Natwerk Designs

how do I start the remodeling process for my bathrooms?

I have 3 bathrooms and I need to update them. However, I know that there are some structural water/ fungal damage as well. How do I start the remodeling process? Do I need to hire a contractor or a bathroom specialist? Any advice/ hint you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thank You.

Public Comments

1. start with the least important one out of the 3 This will be your "learner " bath room. Look for a single person that does " kitchen and bath remodeling " like a good handyman that can do the plumbing, the rotted wood replacement. , and sheet rock. Then hire them to do the least important one first. and see how that goes. If you hire a contracting company What they do is send someone out to do the job and (under pay them) pay them $10 an hour and then bill you $30 an hour for the work they did. just hire the guy yourself. Ask for a couple references and look at pics of bath rooms he has remodeled. But ,!!! you want someone that do the all the aspects of the job. That way they are responsible for everything start to finish. And PLEASE! Don`t just hire someone/contractor , that just hires illigals to do the work and bills you 3 X what he pays them. .
2. It depends on how handy you are. If you have good carpentry skills as well as plumbing and electrical, then maybe you can do it yourself. If you are sure you want to devote months on the project since you won't be able to work on it 8 hours a day for weeks at a time, best hire somebody. If there's mold, then good chance the wall board will have to be removed and the mold inside the wall addressed. Same with floor, failed toilet seals might have put the toilet on rotting wood...which is fairly easy to replace. How about wiring? You comfortable with that? Do you know about code updates? Same with ventilation code. Of course the glory is the end stuff, the new fixtures, tile, etc, but there's a lot that must be examined and repaired behind first. We are in the same boat you are and due to age now, we'll be talking to bathroom specialists for design ideas and contractor suggestions. If design will be all you, then you can go with contractors directly, but you really need to know what you want to do before calling them. Start looking at materials from fixtures to tile, mirrors and lights. And most of all.......set a budget!
3. It actually depends on what you can afford. I would find a little handy man that did not charge to much and put new plumbing in areas needed. pull the floors up and put new ones down, put linolium on them and pick a pretty pattern of wall paper for the walls, only if there is damage to the walls. If no damage to the walls I would paint them and make a theme that you like in each bathroom. Good Luck......
4. Here's a good place to start to understand the process. It sounds like you should hire a contractor. Look for someone who specializes in bathrooms. Look at other bathrooms they have done and look at how the tile is installed (does it all line up, are the small cuts hidden in out of the way places), is the vanity level to the ground, etc. http://www.nkba.org/consumer_tips_articles.aspx Always get a written contract that spells out what will be installed (down to the brand names, who is buying the materials) and don't pay ahead of the work being done. They shouldn't need more than a 10 percent deposit.