The Bathroom Renovation Plan

By Alex Brooks

Renovating the cleanest room in the house takes plenty of planning. Bathrooms have not only become a sanctuary in today's busy homes, but are also a great opportunity to transform your household into a leaner, greener, more environmentally friendly home.

Bathrooms use around one-third of the average home's water - usually for showers and toilet-flushing. When planning your bathroom overhaul, specify water-saving mixer taps, low-flow showerheads and flow restrictors to the bath tap. Mixer taps are great water savers as you don't need to waste water getting the temperature right.

Every drop of hot water you can save with great plumbing fixtures will also save on energy bills. Plan to insulate - or lag - the pipes from your hot water service to the bathroom to improve energy efficiency. Oh, and a bathroom renovation could be a great opportunity to change your hot water service to a better option such as solar, natural gas or heat pump. Other tips for a waterwise bathroom include:

• Hot water priming pump.

This device removes cold water in the pipe when you turn on the hot tap, recycling it into the cold water pipe until it reaches a certain temperature. It then shuts off waiting for you to turn on the hot tap. A sensor or hand switch can also be fitted to make sure it doesn't run all the time to gain further efficiency.

• Rain Water Tanks

Installing a rain water tank with a mains water top up to flush your toilet, run a washing machine and water the garden will not only gain you a government rebate, but can slash your household's mains water use. It's worth thinking about, especially if you live in an area with high rainfall all year round.

 Bathroom renovations can be minor or major. A minor renovation would use the

 existing layout and renew the fittings, fixtures and tiling. This can be completed for as little as $15,000 if you are very careful with the products you use. Most renovations like this end up costing around $17,000.

A major renovation would mean changing the layout and the costs and complexity will increase. Solid brick homes, or homes with slab floors tend to cost a little more as there is more work involved for the bathroom renovator with electrics, plastering and plumbing. It's only worth embarking on a major bathroom renovation if it will add value to your home or is part of a serious repair that needed to happen (such as broken pipes or poor waterproofing).

Stages of planning

Stage 1: Design Desire
Working out what you want takes time and checking out plenty of magazines and bathroom displays. It's worth coming up with a bathroom design, building work schedule and wishlist for your fittings.

Stage 2: Building works
Strip out of old fittings and tiles is a dirty job that some people are happy to do themselves. Make sure you have timed the purchase of your PC items and tiles carefully - or hired a builder to do it for you - so you don't unnecessarily hold up the renovation process or do without a bathroom for longer than necessary. There is a strict order of works to co-ordinate your electrics, plumbing, waterproofing, tiling and appliance installation. Most bathroom renovations take 4-5 weeks. Certain things make the process take longer. For example if you have a solid brick home, you decide to incorporate custom made vanities or a stone top.

Stage 3: Finishing

Painting is usually the final stage and it helps to use a solid paint that can withstand the moist environment of a bathroom.

Budgets and bathrooms

This is an important consideration. Bathrooms are an important part of the home, and a good bathroom renovation can make the difference to a living space. Careful planning of your bathroom renovation can add value to your house that will never be lost.

Choosing the fixtures, fittings and tiles for your bathroom can be daunting. Things to consider when choosing fittings: Is this a family room that will require hard working, low maintenance fixtures that can withstand the wear and tear that only a family can deal out, or is it a sleeker architectural look you are after.

Where to start when choosing a toilet for your bathroom renovation? Choose one that you like the look of that fits your budget. These days all are dual flush and some will be "Smart Flush" and use even less water than standard dual flush toilets. Close coupled suites are good value for money, and usually cost under $500.

Baths generally fit into two categories. Acrylic and Pressed metal. Metal baths are superior as they a last longer and retain heat better (especially if you insulate it) but they  are easy to chip, and if you are putting a shower over it, can be slippery. 

Basins and vanities have become a bathroom decore item. The choices are endless but in general Vessels, Recessed, Semi Recessed, and under counter. Semi Recessed basins are best  in a confined space, as the bench takes up less space.

Showers work best with  at least a 900 x 900mm shower base. Showers with walk through tiled bases are becoming more common. These look great, but of course are difficult to construct and waterproof. Shower screens are also a consideration. They come in three major categories. Framed, Semi Frameless and Frameless. They are priced in that order and roughly cost, $400, $1200, and then upwards of $2000 for the frameless. There is a new non-stick coating ithat can be applied to glass shower screens to make grime, dirt and soap scum easier to clean.