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Bathroom remodeling ideas, articles and more

Before you call a professional plumber, tiler, construction contractor or before you start a DIY project to remodel your bathroom, it can be helpful to stop for a minute and consider the sort of things you might need to do. Remodeling a bathroom will involve plumbing, carpentry and painting as well as heavy lifting in some cases.

10 Popular Bathroom Remodeling Ideas

To get your imagination going about possibilities for changing your bathroom around, here are a few jobs or projects you can do to create the bathroom of your dreams:

1. Painting the walls and ceiling: Involves putting two coats of at least a semi-gloss paint that can withstand heavy moisture
2. Replacing the sink or sink fixtures: Involves removing any caulking around the edges and shutting off the water, so you can look at the pipes underneath the sink
3. Replacing the countertop: Involves carpentry skills to find how the current countertop is affixed to the walls or cabinets. Also involves shutting off the water
4. Replacing tub or shower hardware: Can generally be done in an hour, but be sure to get hardware that fits your existing pipes
5. Putting tile on the walls or floor: This job takes a long time but is not too difficult for amateurs. The bathroom will be unusable while tile is being put in.
6. Installing a backsplash for the bathroom sink: A backsplash is decorative tiling that may go in more quickly because it is smaller.
7. Installing a new toilet: This can be done by an amateur, but it requires two or more people to lift and place the toilet while affixing it to proper pipes. The water will need to be turned off.
8. Replacing old metal pipe with PVC pipe: The water will need to be turned off. Make sure you get the right size pipes as well as the right adapters.
9. Caulking or re-caulking edges around sink or tub: This can be done in an hour. Make sure you get bathroom-grade caulk.
10. Regrouting existing tile: This may take longer than you think. It is often done in tandem with re-caulking edges around tile.

All of these jobs can be done as DIY projects, though they may take more or less time depending on your experience and the state of your home. More extensive bathroom remodeling projects such as replacing your tub, adding a new shower or adding a new sink may require the assistance of a professional plumber or contractor if you want them to be done right.

Final Thoughts

Almost all home improvement projects take about twice as long as you think they "ought" to take. The best advice is to begin your project early in the day, even if you think you won't need that much time. Don't be discouraged if your remodeling job takes longer than you think it should take.