Best Time to Remodel Your Bathroom

If you’re like 68% of homeowners last year (2020), who renovated at least one interior room of their house, then you might be wondering what room to pick.  However, perhaps, maybe you already know you want to improve your kitchen and/or bathroom.  Because they are the most popular rooms to revamp.  Also, Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs Value Report analyzed home improvements based on national, regional, and city level, indicating which improvements had the best returns on investment.  And for Oklahoma City, bathroom remodels had some of the highest ROI in 2020.  So I’ll show you the best time to remodel your bathroom and go over reasons to update it.

Reasons to Remodel Your Bathroom

One of the most common reasons for updating your bathroom is because you plan on selling your home.  Or perhaps your house has been on the market and it’s just stagnating.  Often times doing some improvement in that space can quickly get it sold.  Another common cause to remodel your bathroom is simply due to the fact that you’re just tired with the layout and want something different, similar to 33% of American homeowners from last year.

However bathrooms are one of the fastest areas in our homes to rot and break down due to amount of use, high possibility of water damage, chemicals, and normal to immoderate wear and tear.  Generally speaking, you and your family are the first to know that your bathroom needs an overhaul.  But just in case you need confirmation, below are some issues that demand attention, such as

• Unpleasant smells

This can range from that musty smell, (that has nothing to do with new cologne or animals), to sewage odors.  The musty smells are usually mold and mildew and/or leaking or burst pipes, while the other, more offensive odor can be coming from one or more things.  You could have a broken seal around your toilet, an issue with your shower drain, or a vent pipe that is cut or not properly installed.

• Mold and mildew

Maybe there’s mold or mildew in the tub or in the shower.  And if there are any windows in your bathroom, it could also be there.  Though it seems to never go away.  Or there’s just a lot of it.  Perhaps your house is older, so the mold or mildew is set in and more difficult to clean or keep clean.

But let’s face it, our bathrooms are put through a lot with the humidity created by our baths and showers.  Especially if we don’t have adequate ventilation.  It’s only expected that, in that environment, mold and mildew would eventually take over.

• Plumbing problems

This would be leaky faucets, a running toilet, clogged drains, sewer smells, slow draining tub, and/or low water pressure.

• High utility bills

Do your energy bills seem higher lately?  And if you live in the city and pay for water, what about your water bill?  If, on the other hand, you live in the country and have a well, have you noticed an increase in your electric bill?  If you have higher than normal utility bills, that isn’t due to having a recent pool or spa installed, then it could be due to one or more of the plumbing problems listed above, including a water heater leak.

• Water damage

If you have a two story home, and you notice stains on your ceiling, or even a sagging ceiling, below the bathroom, that indicates water damage, and there could even be a leak.  But peeling paint or wallpaper, damaged floors, mold/mildew, musty smells, wet cabinets, and loose toilets also signal water damage.

• Cramped space

The most common complaints faced by homeowners with small bathrooms are that they’re, well, small.  And this makes it extremely difficult to fit everything essential into the bathroom, including a shower, bath, and storage!  If you have a bathroom that doesn’t have a bath or shower, renovating it to accommodate one will feel more like putting in an addition than a remodel.

• Just ready for a change

And finally, the last hint that your bathroom needs to be made over is you and your opinion.  You’re the one who’s been living with your bathroom.  And maybe that’s been a long time.  Or long enough.  But now perhaps you find yourself looking through home improvement books or Googling things, specifically on bathrooms.  It could be that you want to swap out your current bathtub for a spa-like experience featuring a whirlpool style tub.

When is the Best Time to Remodel Your Bathroom?

Arguably, you could schedule a face-lift for any part of your home, inside and out, at any time.  Because, with the right tools and proper care, most things, if not all, are do-able.  With that being said, there are better times and seasons to do certain jobs.  For instance, most flooring should be installed in the fall or spring.

Although there are conflicting messages out there regarding when to remodel your bathroom, or any room, in your house.  Some suggest that summer is the best season to accomplish this, citing better weather and less energy waste, even with all the revolving doors involved.  And then other sites recommend winter as the optimum season for refurbishing interior rooms.  And the main reasons given for this are the sales and potential savings you would get from a winter remodel.  Then still more places propose early spring as the sensible time for a bath redesign, noting better weather.  But they also point out that it’s just before the busy season of spring and summer.

However I think it all depends on a few things.  Like, for one, where you live.  The sites I referred to are located further north than where I’m at.  For example, one is in Washington and another is in Pennsylvania.  And since this blog mainly focuses on Oklahoma City and the surrounding area, I can safely say that if any room in your house is under construction, and your doors and windows are open during summer, while your A/C is running, your electric bill is going to be a lot higher than normal.  Especially when we hit triple digits with humidity.  Because then it’s nearly unbearable.

Conversely our winters can get bitter cold, mostly due to the wind we seem to have year round.  But we can also experience snow and ice.  And during spring, even when it’s early spring, we have rainy weather, that would make for muddy footprints being dragged into our homes.  Therefore, because of those extreme temperatures and weather conditions, a winter, spring, or summer bathroom remodel in Oklahoma isn’t the most pragmatic decision.

Benefits of a Fall Remodel

With most types of interior home improvement work, contractors go in and out of your house.  Also, windows and doors need to be open, if new flooring is being installed or if the room is being painted.  And since the weather isn’t extreme, fall is the best time to remodel your bathroom.  Of course this is also dependent on what your renovating needs and desires are.

Nationally, when thinking about revamping their bathrooms, most homeowners indicated they wanted to update their floors and refresh the finish on their walls.  Which is only second to changing out the faucets.  And in the case of sprucing up the walls with either paint or wallpaper, the temperature needs to be moderate.  Likewise, I already mentioned that most flooring choices need to be installed during mild or pleasant temperatures.  Or the flooring needs to acclimate before installation, if there are extreme temperatures.  Otherwise you risk damaging your new floors, or there will be issues with them, and they won’t last as long.

However most people have tile laid in their bathrooms.  And it’s true that tile is more forgiving compared to wood, laminate, and other flooring options when considering the optimal time to have it placed.  Although, with that being said, if there are extreme temperatures, it affects the curing time for the mortar to set up.  Which means if it’s too cold, it will take much longer for the tile work to be completed.  And if it’s too hot or humid, it will set up a lot faster, possibly too fast for the tiler.

Putting it All Together

Similar to renovating your floors, if you want to save money, you could pick out your materials in winter, with the option of booking something in the fall the following year.  That would give you plenty of time to check out the many remodeling contractors available.  And to see who would work best with you and your budget.  Because, ultimately, it’s really your decision.  These are merely guidelines to help you.

If we could help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to give Daystar Handyman a call.