6 Tips for Reducing the Cost of Your Bathroom Renovation

Cordova Bay Bathroom

Bathrooms are typically the most expensive room in a home to renovate if you look at the per square foot cost. Colleen Gibson, Project Manager for Renovations at award-winning Rob-Ron Construction Ltd. in Victoria offers some tips for ways to reduce the cost of your bathroom renovation, while still getting a fresh, new room. She has helped hundreds of homeowners with these types of renovations.

“I cannot emphasize enough the importance of taking time to carefully plan the renovation, do your homework and leave yourself enough time before and during the renovation,” Gibson said before offering her six tips for reducing the cost of your bathroom renovation.

  1. Consult a contractor/designer – Meet with a reputable contractor or designer, like Gibson, well in advance of your anticipated start date to discuss your wish list. They can offer cost-saving suggestions, as there are many choices that will affect the cost of a bathroom renovation, such as if you want tile flooring. Gibson generally recommends adding in-floor heating to accompany tile, which can be very cold otherwise. However, in-floor heating requires an electrician to run wiring and install a system for controlling the temperature. In many cases, this will require a new subfloor. Gibson suggests considering other appealing products that are warmer, such as vinyl or cork flooring solutions.
  2. Keep the plumbing fixtures in the same place – Once you start moving the new plumbing , including bathtub, shower, sink, and especially the toilet, new plumbing locations will need to be roughed in, which can add significant costs to your renovation. Plumbing fixtures must tie into existing waste water and/or sewage systems.
  3. Carefully consider shower and tub solutions – Custom tile work can be costly. Purchasing an acrylic shower pan is significantly less expensive than having a tile shower base constructed. Additionally, purchasing a self-skirted acrylic bathtub is much less expensive than a drop-in system, which requires a box be built and then the tub dropped in and tiled
  4. Be prepared before starting – Gibson highly recommends giving yourself ample time to make all decisions around materials and layout. That way you’ll avoid costly holdups and rescheduling trades once work has begun, while waiting for materials to arrive. Make sure you check the availability of all materials and delivery dates. This includes all plumbing fixtures, tiles, cabinets, countertops, flooring, light fixtures and anything else. Schedule the start date accordingly.
  5. Set reasonable expectations – For some people, a bathroom renovation means having to find somewhere else to live during the renovation. Therefore, it’s best to be reasonable with your expectations of the actual timeframe when work will take place. Once the layout, material choices and budget have been agreed on, wait four weeks before starting demolition, and schedule trades, collect materials and plan alternatives during the lead up. Based on the scope of work, allow four to six weeks for the actual work to take place. It will be on the longer side if you are moving fixtures and need plumbing roughed in, are building custom cabinets or countertops, and if you are installing heated floors.
  6. Stick to standard glass shower enclosure – once you get into having a custom glass shower enclosure made, your costs increase significantly versus going with a standard size.

Rob-Ron Construction Ltd. has been building dreams for four decades, offering excellence in quality and service. The company prides itself on having happy customers at the end of each project. Contact Rob-Ron today to learn more about our Victoria bathroom renovations.