Don’t be Fooled, Top 10 Master Bathroom Remodeling homework assignments for you
Dream - Design - Budget - Prepare - Execute
1. Start with a ‘Wish List’: smart design will help in overall planning
Do you like long showers, 2 sinks, heated floors, a soaker tub, a separate area for a toilet with a heated seat and built-in bidet… the sky’s the limit, DREAM BIG
2. Grab styles, ideas and pictures to help bring it to life
After you dream BIG, time to get some pictures together and get them in your scrapbook. Even picking out the door style in one design you see online helps
3. Vacation bathrooms are NOT the best starting points for design
We CAN GET IDEAS from vacation bathrooms, or cool restaurants, but you do NOT want a sink made out of a tire as your focal point of your master bath and you do not want to take a shower with a flower can style shower head. Master bathroom functionality with accents and splurges will serve you better.
4. Return on Investment (ROI) can be managed
Who’s writing this check? ROI is something you can bank on, but to realize the RETURN, you would have to sell, so don’t let that become your security blanket on making decisions. Managing your investment in your home is important, but don’t justify a reduction or expense if you have a longer timeline on selling.
5. You will probably either sell the house or live with it for 20 years, so make it count
If you are making decisions for a 10 year bathroom, then realize at least 365 times a year you will be in there, either showering, bathing, using the toilet, the sink, --- you get the point – it needs to be functional and stylish so that you can enjoy your use
6. Budgeting is painful but necessary
If this is the first time, you probably have NO IDEA how much this is going to cost, Friends and neighbors can tell you, but most of them will be LOW. The more expensive the materials and products the more expensive the labor. For example if you have to have a shower head and a separate hand-held, the fixture is usually double the cost of a standard shower head and the plumbing work is more complicated, so picking your spots for elegance and upgrades will come as you determine your budget. When you get a quote as part of your planning, add 10% to it for your budgeting… NOT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND, but you need to make sure you are covered.
7. Before calling a contractor have your elements and budget loosely defined
This will save you time and aggravation and help you on the next phase of preparation. The more you can give the contractor to prepare an estimate of the work cost, the closer it will be. You will NOT get an apples to apples comparison of quotes, it doesn’t happen like that, I don’t care how detailed you are, but this will help you get in the range that you can set your expectations.
8. It WILL TAKE LONGER than anyone tells you or you expect
Choosing a contractor to take the next step into execution requires some homework on your part. You need to look at online reviews, did you FEEL like this person or company was knowledgeable? If the work requires permitting, are they comfortable with that process? Can they give you best and worst case timeline estimates and base them on experience, because TRUST ME, this is a process and sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned and they need to be able to have the ability to respond.
9. Don’t pay for it all until you have had a chance to try it (holding back 5% isn’t bad)
No contractor wants to get behind in cash flow for your project, but they also shouldn’t be using your money to finance another project. Coming up with an acceptable draw schedule to manage the project and work with allowing 5% to be paid after you are in it for a couple of days and trying it out, will keep everybody’s interest aligned and believe me they will NOT run when you still have 5% of their money.
10. Enjoy IT!
At the end of the project, will you allow yourself to enjoy it, or will you fester over the additional spending, the additional length of time, the “OH – I WISH I WOULD HAVE DONE THAT” regret. It is time to let that go and enjoy the quality and style of your functional, high ROI bathroom. You will be in there a lot and usually preparing for your day, or a meeting or a time on the town, you need to live in the present and appreciate what you have done.