Are you thinking about your house a lot more lately? Wondering how you can add functional space? Are you considering finishing your basement and adding a basement bathroom?

One major question that comes up whenever you talk about finishing a basement is whether you should add a bathroom and if it’s worth the expense.

It all depends on the size and how you want the space to function. In addition, there are some budget concerns, depending on how the plumbing in your house is laid out.

How Big is Your Basement? 

If you are lucky enough to have a basement that runs the entire footprint of the house, and you’re going to finish the whole thing, keep in mind what you want to do with the space.

If you have 2,000 square feet and you are using the entire area, you are not going to want to walk upstairs to use the bathroom.

However, if you are talking about one 400 square foot area, you are probably not doing much living down there.

How Do You Want the Space to Function?

Do you want a home gym or a T.V. room in your basement? Do you plan to install a bar and host parties down there? Will you retrofit the space to build more bedrooms?

Home gyms and T.V. rooms don’t technically need a spot for a bathroom. However, would you use the area for guests?

What if you have a large party? When you are talking about having a bar and hosting guests in your basement, you want a convenient bathroom to save guests from having to walk upstairs.

For living space such as a guest room or extra bedrooms, a shower is essential.

Bottom line? You are not going to be sorry you put in a bathroom if you plan to use the space often. 

The Cost of Adding a Basement Bathroom

The average cost of adding a basement bathroom will vary due to a number of factors. A modest estimate is in the range of $10,000 to $15,000. The overall cost can be higher for several reasons.

Here are the things that can make adding a basement bathroom more or less expensive:

Bringing it Home

Adding a basement bathroom could be the thing that completes your space. Do you live in Southeast Michigan? Call us today with any questions! We’re always honored to help. 

Call Today

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Are you getting ready to remodel your bathroom and want to know the options before you commit? A great shower can transform a space into an at-home spa.

A cramped or dirty showering experience can make getting ready in the morning a stressful time, and you may not even realize it.

Consider this: fewer people need or want a tub in their master bath and are opting out of the tub-shower combination altogether.

Ditch the Tub for More Space

Did you know tub and shower combinations take up a lot of space?

A standard combo takes up about 34 x 60 inches, but only leaves you about 18 x 34 inches to stand and take a shower. That’s a huge difference!

When you take out a tub and shower combination unit, you make room for a larger shower, or space to entirely reconfigure your bathroom. 

This trend of taking out the bathtub is gaining ground, and it’s easy to see why. Roomier design is easier to clean, and it has the potential for more storage and amenities inside the shower.

If you rarely or never take a bath in your master, why not opt for a luxurious walk-in shower with a glass enclosure?

Walk-In Shower Options

If you have ever lived in a house with glass shower doors, you know how difficult they are to keep looking new and clean.

A walk-in shower with glass walls, a glass door, or glass panels can be much easier to clean than those sliding doors of years gone by. However, a lot of glass is still a lot of potential for more demanding cleaning ahead. 

One way to solve the cleaning issue is by creating a doorless walk-in shower.

If you can create a space with an open door and half a glass panel, you will be saving yourself the hassle of all that glass cleaning. 

Beware of Creating Too Much Space

How big of a shower is too big?

It can be tempting to supersize the space when you re-design. However, a single showerhead can only heat so much space. As a result, there will be cold spots in a large shower. 

No problem, you think, I’ll just install multiple showerheads. Of course, if you think you will use this feature, you should explore it.

Double showerheads can be very luxurious. Before you do so, however, take a look at your hot water tank’s capacity. If you install dual showerheads, will you be always frustrated with your lack of hot water? 

Colors, Colors, and More Colors

Different color combination trends have come and gone in bathrooms for decades. What you see on HGTV could be dated by the time you go to sell the house.

Now, for walk-in showers with tile walls and tile flooring, customers often choose a solid color for the walls and a different one for the floors. Solid grey or white gives a bathroom timeless appeal. 

Bringing it Home

If you are creating a new shower in your bathroom or renovating your bathroom completely, consider adding a walk-in shower. You will love the modern update and having more space.

Are you looking for someone to renovate your bathroom? If you live in Southeast Michigan, please give us a call. We would love to discuss your vision for your new bathroom.

Call Today

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Many homeowners have faced it: a great house at the right price, but the bathroom is straight from the 1970s.

Why did people choose harvest gold, forest green, or  pink tubs and toilets back then? Maybe it was hip and exotic at the time, however, you probably wish they had opted for classic white.

If you are not in the market for a whole new bathroom, but you want to get rid of those ugly, dated colors, what do you do about the tub?

Toilets are relatively inexpensive and easy to replace. However, bathtubs or tub and shower surrounds are another problem.

You could replace it with a cheap fiberglass shower – maybe you’ve been eyeing a $300 model at Menard’s – but how do you get the old one out?

You would have to demolish the tile, remove trim, and find a way to fit the old beast through the door. In case you are wondering, this can get very expensive. That’s if you don’t have to replace or change the plumbing!

Bathtub Refinishing Benefits

There is a fast, easy, and inexpensive solution: bathtub refinishing or reglazing.

Most companies that specialize in this service can also refinish sinks and tiles. If you’re looking for a clean, new look for a dated bathroom, under $1,000, this could be your ticket.

For a standard porcelain or fiberglass tub, reglazing starts around $300. For a tub and shower surround, it might bump up to $450. However, you should call several companies to get a quote.

Not only can these companies reglaze a tub, sink or tile, but they can also completely change your backsplash, and countertops – even if they are Formica.

It takes less than a day’s preparation to tape off and seal the area, sanding, repairing imperfections, priming and applying the oil-based coating.

Drying and setting time lasts about 48 hours from the time they are finished painting.

Best of all, the new layer can last up to 15 years before needing to be replaced, if treated correctly.

Reglazing Drawbacks

Most of the time, when you hire a professional reglazing company, your surface will look completely new and be softer and smoother than before.

Sometimes, if it’s applied incorrectly, the new coating can have one of several problems:

If your tub has a sticky feeling after the required drying time has passed, don’t use it and call the company back right away. It means the chemicals have not set correctly and may need to be refinished.

The other problems can occur when misapplied and can be fixed by starting the process over again.

It goes without saying that you should:

Another drawback is that the refinishing product smells very strong and can linger for a bit. Most professional companies will bring a ventilation system to help dissipate the smell more quickly, and you can keep the door shut and the window open while the finish is drying.

One other drawback is that you must use a non-abrasive cleaner on the finish or risk scratching and slowly ruining it. One scratch can eventually degrade the entire finish.

DIY Bathtub Refinishing?

There is nothing worse than beginning a remodeling project and messing it up so badly that your space was worse than before you started.

Now, you have your own mistakes to stare at every day instead of just an ugly color. Most home improvement stores sell bathtub and tile refinishing paint in an inexpensive kit that you can use yourself. This project is not for the faint of heart or the inexperienced.

Bringing it Home

Many homeowners aren’t familiar with the possibility of tub reglazing. It’s an inexpensive and quick way to transform your bathroom or kitchen.

If you hire a professional, reputable company, you can get the job done in two days.

What do you think? Are you dreaming of getting that new bathroom you’ve been wanting?

If you live in Southeast Michigan and have questions about bathroom remodeling, please give us a call. We’re here whenever you need us!

Call Today

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If you are a new homeowner or a young homeowner about to renovate your bathroom for the first time, you probably have some ideas about how you want your bathtub to look and function.

This may be especially true if you’ve inherited the master bath from two decades ago that seems dated or doesn’t work.

However, how do you go about choosing a new tub? What are all of the options?

Pros and Cons of Bathtub Styles

We are assuming you have measured and planned out every inch of space in your new bathroom, including your freestanding tub.

In dated master bathrooms, new owners want to get rid of old jetted tubs for many reasons:

You may want to keep or install a jetted tub. However, in this article, we will be talking about freestanding tubs instead.

Here are a few pros of a freestanding bathtub:

Freestanding Tub Styles

Tub prices range from $300 to thousands of dollars, depending on how big they are and what materials are used to create them.

Soaking bathtub

Quite a few tubs out there are billed as soaking tubs. They come in various lengths, depths, and widths to accommodate your space and your needs.

