Ways to cut the cost of your Bathroom Renovation & still create the bathroom you’ve dreamed of.
There are a number of ways to save money when renovating your bathroom. Most advice that homeowners receive are the standard run of the mill tips that are largely commonsense. Tips such as; setting a budget and stick to it, not making last minute changes to your design once your renovation has started, and purchasing your tiles and fittings on special if you can, are all extremely sound rules to follow when renovating. However as renovators, we share additional insightful advice that can further cut the cost of your bathroom renovation.
Before & After shots of bathroom renovation with plumbing layout left in place – bathroom renovation by Master Bathrooms & Kitchens.
How to cut the cost of your bathroom renovation:
Don’t move plumbing.
When renovating your bathroom, keeping your existing plumbing plan, ie keeping your toilet, bath, vanity and shower in their current position is a huge cost saver. Relocating plumbing is an expensive exercise and can dramatically increase the cost of your renovation. So if your current bathroom layout is functional in its existing plan and you have no reason to change it, simply leave everything in its place and retrofit your bathroom items.
Gorgeous timber on veins. Floor standing vanity supported by a plinth – bathroom renovation by Master Bathrooms & Kitchens.
Support your vanity with a plinth.
Wall hung vanities are extremely popular as they not only look stunning, but create the appearance of space within the bathroom by showing off more floor area. The downside to purchasing a wall hung vanity for your bathroom renovation, is that they are more expensive to install as the plumbing needs to be relocated through the wall from previously being set in the floor. In addition, wall hung vanities can be more expensive to purchase as they require a stronger backing to be mounted.
A great alternative to a wall hung vanity is removing the legs of a floor standing vanity and mounting it on a plinth. Supporting the vanity with a plinth creates the appearance of a wall hung vanity without the added plumbing expense. Many homeowners feel that wall hung vanities do not offer the same amount of storage as floor standing vanities, and much prefer the plinth option for extra storage space.
Stunning freestanding bath with classic neutral charcoal feature wall and floor with white walls tiled elsewhere – bathroom renovation by Master Bathrooms & Kitchens
Tile only part of the walls.
When planning your bathroom renovation, tiling choice and placement is key. Tiling to the ceiling is without doubt a stunning bathroom finish, however the amount of tiles required and labour is increased when doing so and not all homeowners have the budget to afford this look. The cost of tiles and labour to fix them are not the only cost incurred when tiling to the ceiling. In addition, cornices and architraves need to be removed and replaced when doing so. Tiling to the ceiling however, is not the only way to achieve a gorgeous finish to a bathroom. While the shower recess is required to be tiled to 2100mm high, the remainder of bathroom walls need only be tiled to 1200mm high to create a beautiful finish. This style is becoming more popular once again and allows homeowners to not only save on wall tiles, but to also avoid having to purchase feature tiles as the wall paint above the tiles can be painted in a contrasting colour to create a warm and welcoming effect. Tiling to 1200mm high in the bathroom gives the bathroom warmth, character and opens a wider variety of decor that can be used such as wall paintings.
It must be noted that a good quality bathroom paint that is mildew resistant is essential.
Gorgeous timber wall hung vanity with recessed mirrored wall cabinet, feature marble mosaic floor and black framed semi frameless shower screen with tapware – bathroom renovation by Master Bathrooms & Kitchens
Wall, Floor & Feature Tiles.
When shopping for your bathroom tiles, you will come across both ceramic and porcelain varieties. We always advise our customers to use porcelain tiles on the floor in their bathroom renovations as porcelain is stronger, able to withstand greater movement and the colour runs right through the entire tile, not just on the glazed coating as is the case with ceramic tiles. This means if something is dropped on the floor and a tile incurs a chip, it is not as noticeable. Porcelain tiles are a little more expensive than ceramic. While as we previously mentioned, we recommend porcelain tiles on the floor, they provide no such advantage on walls. So if your bathroom renovation budget is limited, choose ceramic wall tiles. This alone is a considerable saving, especially if the intent is to tile to the ceiling.
Incorporating a feature wall in the bathroom can be done in many ways. Most look to feature tiles to create that special look in the bathroom by tiling a single wall or part thereof. However, feature tiles are quite expensive and increase the cost of tiles even if chosen for a small area. Feature walls add much needed character to a bathroom, although feature walls do not require a special tile to be effective. Simply choosing a wall tile that is the same size as the other wall tiles, but in a contrasting colour alone creates an amazing effect. A fantastic effect is to select a wall tile in the same colour as your floor tile for your feature wall. Alternatively, rather than using a wall for your feature, why not consider tiling the walls white and choosing the floor tile as your feature. A feature floor is ideal for smaller sized bathrooms such as ensuite and powder rooms. Remember, as a general rule when choosing colours for bathroom tiles, is to keep your tile colours limited to 3 at most.
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Master Bathrooms & Kitchens is a bathroom and kitchen renovation company that is family owned and operated. We have been renovating homes beautiful since 1995 and offer advice and expertise that only comes with years of experience. Be sure to peruse our website for more renovation inspiration or simply call us on (02)9899-9330 to discuss your renovation and organise an in home quotation today!
See our video below of just some of our beautiful bathroom and kitchen renovations:
