Renovating Your Bathroom- You or a Contractor?

Renovating your bathroom is a great way to add value and extra enjoyment to your home. Realtors will often tell you that whatever money you spend on a bathroom renovation will all be returned (sometimes with a bonus) when it comes time to sell and move on, so renovating can also be a smart financial move. However before you jump into your car and rush down to the home store to buy new fixtures, you’ve got a few decisions to make. In addition to how much money can you afford to spend, you need to decide if it’s a job you can do yourself or if you should hire a contractor.

Undoubtedly, there’s a major financial appeal to taking on the renovation job yourself. Some people estimate they can save 50% of the cost of contractor renovation by doing the work themselves, or they can spend the same amount of money and get twice the bathroom, but there’s a significant downside to doing everything on your own. Start by doing some serious planning. Ask yourself how big a change do you want to make? If what you really want to do is upgrade your old room rather than a total renovation, you can make some major changes by doing some relatively minor (and inexpensive) modifications. Changing paint or wall colors, replacing light and plumbing fixtures or perhaps adding some nice upgrades like a tub liner or an electric towel warmer can make your old bathroom feel new again.

Alternatively, a major renovation usually involves significant changes to your existing bathroom, quite likely involving new floors, a new tub or shower as well as new fixtures. Let’s fact it, that jetted tub or separate dressing area, sound great, but if you’re starting with a standard North American sized bathroom, you’ve only got about 40 square feet to work with, and those features just won’t fit into your limited amount of space. Doing those kinds of modifications usually means your will have to expand your bathroom either by stealing some space from an adjoining room or closet, or by combining two small bathrooms into one larger one. Now we’re talking opening up walls and reframing, quite likely rerouting electrical and plumbing lines, installing insulation, walls and floors as well as providing adequate ventilation. Do you have the skill sets necessary to do all of these jobs?

Some other considerations.

Even if you feel comfortable you can take on the various piece parts of the renovation project have you considered the fact that large renovations require permits and inspections? To start with you’re going to need to get a building permit which often requires architects or at last detailed designer drawings. As well, you’ll need electrical and plumbing work permits and inspections to ensure the work has been done according to local building codes. All these details, are normally part of a contractor’s job, but if you’re doing it yourself, you’ll need to get the permits before you begin work and arrange for the inspections during the life of the project. Keep in mind, most building inspectors are civil servants and work days (not evenings and weekends). This could mean you’d need to take time off work yourself so you can be present when the inspections are actually taking place. Speaking of work, how motivated are you? A bathroom renovation isn’t a weekend project, it takes lots of time. After putting in a full day at your regular job, are you really going to be ‘gung ho’ about working five or six more hours on your bathroom in the evening as well as giving up your weekends for the next few weeks or months? Perhaps more important is your family ready to live with the ongoing disruption of a bathroom under construction?

Perhaps a middle road

There’s an obvious appeal to taking on a bathroom renovation yourself. Besides the fact that you can save yourself a fair amount of money, there’s the satisfaction of being able to say ‘I did it myself’. However in many cases perhaps a more realistic approach to combine cost efficiency and your satisfaction is to find a contractor who will take on the tasks you aren’t qualified or don’t want to do. He can do his ‘thing;’ and you can contribute to the project based on your skill set and availability. For example, painting, installing light fixtures and decorating are all vital parts of a bathroom reno that virtually any homeowner can do while the contractor can take on the heavy lifting and administrative aspects of the job.

Murray Anderson is an experienced freelance writer with numerous articles published on the web as well as in print magazines and newspapers in both the United States and Canada. He writes on a wide range of topics and is a regular contributor to DoItYourself.com.