Slipper tub

Slipper tubs have a taller end to support your back for a more enjoyable soak, or choose a double slipper tub to accommodate two people at once.

Japanese soaking tub

If you’re looking for a full immersion experience, where your whole body can be submerged at once, look for one of these.

Clawfoot tub

New clawfoot bathtubs can be any of these styles with feet on the bottom that raise the tub off the floor. Or, look for an antique clawfoot tub!

Freestanding Tub Materials

Different materials will make these tubs perform slightly differently and will make the cost vary:

Stone

Yes, there are bathtubs out there cut from natural stone. Usually carved from marble or granite, these tubs are incredibly heavy.

Cast iron

Typical antique clawfoot tubs are made of cast iron with a porcelain finish. They are heavy and expensive, however, they offer the best heat retention.

If you can find an authentic antique to refinish, they can be affordable, but otherwise are some of the most expensive tubs on the market.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is a less expensive option that has a natural feel is stamped steel covered in porcelain. They are easy to install, so they are often included in a new build. They don’t last as long as some of the other options.

Copper

Copper is a durable and beautiful option that resists scratching and self-heals over time if it does get scratched.

Resin

Resin is a material that can be made to look like stone or made into a custom look but is much more lightweight than natural stone

Fiberglass

Fiberglass is made by spraying polyester glass strings into a mold and letting it harden, these tubs are the lightest and very scratch-resistant. Their color fades over time.

Acrylic

Acrylic bathtubs are tubs are made of stretched acrylic with fiberglass and resin coatings. They are also lightweight and scratch-resistant, but one step up from fiberglass in quality.

Americast

American Standard makes a tub out of a metal that is half the weight of iron but just as durable, thick, and with excellent heat retention. There are several models made of this material that are also cost-effective.

Bringing it Home

Whether you are hoping for an antique or reproduction clawfoot tub, a luxury full-body soaking tub, or a statement stone bathtub for your bathroom remodel, there are many attractive options for you.

Are you interested in having your bathroom remodeled? If you live in Southeast Michigan, please call today. We’re happy to help.

Call Today

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When it comes to kitchen and bathroom renovations, there are two mistakes that get made repeatedly, which can cost extra time and money.

What is so frustrating about these mistakes is that they could be easily avoided if homeowners, contractors, and sub-contractors communicate properly.

However, what if you are doing some parts of the renovation yourself? What if you’re trying to be your own general contractor, coordinating between cabinet-makers, countertop installers, and plumbers – to name a few?

One reason we can’t recommend a DIY renovation like this is that we know a worthy general contractor wouldn’t make these mistakes.

Doing things right means doing them in the right order. However, it’s easy to forget when you are in a sea of details, and you are making ten decisions every day.

Plumbing Mishaps

There are tons of potential plumbing mishaps. One you can avoid by knowing what sink or sink/vanity combination you want before your plumber comes.

Here’s the scenario:

Your kitchen or bathroom has been demoed. The layout has been approved and changed, electrical and plumbing have been updated inside the walls, and drywall is done.

It’s time for cabinets and sinks to be installed. You get your expensive new cabinets or vanity installed.

Unfortunately, when the plumber comes to hook up the sink, it’s too low or too high for the existing plumbing.

Now you have a conundrum. You can either cut back into the walls to change the location of the plumbing or cut the back of your nice, new cabinets.

Other options might include searching for new cabinets or a new sink, but basically what you have is extra, needless expense, and more delay.

Often, the cost of changing the plumbing the right way is too high once the cabinets and countertops have been installed. So, you end up with a big hole in the back of your cabinets.

Flooring Flops

Another scenario we hate to see is when someone has installed new flooring around existing cabinets instead of underneath.

It can happen when the person in charge gets too busy, and the cabinet guys come before the flooring guys. By the time someone catches it, it’s too late, or it’s a significant blow to the budget.

More often, homeowners try to replace flooring themselves. If you have ever lived in an old house with this problem, you will know it.

Try getting your dishwasher replaced when someone has laid new flooring around existing cabinetry. It can’t be done unless you take off your counters or remove the flooring around the dishwasher and replace it.

However, you will end up having to do that every time that dishwasher needs to be serviced.

A slightly less complicated but no less irritating problem occurs when the bathroom floors aren’t placed under the vanity. Now, you will never be able to replace the vanity without also replacing the floors.

To save yourself extra expense and headaches later, always place your flooring first so that it can be under every piece of cabinetry and appliance in your house.

Bringing it Home

At Renovations Roofing & Remodeling, Inc., we want to make your next home remodel to go as smoothly as possible. If you have any questions about remodeling your kitchen, bathroom, roof, or home exterior, please give us a call today!

Call Now

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As I write this, Michigan is on its second month of lockdown. Those of us who are old enough to remember this time will talk about the coronavirus pandemic for many years to come.

We will not forget what happened in the world. We will also remember what we did during enforced isolation.

Many people have talked about using this time to make a change in their lives. While remodeling your bathroom isn’t the same as forming better health habits, I’m willing to bet you’re noticing your bathroom if it’s old, broken, dirty, or space you don’t like very much.

Maybe some of you have started trying to DIY a bathroom remodel.

Add Value With a New Bathroom

Bathroom remodels will always add value to your home, pure and simple.

Whether it’s only a simple cosmetic update to a bathroom that functions perfectly, or a deep clean and functional upgrade to an otherwise beautiful vintage bathroom, it goes a long way toward making the whole house feel new.

You and your family will appreciate it, and so will potential buyers.

Primary Reasons Why People Remodel Their Bathroom

There are two primary reasons people choose to update their bathrooms: for themselves or to sell their homes more quickly or for more money.

Renovating for Yourself

Maybe you have purchased a house with an old bathroom, intending to fix it up.

Now is your moment.

You are planning to stay in the house long-term, so this bathroom renovation is for you. This is when homeowners make their bathrooms their own with features like soaking tubs, rainfall showerheads, glass enclosures, heated tile floors, and more.

The value you add is more about the upgrade to your lifestyle. No more ice-cold tile floors on winter mornings. No more cramped and dirty shower.

The best way to use this renovation opportunity for any purpose is to make sure you prioritize needed repairs.

Fix any ventilation or plumbing issues that could cause leaks or moisture build-up that ruins cabinetry and wall finishes.

Even if you can’t afford to do much more than the basics, a bathroom renovation could give you 50-60% back from your investment.

According to Remodeling’s 2020 Cost vs. Value report, the national average for cost recoup are:

Renovating to Sell

If you are planning your renovation primarily as a way to sell your house – down the road or more immediately – you may have other considerations.

Typically, if you’re flipping a home, you aren’t going to put the money into high-end fixtures and finishes unless the rest of the house is high-end.

To attract buyers, however, choose one item that attracts interest, but make the rest of the finishes durable rather than high-end.

Another way to attract buyers and make your house stand out in a crowd is by adding a bathroom.

A second bathroom is especially important to buyers when your home, and others in the neighborhood, only have one.

Bringing it Home

The two significant reasons for remodeling your bathroom are:

For either job, make sure to focus first on needed repairs and foundational issues like plumbing and ventilation. That way, when it’s time to decide on finishes and fixtures, you can be sure that what you choose is going to last.

If you live in Southeast Michigan and would like help with your bathroom, please give us a call. We would be happy to discuss your vision for your new bathroom!

Call today

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Do you dream about remodeling your frumpy, dirty or old bathroom? Do you find yourself picking tiles and fixtures and comparing paint colors in your mind? Have you yearned for a soaking tub, a double vanity, or a walk-in shower?

How realistic are these daydreams?

Can you realistically get some or any of those things within a budget? Is it worth the time, money, and hassle on the other end?

New Bathroom Adds Value

Yes, it’s worth it to update an old or dirty bathroom.

It’s especially worth it if you have problems with your plumbing, old fixtures, or mold. According to the Remodeling Magazine 2020 Cost vs. Value report, the national average for a bathroom remodeling for midrange homes is 64% return on your investment when you sell your house.

Or, you can change that bathroom for you and your family to enjoy.

Bathrooms are also much cheaper to remodel than the other big seller – the kitchen. The average bathroom remodel cost is $21,377 as reported by the same Remodeling Magazine report.

However, the final cost does depend on a number of factors including materials, location, and the extent of work. HomeAdvisor reports the typical range is between $6,000 and $15,000 with low-end remodels ranging around $2,500 and high, $25,000. Luxury master bathroom remodels can hit $50,000 or more.

Smart Budget Breakdowns

You can certainly break the bank with that one high-priced item and skimp on all the rest. However, here’s a breakdown of how to make your remodel look seamless and fit the budget.

Save 20% Off the Bat

For any remodel, you will hear that you need to save about 20% for unexpected costs.

Any time you are dealing with a room that routinely gets wet and where plumbing is involved, you must be aware that there may be underlying issues when you start the demo. Better to have that extra for a splurge than to come up short.

Cost Breakdown of Your Bathroom Remodel

Labor and Installation 50%

Labor is a big part of bathroom perfection. From drywall to laying tile to expert plumbing, bathrooms aren’t the best room to DIY. The pros will get it done expertly and quickly.

The remaining 50% will go to materials:

Fixtures – 20%

This category includes your toilet, sinks, shower head, and faucets. It’s worth buying things that will last, as these fixtures generally get used multiple times per day and will stay part of your bathroom for many years to come. Choose a low-flow shower head and LED lights to save on energy bills.

Surfaces & Cabinetry – 15%

Every surface needs consideration in a bathroom – walls, floors, cabinets, and showers. It all needs to withstand a constant barrage of water. If you have a favorite tile, choose to install it in a small area for a showcase – like a backsplash instead of a whole shower wall – to save money.

Countertops – 10%

Granite and marble can quickly bring your budget over the top, so consider how much counter space you need versus how much room is left in the budget. Your contractor can suggest plenty of budget-friendly options.

Design Details – 5% or less

Paint colors, artwork, and wall fixtures are what make the style all your own. Make this part of your budget so you can be sure to feel at home in the final product.

Bringing it Home

Bathroom renovations will almost always be worth the time and money spent. Even a small refresh can make you feel more at home, make your bathroom feel luxurious, and help you sell your house someday.

Do you live in Southeast Michigan? Please call with any questions you have about your bathroom or any other renovations. We would be happy to help!

Call Now

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Unless you have just completed a bathroom renovation, most of us would love the chance to remake our bathrooms; add some personal touches, some character, and some luxury.

Most of us don’t have the budget or time – not to mention the patience – to overhaul the entire bathroom. If it’s your only bathroom, it’s nearly impossible to contemplate.

Likewise, if you are getting ready to sell the house, you are probably doing what every homeowner does and getting ready to fix everything that’s been on the list for months or years.

Bathrooms are a big deal to potential buyers. They aren’t as important as kitchens, but almost.

What Buyers Will See

The good news is, if you don’t have ten thousand dollars to spend on your bathroom, you can still make it a more delightful place to be and add your own touch.

Additionally, if you are hoping to sell your house soon, here’s what you need to look at replacing to make it the best it can be on a budget. Even small fixes can help potential buyers put themselves in your space and make it feel like new.

Problems to Fix Right Away

A general rule of thumb is to replace anything old or leaky. These are easy and cheap fixes that make a significant impact.

You might be surprised by how much your buyers will be impressed by a small repair. These types of restorations include:

Any Leaking Fixtures

Even if it’s just your bath faucet leaking, consider replacing it with something new. Leaking eventually causes corrosion and rust, which leaves a telltale streak.

Cracked or Stained Tub Liner

A new vinyl liner can make the whole room feel like new. If you can’t spring for a new one, consider having that stained bathtub re-coated for a few hundred dollars.

Old Toilets and Fixtures

Aside from leaking or looking gross, old showerheads and toilets are notorious water-guzzlers.

If your toilet is more than ten years old, it’s probably taking up about 30 percent of your indoor water use – sometimes using as much as four gallons per flush.

New toilets are inexpensive, quick to install and use as little as 1.28 gallons per flush if you get one with an EPA WaterSense label. Showerheads with this label can cut down your water usage in the shower by half a gallon a minute.

Mold

This ugly green and black stuff can smell, make you sick, and seriously endanger the sale of your house.

Mild mold problems can be cleaned up with a bleach solution. Re-grout tile that has been stained with mold to make it look fresh.

Have you ever been in a bathroom that reeks of mold? It’s awful, and buyers will take one whiff and walk away. If you think you have a bigger mold problem from leaks, it’s time to consult a professional mold tester who can help you find remediation solutions.

Mold can be a severe health problem for anyone living in your house. If you put off any other part of the project, don’t put off this one!

When Bathrooms Need Updates

Now that you have a new toilet, your grout is cleaned, and the bathroom is sparkling clean, you can update the look of your bathroom easily with these quick changes:

Paint

Paint is cheap, and it can cover a multitude of sins. Make your builder grade cabinets look custom made with a coat of paint.

You can even paint your tile or porcelain using specialty tub and tile paint. It’s made to dry with a high gloss that doesn’t wash off in water.

Bathroom walls can especially benefit from a new paint job every once in a while, and this one thing can make a significant impact.

New Vanity

If you can’t change the layout of your bathroom, a new vanity is an affordable and fun way to put your own style in the room.

An old vanity can be an eyesore, but a new one can elevate the look and feel of the floor and fixtures instantly.

Hardware & Fixtures

For a small bathroom, new fixtures and hardware don’t have to cost a lot. Classic yet trendy faucets and hardware get noticed by guests and buyers alike.

Bringing it Home

Not all bathroom renovations have to be gut renovations to satisfy you or to sell your house. These few tips should get you on the road to getting a whole new budget-friendly bathroom.

If you live in Southeast Michigan and would like professional help, please give us a call. We would be honored to help!

Call Now

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Are you thinking about going for a different look on your home exterior?

Do you want an update that will stand the test of time and still be what all your neighbors are dreaming of?

The following are the eight most popular home exterior design trends for this year. However, we are confident these trends will continue well into the future.

2019 Most Popular Home Exterior Trends

Some of these home exterior trends are more significant home renovations. Some of them are quick fixes you could do yourself over the weekend.

Let’s look at the more expensive, lasting options first.

Modern Farmhouse Style

If you want to follow one of the biggest trends right now and re-do your whole exterior, consider the modern farmhouse style.

This style consists of board and batten siding and high contrast colors, such as white painted siding and black window frames.

Modern farmhouse style incorporates some of the traditional farmhouse elements, like gabled rooflines and standing seam metal roofing with modern lighting fixtures and open floor plans.

Mixed Natural Materials

Mixing materials on your home exterior – such as brick, stone, siding, wood, and metal – is a prevalent trend right now and it’s here to stay.

There are many ways to do this well, such as installing stone footings, vinyl or wood siding, wooden corbels, and wrought iron light fixtures.

Stone continues to be the most popular natural element to add, and it receives a high return on investment.

Front Porches & Inviting Entrances

A front porch feels welcoming. It’s a place to dress up the front of your house, and it can make a serious style impact.

By combining this trend with mixed natural materials, you can add a brick or stone front porch, or beef up the columns with timber beams for a more natural look.

Hidden entrances are one of those design trends that are definitely out. In years past, it was cool to hide your front door, but no longer.

Copper Gutters

In keeping with the natural elements theme, copper gutters have continued to rise in popularity.

Copper gutters are beautiful both before and after they acquire their natural green patina, and they have a long lifespan.

If you want to take your home’s look up a notch, consider installing new copper gutters, or painting your old ones a copper color.

Home Exterior Trends – Quick Fixes

If you are not into spending a fortune on changing the style of your home exterior, here are a few ways to up your curb appeal with 2019’s biggest trends.

Front Door

It’s time to ditch the red front door. Although it gives your house a nice punch of color, there are many other colors to choose from, and red is now looking dated.

If you are painting your door, opt for something classic like black or an unusual blue color to be on trend.

If you are getting a new door, consider something weighty but light-bringing: a glass and iron front door.

