Bathrooms Renovation Considerations
The bathroom is the most problematic part of a home to renovate, with many decisions to make that cannot be easily reversed or altered later. Although bathrooms are not quite as important as kitchens, they can be just as difficult to design and fit. As with kitchens, the bill for a new bathroom can be extremely high.
Modern bathrooms can be built into rooms, as in hotels, rather than be separate rooms and even quite small spaces can be turned into en suites, so long as the structure of the building enables pipework to deal with hot and cold water and waste. If you are property developing, don’t forget that a macerator-type loo cannot be the only toilet available.
How many bathrooms do you need?
In general, the more bathrooms and shower rooms the better, so long as you do not take away a bedroom to put one in. (This rule may not apply in an eight-bedroom mansion, but it would not be sensible to take a bedroom away in a three-bedroom house.) There is much emphasis on having an en suite bathroom, but in a small house or flat with few occupants, an en suite is only recommended if it does not take away valuable space for storage, double beds and general living.
Bath or shower?
In properties aimed at families, a bath is essential, as small children cannot cope with a shower. In bachelor pads, showers alone are fine as very few men ever use a bath, even when there is one. Similarly, in properties designed for older people, you may be able to get away without having a bath as the over-55s increasingly prefer showers or wet rooms to baths. This may be because, as people get older, they may not be able to physically get into, let alone out of, a bath. For the older market, it is definitely worth considering putting in a wet room.
Where there is room, having a bath and separate walk-in shower is a good idea. Otherwise, make sure that if you put in a shower unit over a bath, it is the most powerful you can get. How powerful it is, though, will depend to some extent on the general plumbing arrangements, so check with your plumber as to what can be done.
Glass door or shower curtain?
The decision as to whether to fit a glass shower panel or a curtain on a rail is one of personal preference and there are pros and cons to each. Glass panels need to be cleaned all the time, especially in hard water areas, and they can bang against the basin in small bathrooms. Shower curtains come in a huge range of styles and prices and are easy to replace. Some people think shower curtains look pretty; others that they look messy. Whatever your view, just make sure the shower rail is strong and securely fitted. Get this fitted by an expert – unless you’re handy, it’s not suitable as a DIY project. This is particularly important in a buy-to-let property as a flimsy shower rail can easily be pulled down by tenants.
Is the bathroom warm enough?
In my view, the main problem with private bathrooms in the UK (as opposed to those in hotels) is that they are far too cold. Heated towel rails and bathroom radiators may belt out heat and, yet, in winter, the bathroom can still feel cold. People often forget, when designing bathrooms for eye appeal, that every single day users will be stepping out of the bath or shower dripping wet and naked.
How to address the heat issue? If your bathroom is cold even with a radiator and/or heated towel rail, the only way is to have a wall heater, which provides instant heat and operates separately from the main heating system on a pull switch. I have installed wall heaters in three bathrooms now and the bliss of having the bathroom warm enough more than makes up for their looking slightly naff. Don’t assume that radiators and towel heaters will necessarily provide enough heat, especially as they are usually connected up to the general heating system. You want the bathroom to have the ability to be stifling and wall heaters may be the only way to achieve this.
Lighting
Lighting can be difficult in bathrooms, as units have to be enclosed, meaning that 60 watts is usually the maximum wattage allowed. Where possible, recessed lighting is the best answer in a bathroom. If the ceiling is extremely high, you may have to go for a fluorescent fitting, just to get enough light. To avoid this, perhaps the ceiling could be lowered to provide space for recessed lighting. Lower ceilings look cosy in bathrooms – high ceilings are almost always a mistake as they make the room seem out of proportion.
A light over the basin is a must for putting on make-up or shaving. Think, too, about whether or not you want a shaver unit or an electric toothbrush point. If so, these decisions have to be made and acted on at an early stage. Also, before deciding on a design, get an electrician to tell you what is and is not possible with lighting and heating arrangements.
Storage
Ideally, bathrooms should have enough space to be able to accommodate the laundry basket and storage of towels. If there is room for a cupboard in the bathroom, go for it. Also, think about storage for cleaning materials, toiletries and medicines. You can get lockable bathroom cabinets and these are often advised, but what if you lose the key? Again, keep it simple. Bathroom cabinets come in a vast range of sizes and prices and can add a lot to the total price. The large DIY stores have a good range and Ikea stock self-assembly cabinets that are cheap to buy, but do the job very well.
If there is room for an easy chair in a bathroom, this can add style and comfort. However, do not take up space in a bathroom that is better employed elsewhere.
How many bathrooms?
It is generally assumed that the more bathrooms, the better – especially when it comes to selling. I have viewed many apartments in America advertised as ‘one bed, one and a half bathrooms’. This usually means that there is a cloakroom containing a loo and basin as well as the main bathroom and, although at first I thought it was over the top, I can now see the sense of it.
When marketing to families, it is a good idea to have an en suite bathroom for Mum and Dad and a family or guest bathroom that is not en suite. However, in a five-bedroom home, I would not reduce the number of bedrooms to four just to have an en suite. You may not be allowed by the planning department to site a bathroom at the front of the house, especially if this means soil pipes being visible from the front.
Loft conversions will always need an en suite shower room plus loo. If there is no possibility of having an extra bathroom in the loft, don’t do the conversion in the first place. It’s a waste of money.
In houses, a downstairs loo is an excellent idea. If you have an outbuilding or summerhouse, see if you could add a loo there as well. It is a magnificent selling point and will improve your quality of life. Outside and downstairs loos must also have hand basins. These can be very small indeed, but must be there. If there is not room for even a tiny hand basin, don’t go to the expense of the loo. Macerator (Saniflo) loos are very expensive, both to install and repair, but can be a godsend.
Practical considerations
When renovating or redesigning, always make sure that there is enough room for a man six feet tall or more to stand up when using the loo. Some developers forget this, and situate en suite loos under sloping roofs – especially in loft conversions – with the result that only a male child will be able to use it in the customary manner. One very expensively renovated house I viewed did not sell because there was no way an adult man could use the loo in the loft conversion standing up. The developers in this instance were all men, so how they could have made this mistake is beyond me.
Any bathroom or cloakroom without a window will need ventilation. Make sure that a ventilation duct can be routed to an outside wall. Building regulations insist that even new bathrooms with windows should have a fan and I think this is a good idea.
Bathrooms can easily be spoilt by condensation. This problem can be avoided by fitting ventilators, which are reasonably cheap and obtainable from most ordinary electrical shops. However, they do need to be fitted by a qualified electrician.
Walk-in baths and baths specially designed for the disabled do limit your market if you are renovating for profit. Seeing all kinds of grab handles and so on will put non-disabled buyers off. Of course, if you are developing a property specifically for the retired market, this is a different matter, but, otherwise, go for a standard bath and fittings.
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