Things To Consider When Doing A Bathroom Renovation

Things To Consider When Doing A Bathroom Renovation

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Whether you're renovating yourself, or you've hired a professional, these are the important things to remember when giving your bathroom a fresh new look.

bathroom renovation

Wet Area Grade

If you've pulled an old bathroom out and you're starting afresh, the wet area surfaces must be wet area grade. The walls, the floors, and all the linings installed are wet area grade.

Stay away from standard gyprock and plaster board that you'd use in a dry area. It needs to be wet area grade, such as cement sheeting or fibre cement sheeting. It's a choice when you speak to different builders and renovators. 

Waterproofing

Waterproofing is the other critical piece in a bathroom renovation. You can do this yourself, however it is recommended to get a professional or a waterproofer to do this because you get a warranty from both the manufacturer and the applicator.

The important piece on this is that waterproofing extends up to the height of the shower head. It must be the full shower width and height of the walls of where the tiles are going.

Ensure that the waterproofing membrane is approved, so important questions to ask your waterproofer are:

- What is the brand of product you are using?

- Does it give you a warranty? (It should be a minimum of 10 years for a waterproofing application.)

- Does it give you a warranty?

- Does the product comply to the Australian standard?

A good waterproof membrane should last the life of the tiles. 

 

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Tiles

The other piece on the bathroom renovation is your selection of tiles. Many people like to find good bargains from tile outlets that are on special, however down the track they find out that the tiles are not really designed for a wet area.

With some of the cheap imported tiles, if the glaze is weak when you've got temperature variations between hot and cold water, you can have that glaze craze and it's like a little webbing effect that'll happen on the tile face.

Important to ensure that if you're buying tiles that are on a good price, that they are wet area recommended. Ensure the tile merchant can confirm that and warranty it, and then you've got yourself a good bargain.

Go with the tile that can stand up to constant moisture, so they shouldn't discolour, they should be glazed. If they're not glazed then they might need to be sealed and ask those questions before you go and buy them and install them.

Grouts 

Ensure the grouts are mould resistance, because it's always in a constant wet and damp environment. It will always discolour if it can't handle the bacteria, the scums, the soaps, the shampoos, all the things that happen in shower alcoves.

Doesn't matter how well you clean them, and even the cleaning agents can discolour grouts so ensure you've got a good quality grout that's being used. 

Silicons

Get a good quality silicon that's mould resistant, designed for shower alcoves and you can select the colour of the grout to match your silicon or vice versa. But ensure it is a moisture resistant silicon designed for wet areas. Not something that might be for roof gutter etc, it's important it's a wet area grade for bathrooms and shower alcoves.

 

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Paints

In a bathroom, the paint you use needs to be a mould and mildew resistant paint. 

Monsta paints are designed to go in any area and can handle moisture and dampness and humid environments like a bathroom.

When you're selecting your paints, again just like the tiles, don't go and get a cheap paint and put it in that bathroom and then find you've got mould or peeling happening on the paint later on.

A good quality paint will be there forever. But the paint needs to be able to stand up to that environment. These are not areas where you go and look for cheap shortcuts.

It's important to invest in a good quality product that's performing for that environment, with the steam and the humidity in the room and the temperature changes. You know that your renovation, your bathrooms always going to look like it did from day one when you had completed the renovation.

 

Fans

Ensure fans are suitable for the size of the room. Many pick a small fan thinking that it won't be so intrusive, however when they put it on and there's a shower going on, particularly if you've got low ceilings to the floor, it's not enough to absorb the steam out of the room. That's not healthy to have that steam just sitting in there, even if you've got a good mould resistant paint, you don't want that steam sitting around. It should be exhausted out from a good exhaust fan.

So get a fan that can handle all that environment and you'll ensure that you've always got something that will function correctly and not create any dampness issues in the bathroom, on the bathroom surfaces as well.

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Railings

While you're going to want a railing design that fits in with your look, don't forget the practicality side of things also. 

You don't want to end up chucking towels over the shower screen or on the bath. Good rails you can hold a couple of decent towels and why not try one with a heating system in it? They cost a little bit more, but a great investment for your bathroom renovation.

 

Need some professional advice on your bathroom renovation? Speak with a Monsta Pro and get all your questions answered in a one-on-one Skype session.