New front doors are always a high return on investment, so you can’t go wrong. In fact, a new steel door has a national recoup value of 74.9% according to the Remodeling’s Cost vs. Value Report.

In addition, glass panels can go a long way toward opening up the whole front of your house.

Exterior Color

Choosing the best color for your house can be tough. We have all seen that Smurf blue house and wondered what they could have been thinking. One thing is for sure: “painted ladies” are out.

If you have a Victorian house, unless you are on the beach, it’s time to rethink the bright color scheme.

The same thing goes for just about any other bright color out there for your home exterior. If you still want to go bold, opt for a bold, dark blue color.

Landscaping

Maybe your lush garden is your thing. However, if you have been yearning to tear out those big bushes in the front, do it.

Simple landscaping is and will continue to be on trend. A few small bushes, maybe some hostas, and a lovely window box or planter is all you need to complete your exterior look these days. Opt for dark mulch.

Address Numbers

This is a favorite weekend project because it has the potential to make a significant impact with so little.

Big house numbers are in, and not just big, but sleek and simple. Look for large, black numerals and install them in a place where they are likely to stand out. It’s that simple.

Bringing it Home

There are many ways, big and small, to improve your home exterior.

If you have any questions about new siding, doors, windows or roofing, please give us a call! We would be happy to walk you through all of the different options.

Call Today

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With the proliferation of home improvement shows on television, many average homeowners are attracted to the idea of doing their own bath remodel.

These shows make it look so easy! I have even seen shows selling the idea of tackling a whole bathroom renovation in one weekend by yourself.

Sometimes it takes a seasoned professional to tell you the honest truth. Even if you’re just doing surface-level changes, a bathroom will take you much longer than a weekend if you are trying to do it yourself.

There are several good reasons not to attempt remodeling your bathroom yourself at all. Yes, beginners can learn to install tile and pre-fabricated cabinets. And yes, some small fixture changes don’t require a professional.

However, the bathroom can quickly turn into one of the most complicated remodeling projects you will face.

Top Reasons You Shouldn’t Attempt  Remodeling Your Bathroom Yourself

Hidden Problems

One of the things we routinely see, especially in old bathrooms, are hidden problems that make a quick flooring change into a nightmare for DIYers.

You are very likely to find rotting subfloor and joists that have been sitting under that old tile for years; the result of decades-old leaks. Plumbing stacks that are rusting and compromised are another frequent nasty surprise.

Once you uncover those, say goodbye to your timeline and your tiny budget.

The great thing about hiring the pros is that they’re going to factor in contingencies like this.

The Time Factor

Unless you want to use a bucket outside for the duration of your summer break, you want to hire professionals if you have only one bathroom that needs to be overhauled.

Even a moderate change will take the average homeowner many months to complete. That’s a long time to live with a mess or a less-than-functional bathroom.

In contrast, a team of professionals will have your old vanity out before you take off for work one morning, and a new floor installed before lunchtime.

You can expect to have your brand-new bathroom in working order in a couple of weeks, tops.

Precision, Precision, Precision

Most DIYers and wanna-be DIYers look at the highly-produced before-and-after shots and assume they can save a ton of money. How hard can laying tile be anyway?

I’m here to tell you: it’s a highly skilled trade for a reason. When you pay a professional, you are not just paying for efficiency. You are paying for your bathroom to look nice.

Tile cutting gets complicated around all the little corners you have in your bathroom. Homeowners can’t hope to equal the smooth surface a professional drywaller can get.

In addition, when it comes to installing cabinetry and countertops, precision is needed there as well. The frustration involved in working so hard for a less-than-perfect result may not be worth the money you save.

Are you ready to get started?

While it may be tempting to try to save money by remodeling your bathroom yourself, you probably aren’t considering the hidden problems, costs, time, and frustration involved in taking on this task. Most parts of a new bathroom require professional-level skill.

Ultimately, the efficiency and beauty you get when you hire competent pros is worth every cent. If you live in the Southeast Michigan area, please give us a call. We would be honored to help.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

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The post Why You Shouldn’t Attempt Remodeling Your Bathroom Yourself appeared first on Renovations Roofing & Remodeling, Inc..