Renovation is a necessity. Without it, there is uncontrolled decay, and what should last a long time can succumb to the inevitable ravages of time.
There isn’t a fine old building in the world that has not been updated and upgraded from time to time, and even if your home doesn’t exactly fall into the category of historic properties, it still needs some work every few years. That means money, of course, and no one wants to spend more than they need to, so we find ourselves looking at questions to which there may be no definite answer. How much does a 5 x 10 bathroom remodel cost? How much does a 10 x 10 bathroom remodel cost? Twice as much? Is there a handy figure for the cost of bathroom renovation per square foot?
Ballpark Figures That Can Give You Something to Work With
Here is the good news: this doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Let’s put it this way: how does $5,000 sound? If that is your budget – all you can lay your hands on at the moment – you can get a certain amount done for that price. On the other hand, if you have had some sort of windfall, for instance, and decided to spend it all on doing up the bathroom, you could blow $100,000 on it. If you really wanted to.
But the real answer to “How much does it cost to remodel a small bathroom?” is somewhere between those two figures. It all depends on what needs to be done – or perhaps how little needs to be done to have the desired effect.
A Little Can Go a Long Way
So, what is it that is letting your bathroom down? Do you have practical issues such as dripping faucets and a temperamental flush? Replacing the faucets and having a new toilet cistern fitted can be done quite cheaply. The trouble is, once this sort of thing starts happening, it can mean it’s going to be one thing after another. Your bathroom is well and truly past the honeymoon period, and you may have to bite the bullet and set it up for another 20 years. You have to do it with your car, and it’s the same with the property: sooner or later, the end of an era comes, and it’s time to start a new one.
It comes as a pleasant surprise to some people to find that a 10×10 bathroom remodel versus a 5×10 bathroom is not alarmingly different. But when you think about it, what is contained in those rooms is basically the same equipment: a bathtub (maybe), a shower unit (maybe), a basin, a toilet, and possibly a bidet (these are not as fashionable as they were, but they do still exist). So, all this hardware is pretty much the same, and therefore it costs the same.
What costs more in a bigger bathroom remodel is the decoration: there is more surface area to cover, be that with paint or tiles, so that can add a few dollars, or maybe quite a lot of dollars if you’re using expensive tiles. There is also the labor to factor in: while a skilled painter or tiler could finish a small room in a day or even a morning could turn into a couple of days or more.
It’s the same with the flooring, which may or may not be tiles too, or something like cushioned vinyl sheets, which can be laid a lot faster. If you are looking to keep the costs down, then this is the kind of thing you have to consider: making economies where you can without sacrificing the overall effect.
Look at it as an Investment
The cost of bathroom renovation per square foot may be hard to quantify, but how about looking at it as the cost per year you get out of it? The job you have done now should last a long time. Maybe 20 years is a realistic aim. Get a really good job done, and the bathroom can be a pleasure to use for a long period. But if you do it on the cheap or in bits and pieces, you’ll be doing it again sooner than you would like.
Perhaps the best idea would be to use the $5,000 – $50,000 range as a very rough guide and decide how much you really want to spend, then put that to a good bathroom fitting company and see what they say they can do. If you want a full, comprehensive job using top-quality materials and fittings, they will work it out and give you an estimate. If all you want is a quickie, replacing only the essentials, they can work to that brief.
The real cost of a bathroom renovation in Cleveland, Ohio, can be as much as you are prepared to shell out, but remember, you only get what you pay for, so look at it as an investment, and invest wisely.
