Welcome to my blog containing various tips on do's and don’ts for renovating your bathroom / bathrooms.
Before I start my blog on the subject matter: How to Renovate my Bathroom, right, the first time, a little introduction to my company and what we strive for:
"De Witt Bathrooms (Pty) Ltd, was founded on the dream of becoming the leading online bathroom products service provider for an all-inclusive home and business improvement experience, effortlessly ensuring that you our valued client can shop with the peace of mind you deserve, purchasing your product/s and having it delivered to your doorstep.
Since the company’s inception, has it surpassed all expectations, in its approach to becoming the preferred online service provider for any and all bathroom related products. De Witt Bathrooms (Pty) Ltd personify the epitome of style fused with individual character, as this is evident in all its past projects to produce a breathtakingly themed bathroom.
Our strength lies in the fact that we are a family business, and therefore all the care in the world is taken with every aspect of the renovation service and online experience we provide. Our extremely competent staff has vast experience and knowledge in the industry. Our philosophy of friendliness, product knowledge and excellent service enables us to stand out of the crowd.
Our quality control ensures a finished product that you can be proud of. At De Witt Bathrooms (Pty) Ltd, we strive to give you the customer, quality, value for money and above all, service excellence.
De Witt Bathrooms (Pty) Ltd, flourish on the single most crucial characteristic that sets it apart from its competitors, this being quality and real satisfaction 1st, profits 2nd. We constantly strive to deliver a timely project with diligence and precision, thus ensuring a satisfying experience for our most valued of assets, namely YOU our clients. For an alteration, building or renovation experience out of this world, not to mention an Online purchase experience of note, with specialist emphasize on your bathroom, give us an opportunity to quote you our prospective client, on that which you so desperately want done well, improving your property, improving your life."
Although you might find this Blog a bit lengthy, my advice is that you 'bookmark' this Blog in order for you to revert back and finish reading before attempting to renovate your bathroom/s.
Now we can start by immediately discussing your needs and desires, dreams and wishes for your new bathroom, but I always first and foremost ask to my clients, what sort of budget have you got to your disposal for renovating your bathroom?
Some would argue this is rude of me to start the conversation of by asking outright what sort of budget do you have to renovating your bathroom, but I always say, no it’s not, because what is the point of dreaming outside your allowed budget? Just disappointment. As with everything in life, everything costs money, and although we only want the best, what can I really afford? Simply put, there is no 'benchmark' when it comes to determining your bathroom renovation budget, however, spending some time and doing some simple research can go a long way to determine what sort of budget will be applicable for your bathroom renovation project.
The second question then comes to mind, what size bathroom are we looking at, and for this purpose I always apply the following simple matrix, you either have a small, medium sized or large bathroom? I quantify these 3 sizes as follows: A small bathroom is in the vicinity of +- 15 to 20 square meters, whereas a medium sized bathroom ranges say from 21 to 26 square meters and a large bathroom ranging from 27 square meters upwards.
Taking the above into consideration, and before we continue, ask yourself the following question, for what purpose am I renovating my bathroom? Is it just to push up the value of your house / home for resale purposes, or is this bathroom renovation intended to ensure a better lifestyle? Either way, you know you want to do it right, the first time, and that the end product should reflect your dreams and hopes of a more beautiful and luxurious bathroom, not to mention a quality lifestyle!
Well let’s kick off then with some dos and don’ts, and we’ll get back to the whole budget discussion a bit later down the conversation, shall we?
You should maybe think twice before making these 2 bathroom renovation blunders…….
Not all Home Renovations is created equal. Some upgrades may add immense value to your home, while’s others may not fully pay off at the time of resale. Some renovations might even have a negative and detrimental outcome, when it is time to sell your home.
1. Removing the bathtub
If it is in your immediate future to sell your home, then maybe you should really reconsider removing the bathtub to make space for a bigger shower. This is even truer if it is the only bathtub in the house or in the main bathroom? Why? Well simply put, the absence of a bathtub means you have to shower the children, which for obvious reasons will immediately disqualify your home for many home-buyers.
Alternative: If you really want that sexy big frame-less shower in place of the bathtub, make sure you do this in your en-suite only! There should always be a bathtub in your primary bathroom.
2. Enlarging the en-suite at the expense of another bedroom
While most home-buyers love to see a spacious spa-like en-suite in the home, appropriating space from an adjacent bedroom or replacing the bedroom with a larger en-suite bathroom all-together, can and will work against you come the time to sell your home. More often than not, home-buyers place a higher value on having sufficient bedrooms in the home than on the presence of a large en-suite.
