8 DIY Mistakes New Jersey Homeowners Make During A Bathroom Remodel

Get The Bathroom You TRULY Want… While Avoiding These Common (And Costly!) Errors.

Are you thinking about remodeling your New Jersey bathroom on your own?

Before starting an endeavor like this, you need to determine how much of your bathroom you’ll be remodeling. It’s also important to spend time properly planning out your budget and researching products and materials.

Going it alone has its perks, but if you’re not careful to avoid these common pitfalls, it can be full of aggravation and stress — and you might end up having to bring in the experts after all.

Find out the most common mistakes DIYers make when remodeling a bathroom for the first time, so that you can avoid them. Forewarned is forearmed!

Doing It FULLY Yourself

Don’t make the mistake of doing it ALL by yourself. Even expert DIYers seek advice and/or hire companies to do parts of the remodeling job that are too complicated to do on their own.

Certain aspects of remodeling a bathroom can be complex. For example, if you decide to change the layout of your bathroom, you’ll likely need to deal with plumbing. Consider hiring professionals to deal with that, instead of doing it yourself.

Skipping Ventilation

Since it’s not part of your bathroom’s aesthetic, ventilation can be easily overlooked. But this is one mistake you DO NOT want to make.

A system for eliminating moisture in your bathroom is vital. Every time you take a bath or shower, your bathroom fills with moisture. If you don’t have an efficient ventilation system, the floors and walls of your bathroom can start to develop mold.

Avoid this by installing a bathroom fan that eliminates the moisture and odors in your bathroom, leaving it dry and smelling fresh.

Forgetting About Space & Layout

While it may seem obvious, it’s easy to get carried away with your remodeling project and forget to take the dimensions of your bathroom into account.

Before ordering products or materials it’s important to take precise measurements of your bathroom. Often, the bathroom you’re dreaming of will need a few adjustments to fit into the space you have available.

You may want to consider leaving the layout of your bathroom the same to save costs. Moving anything major in your bathroom — like the toilet or shower — can end up being very costly. If you don’t absolutely need to change up the layout, you’re probably better off leaving it as is.

Going With The Wrong Materials

There’s a reason materials like acrylic, porcelain, and ceramic are the ones that come to mind when you think of a bathroom. In addition to looking nice, those materials are water-resistant and sturdy. While wood or marble sound like they would look lovely in your bathroom, if you install those materials you’d be met with a costly mess.

Wood warps with prolonged contact with moisture, and the iron in marble can rust over time. Needless to say wallpaper and carpet are no-nos because they don’t hold up well with exposure to moisture.

Stick with the conventional tried and true materials so that your bathroom can withstand wear and tear and constant moisture.

Ignoring Minor Mistakes

A chipped tile in the corner of your bathroom, and some paint streaks on your bathroom window might not seem like a big deal when you’re remodeling your entire bathroom. But if you don’t address those issues right then, they can end up being a big deal. Minor mistakes usually get bigger over time and become more frustrating and more expensive to fix.

When remodeling your bathroom yourself it’s normal to make mistakes, and it might be tempting to overlook them. However, if you fix your mistakes as soon as you catch them, you’ll save yourself a lot of money and stress down the line.

Choosing Expensive Products

Expensive products are sometimes just that — expensive products. Just because a product costs more does NOT mean that it’s better quality or more durable than less expensive products.

Be careful not to buy into the hype of going with certain brands over the cheaper version just because they’re “high-end”. Do your research and find out the advantages and disadvantages of different products before choosing the pricier version.

Replacing Instead Of Repairing

It can be tempting to tear out a product or material that’s damaged or malfunctioning. But often, the smarter — and less expensive — solution is to repair the damaged area of your bathroom instead of replacing it.

Admittedly, it’s a lot less exciting to repair something instead of ripping it up and starting over — but in the end, you’ll be grateful that you managed to get your bathroom in tip-top shape without spending an arm and a leg.

Sacrificing Function For Beauty

There are many ways to make your bathroom beautiful. When focusing solely on beauty, you run the risk of neglecting practicality. Your bathroom’s primary function is to serve as a comfortable space for using the toilet and bathing.

If your toilet is too high or too low, or your bathtub is uncomfortable because it’s an interesting shape, you’ve sacrificed function for beauty. Avoid this mistake by FIRST making sure your bathroom serves its purpose well, and THEN making it beautiful.

Contact Bathroom Pros

Whether you’re a DIYer and you need advice or help with remodeling your bathroom, or you’re looking for a remodeling company to take charge, Bathroom Pros has your back! Contact Bathroom Pros  today.