A homeowner who is tired of the look of their old bathroom and feels the need to renovate it should take heart. The bathroom is one of the few places in the house that increase its resale value when it is remodeled. But even if the homeowner isn’t in the market, a new bathroom brings its own pleasures. Here are three big update ideas.
Get Rid of the Bathtub
Some people love a long soak in the bathtub, and they would probably replace an old, dinged bathtub with a new one. But a good number of people simply don’t take baths but take showers, and the familiar bathtub/shower combination simply takes up too much space in a room that is already small. Showers have become real showcases, with built-in benches, niches for shampoos and other sundries, adjustable multiple shower heads and other high-tech controls. Even the drains of showers have become elegant. No longer just round holes in the floor, many are decorative and enhance the shower stall itself. Others are cleverly hidden.
Spruce up the Floor
It seems like the floor of the bathroom is the first aspect of the room to show its age. This is understandable, as the floor has to deal with heat, humidity, dirt and grime every day. After time linoleum can crack and the grout between tiles can become irretrievably dirty. A bathroom contractor such as Stone & Tile Centre (eCommerce) can come to the rescue of bathroom floors and even walls that have sunbather days. Materials for bathroom floors and walls include porcelain, ceramic and natural stone. With the last, the homeowner needs to make sure that the subfloor is strong enough to support tiles of granite or able, which can be surprisingly heavy for their size. Some people are even putting wood, laminate and bamboo floors in their bathrooms, especially it is easier and less expensive for these materials to extend into other rooms. It is right to be concerned that these materials not be exposed to water very often, and they are probably best for powder rooms. Other materials are vinyl, concrete and the perennial favorite, linoleum.
Add Radiant Heat
If the floors and walls are being redone, it might be a good time install radiant heating in the floors and the walls. These can be mats installed just under the floor that have their own control system. Some of these systems can be operated via the internet, so the homeowner and their family can have a toasty bathroom waiting when they come home on a wintry day. Other bathrooms are warned up by a fan/heat/light fixture near the shower.