We recently took on our first major remodeling project updating our home’s only bathroom. We had a contractor do the construction work, but simply managing the project was a lot of work in itself.
There’s a lot to consider, from your vision to your timeline and most importantly, your budget. Here are 8 things I learned from our first remodel that I’ll definitely put to use before starting future projects.
1. Learn as much as you can about the work you’ll be doing
One thing I did before shelling out a single dollar for our bathroom project was a ton of research—and I’m so glad I did.
If you’re doing the work yourself, it’s obviously important to know exactly what needs to be done and what materials you’ll need. But it’s equally important (if not more so) to know what’s going on if you’re hiring the work done. If you’re clueless, it’s very easy to get sucked down a rabbit hole of added expenses for things some pushy contractor is telling you have to have.
Having a good idea of what needs to be done, how much it should cost and how long it will take will help you negotiate the best deal.
2. Shop around
Remodeling is a lot like shopping for a car; there’s almost always wiggle room when it comes to how much things cost. Sometimes that wiggle room is more like a gaping crater!
I was shocked to hear different contractors quote vastly different prices for almost identical work, which is why it was so important to talk to many different options.
Here are some things to consider when shopping around:
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- The volume of materials you’ll need. You might think DIY is the cheapest approach, but if there are a lot of materials involved, it might be comparable to use a contractor. Contractors often get a discount with home improvement stores or can get materials at cost—a lot less than you’d pay if you just walked into Lowe’s to buy the same thing.
- Manual labor involved. You might be able to knock a few hundred bucks off of a project by doing tedious but basic work like tearing up carpets or hanging drywall yourself instead of hiring it done.
- A sliding price scale. When I was interviewing contractors for our bathroom, I asked two questions: “what’s the cheapest you could possibly do this and what would that get me?” and the opposite, “how much would it cost for all the bells and whistles?” This will give you a ballpark of the high and low end of what you might spend on the project to help find a happy medium.
3. Go in with a plan
If you’re doing your remodel yourself, it’s so important not to wing it! Use a forum like the one on Houzz.com to search for others who have done projects similar to yours. Read the questions they asked and the challenges they ran into so you know what to expect.
Then, plan out your work step by step, day by day (day by dayyyy! … anyone?)
4. Go over your plan in detail with everyone who’ll be involved
Even though we decided to switch out our antique porcelain tub for a modern one during our remodel, we planned on keeping the old tub body to sell on a site like eBay.
The first day the contractors started work, though, I heard a shattering noise from the bathroom and my stomach sank. I ran in to find they had taken a sledgehammer to the tub in order to tear it out more easily.
I had failed to share my plans of keeping the tub with the contractor and just assumed it would be taken out in one piece. They, of course, assumed the demolition was just that—a demolition.
Our busted-up bathtub 🙁
Don’t assume anything. Go over every part of your plans with your contractor or anyone who’s working on the project with you. Share your expectations for how each part of the work will go, what will be done when, and how soon it’ll be completed.
5. Open everything you buy ahead of time
The toilet the contractor purchased for our bathroom had two cracks in it when he pulled it out of the box. This set the work back about half a day because he had to make a long round trip to go pick up a replacement.
The same thing happened with the light fixture for over the medicine cabinet, which we’d purchased before the project began. One of the glass casings for the bulbs was shattered in the box, but we didn’t find out until we opened the box the day they planned to install it. Apparently this happens pretty frequently; several of the people standing in line at Home Depot with me were returning broken items.
You’ll likely have boxes of supplies sitting around your house for several days before they actually need to be installed. Save yourself a last-minute headache by opening all of the boxes and checking for damage ahead of time.
6. Plan your purchases (and possible returns) strategically
Take tile, for example. You can buy it in two ways: by the piece or by the case. Buying by the case is more cost effective, but it’s harder to get the exact amount you need. Lots of people online said they were left with a stack of wasted tile at the end of their project.
But for tile that’s sold by the piece, Home Depot lets you return those unneeded pieces even if they were part of a case when you bought them. For example, if you buy a 30-piece case and only use 25 of the pieces, you can bring back the leftover 5 and get some money back. Not all stores do that.
This was really nice for us because we had three different types of tile, all of which had leftovers at the end. We ended up getting back about $60 by returning the excess.
Even if this specific example doesn’t apply to your remodel, you’ll probably need to return or exchange at least one item along the way. Make sure you’re shopping at stores that will make the return process as painless as possible.
7. Budget 10-20% extra for changes to the plan
Bumps in the road will come up. Don’t be surprised by them; expect them.
Take your budget and tack on an additional 10 to 20% to accommodate unexpected changes. If there’s no budget left to go around, make cuts to your original budget so you have a cushion.
The last thing you want is to be forced to make a bad decision in a bind because you don’t have the budget to cover the proper solution.
Halfway through with the renovation
8. Think about worst-case scenarios
I’m not telling you to expect the worst, but, like, think about it.
Part of our bathroom project was replacing old, worn out plumbing lines. We didn’t expect a pipe to break during the repairs, but it was a possibility. I thought about what we’d do in the case of a flood, like where we’d stay and a place to house our pets.
Maybe this is just my anxious mind at work, but it always feels better to have at least considered what you might do in the worst-case scenario than to be totally blindsided by it in the moment.
Want to see our bathroom remodel and other projects in action? You can find them on my YouTube channel!
