide and 24″ deep linen cabinet when we have removed a 60″ tub and replaced it with a 36″ shower. One trick we have done in the past, is to recess a cabinet into closet of an adjacent room keeping the face frame of the cabinet flush with the bathroom wall.
Communication.Listening and understanding your needs.
Accountability. You work with the same person start to finish.
Resources. To build your project.
Experience. Knowing and understanding the big picture.
Note above that the first letter of each sentence when you look down spells the word "CARE" and that is a good place to start when considering someone to work on your home.
Do they care about you? or they simply see you as another job to "Bang Out" and move on. Do they care about how the project will affect you while it's taking place? Do they care about how your project is built? About the best way to do things?
Let's take a look at the above and really, they are a way of doing business rather then "secrets".
Communication
Of all the things that can go wrong on a project, lack of communication- both ways can really have a detrimental impact on a project. A well versed contractor will keep you in the loop even when there is a problem. Folks get annoyed when they are constantly having to ask "What's going on with my project?"
Communication is not just been reachable by phone or email. It's have a start and finish date for the project, it's having a clear readable contract. Having specifications for the project. It's telling the client regularly about what's happening and what's going to happen next. Yes, it takes work to do this, however it makes for a smooth project that glides over the bumps that will occur.
Accountability
Simply put, clients should be able to know who to go to and have assurance that things will be taken care of when there is a problem.
Resources
It's not just about having bodies to do the work. Rather its about having trade partners who have a depth of experience to tackle just about any project. It's also about working together as a team and thinking ahead for the next craftsman so that his job is made a little bit easier. Having the right tools will also go along way towards building a better project efficiently.
Experience
With today's increasing specialization, it's rare to find a contractor or craftsman who has worked across the trades and has built a project from foundation to finish. It's critical to have someone who can step back and understand the big picture. From knowing how to control moisture in a home to building bathrooms with universal access. Being able to identify potential problems in a kitchen before anything is built. Working for years in whole house remodeling has provided me with the ability to see and understand the big picture.
In selecting a contractor, builder or craftsman, see if they CARE.
How do they communicate? Where does the buck stop if there is a problem? What resources do they have to ensure the project is completed right and in a timely manner. What big picture experience do they have?
SEX, and your new bathroom. Do I have your attention? If you're looking for a Kama Sutra guide to remodeling, this isn't going to be it, but sex is important when remodeling, and why is that? Well, who is going to get their wish list satisfied from this bath makeover?
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