Why is it impossible to answer the question, “How much does a bathroom renovation cost?” The cost of renovating a bathroom depends on many factors. In this text, we attempt to define the scope and sequence of tasks.
When bathroom renovation is mentioned, everyone usually wonders how much it costs, the price of materials, and the cost of labor. These are all factors that can vary greatly. The price of tiles ranges from very affordable at $15 to exclusive ones at $200 per square meter.
The cost of ceramic adhesive is also not significant information because you cannot know how much will be needed; it depends on the wall quality. The cost of plumbing pipes, elbows, and valves also depends on the manufacturer.
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There are cheaper plumbing pipes whose installation can save you a few dozen dollars, but higher quality ones are recommended as they are expected to last for decades. Discussing the prices of faucets and fixtures is pointless as the price range is enormous.
How much each handyman will charge for removing old tiles, transporting debris, and installing plumbing installations can vary significantly from one handyman to another. Therefore, the topic of this text is not the cost of bathroom renovation but rather an attempt to define the sequence of tasks to be carried out, or at least to roughly explain what awaits you during this adventure.
The best option is to find a contractor who will organize a team of handyman, take care of when who does what, and only present you with the price. This is the most comfortable but certainly the most expensive option.
The other, more cost-effective option is to organize the handyman yourself, manage when each one comes, what they need to do, and what they need. This certainly brings more headaches, downtime, waiting, and the like but can save a lot of money. If you have opted for this more complicated but cheaper option, here is a general guide.
Sequence of Tasks in Bathroom Renovation
The order of tasks in bathroom renovation is as follows: removing old tiles and sanitary fixtures, and their removal and disposal. Next is the installation of new plumbing and sewage pipes, which is the plumber’s job. After that, waterproofing is installed.
After waterproofing, the tiler installs the tiles. Finally, the installation of sanitary fixtures follows: toilet, shower tray if any, shower cabin if any, sink, water heater, faucets, etc. The installation of sanitary fixtures is done by the plumber who previously installed the plumbing and sewage pipes unless agreed otherwise.
There are handyman who do all these tasks, and if you find such a one, that’s the winning combination. The biggest problem in bathroom renovation is coordinating the work. Handyman usually have too much work, you have to wait for them, creating a chain of waiting, which can significantly extend the renovation.
One combination is that one handyman does not perform all the tasks but, for example, performs two tasks. For example, most plumbers remove old tiles and ceramics, so this part of the job is simplified. It is important to coordinate this part of the job with debris removal. If you live in an apartment, this can complicate things because the debris must be removed immediately to avoid problems with the sanitation services.
Problems You Didn’t Even Think About
Expect that during the renovation of an smallest bathroom measuring 10×10 foot, there will be a minimum of 50 bags of debris plus a lot of bulky waste in the form of old sanitary fixtures such as sinks, bathtubs, toilets, shower cabins, etc. This waste cannot stay on the street for days; removal must be organized. If you live in a house or have a yard, the situation is a bit more comfortable.
One of the problems after removing old tiles and installing plumbing and sewage pipes is coordinating the tiler and the waterproofing specialist. Depending on the case, sometimes waterproofing needs to be applied twice: once immediately after plumbing work and the second time after the leveling layer is applied to the floor.
The problem is that the leveling layer is applied by the tiler, meaning these two handyman will need to alternate twice. Logistically, this is a real nightmare as a week’s work can easily extend to a month.
The saving solution is to find a handyman who does both waterproofing and tiling. This is not so simple. Waterproofing specialists usually do not do tiling, and tilers generally do not want to do waterproofing as it is a very responsible job. If you find a tiler who does waterproofing, you can save a lot of time.
Renovating a bathroom is a very expensive and logistically demanding adventure. To ensure everything runs quickly and without delays, a lot of skill, prior planning, and ultimately a bit of luck are needed.
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