Alternative: If enlarging your bathroom means deducting space from another room, look to your master bedroom rather than taking from another room. Many master bedrooms do have pockets of unused space, so expanding your en-suite within the master bedroom can still leave you with sufficient space.
3. Adding a counter top sink
To best describe a counter top sink, is to explain it as a type of bathroom sink that looks like a washbasin sitting on top of the counter. These sinks have been popular for many years and can add a modern and attractive feel to your bathroom. The reality is that they tend to be a love it or hate it type of product. In other words, you might scare off potential home-buyers who don’t like the look. Counter Top sinks also tend to have a high splash point when water hits them too forcefully. Potential home-buyers with small children might see this as some sort of a drawback and a negative.
Alternative: Rather opt to install an under the counter sink to renew the look of your bathroom.
At the end of the day, the best alterations / renovations are the ones that makes YOU happy, because after all, your home is your home, just always keep the resale potential of your home in mind, in any changes you make!
Before we continue with the blog in general, which will be covering a lot of bathroom renovation subjects, tips and do's and don'ts, let's first discuss "The Bathroom Renovation process; explained step by step".
Renovating your bathroom is a systematic chain of events to ultimately achieve the goal of producing a flawless masterpiece. Yes, you heard right, a masterpiece! Here at De Witt Bathrooms we call it “bathroom art”, because let’s be honest – spending all that money on a new bathroom you want us to create art, and that’s exactly what we do.
Now, let’s get to the phases of renovating your bathroom …
Phase 1 – Breaking process
The very first step in renovating your bathroom is the breaking process. This involves taking hammers and chisels and physically removing all the old products, for instance, all the wall and floor tiles, the basin, toilet, bath, shower, old galvanized piping, etc. After this has been completed, phase 2 kicks in, which entails the plumbing.
Phase 2 – Plumbing process
Some houses are very old, and so is the plumbing. To prevent any pipes from leaking, De Witt Bathrooms removes all galvanized piping to be replaced with copper tubing. Some clients opt for a complete removal of all galvanized pipes but others try to save money on this portion of the project. To give our clients complete ease of mind that no leaks will occur after the renovation project, we have to replace all galvanized pipes with new copper tubing. If a client insists on not removing the galvanized piping, we unfortunately cannot provide our client with our 12-month post-renovation guarantee on workmanship. In the past we have had an incident where after the project a galvanized pipe starting leaking and we had to open up again, repair and re-tile.
Not replacing the galvanized piping can – after completion of the project – affect the water pressure to the shower mixer, bath, toilet, basins, etc., since we cannot see inside the pipes to determine whether they are rusted or not. Over time, rust causes a build-up in the pipes, which can severely affect the water pressure from the geyser for instance, to all plumbing points in the bathroom. At De Witt Bathrooms we always try to convince our clients to follow the route of replacing any and all galvanized piping, but the customers’ wish always trumps, so we will, in consultation with the client, make the best possible decision regarding the plumbing portion of the renovation project.
Phase 3 – The Tiling Process
This is visually probably the most important part of the bathroom renovation project, because let’s face it, we can have the most comprehensive plumbing done, to perfection, but if the tiling process is done incorrectly, the entire project fails. We have learned from experience that not being able to get this critical part of the project right will have disastrous consequences for the bathroom renovation project.
We have you covered in this regard, because De Witt Bathrooms prides itself on employing the best tilers in the industry. We spend top dollar on our tradesman, to ensure we employ the best of the best.
Phase 4 – The Fitment Process
During this phase we commence with the fitment of all the products, for example, the new bath (whether it is a freestanding bath or built in). Normally if it is a built-in bath, we would have already had the bath built in before the tiling process commences, during the plumbing phase of the project.
Once all the products have been fitted, a proper test is performed to determine any water leaks on the products itself, or any malfunctions. Once we are 100% satisfied that all the products / components function as they should, the cleaning process begins. At this point we cannot perform a deep clean of the bathroom, as we always maintain that things must get dry before you can really start splashing water and soap. For instance, silicone must dry and set before washing can commence, tile grout must dry out properly before attempting to wash the tiles, and so forth. In other words, we do a clean-up, but ultimately a thorough cleaning of the new bathroom is the responsibility of the client, a few days after we have actually completed the bathroom renovation project.
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