Budget for bathroom renovation
How have you thought you could renovate your bathroom? Use external help or do it yourself? Renovation of a bathroom is often a neglected activity that gets shoved under the carpet for a variety of reasons. Budget is an important criterion that holds this back, as the amount that is normally required is not that low, and hence lot of people feel that a bathroom does not require to be renovated for an amount that they feel is not worth it.
Budget often becomes the first step towards a successful completion of any project, and bathroom renovation is no different. Adhering to the fixed budget and making sure you do not shoot more than fifteen percent of what has been planned is a key to the formula. Many house owners do not want to take care of the hassles associated with this work and hence outsource this work to a contractor. In such cases, there are a few steps that you need to be careful about. Make sure that the contractor has relevant licenses to carry out the activity. After this is ascertained, ask him to submit a quote with a detailed plan of work. This plan should contain stages for completion with dates clearly mentioned, which he has to adhere to. You can also ask him to submit the break up of the price quoted, which should clearly have details about the prices of materials to be used for the renovation.
Another option is ofcourse the self help option. This option is successful only if the work to be taken up is of a very aesthetic nature and does not require too much of construction activity. In such cases, you should make a list if items that you intend to change or repair, research on prices of different brands available in the market, choose good shops that offer you good deals and make the purchases yourself. Here, you can utilize a local laborer or plumber or even an electrician to do related jobs as piece meal. The biggest disadvantage in such circumstances is that since you are not an expert in such jobs, you might not be able to calculate the requirements to the correct level and end up ordering less than the actual requirement. This leads to shortage of materials which in turn holds up work. In these cases, since you pay the laborers on a daily basis, the wage bill might be higher than expected. Shoddy work can also be a result, as you might be taken for a ride by these plumbers or electricians.
If you have good knowledge about the materials required and places to shop these for, then it is a good idea to hand over the labor contract to a licensed contractor, while you take care of the purchases. This helps you keep the budget tight while ensuring that you do not have to deal directly with the workmen.