How to Save Money on a Bathroom Renovationby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 07 Jun 2009 06:03 AM It is a great time right now to renovate your home. The cost of building materials are down, and many contractors are lowering their labor charges in order to get work. You can save even more money when you do your projects yourself. Of course, getting your materials cheaply and making smart choices that save more money is even better. Imagine being able to completely renovate a bathroom for a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand? We are currently updating our downstairs half bathroom, doing all of the work ourself. It won't be done as quickly as if we hired a contractor, but it will be done inexpensively. Here are some of the things that we have learned. Save what you can Take a look at what you really need to replace when you are doing a renovation. Homeowners tend to want everything new when renovating, even if they don't need it all to be new. In our example, we are replacing the sub floor and finished floor, the sink and the medicine cabinet, because they are all either in bad shape or hopelessly outdated. But, there is nothing wrong with the toilet, so we are keeping that to reinstall it. Also know that sometimes an update is all that is needed, such as replacing the faucets on the sink to make it look new. Get the best price on what you need Before we were even ready to do our bathroom renovation, we did our research, so we weren't rushed when the time came. When we found a great sink and vanity that included a granite counter for an amazing price, we called around to various stores ad then went ahead and purchased it. Although we purchased our sink in a retail store, there are so many other avenues for supplies. You can purchase online and use coupon codes to reduce the price (many places have a ship to store option to save you on shipping charges. You could also look into buying things wholesale, bartering for items, etc. My best piece of advice is to take your time when shopping. Go ahead and buy pieces one at a time. Unless you are trying to sell your home, going slow will save money in the end. You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here! or subscribe to this blog using the subscription box on the right. Favorite Deal Websites: Related Articles: Bed, Bath & Beyond Coupon Secrets Secret Pillows and Taming Winter Throws The Color of Your Sheets Can Save You Money Tips for Organizing Your Closet Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments StBridgit (322) 09 Jun 2009 09:45 PMWe are at the end point of a remodel of our kids' bathroom as well. We did the work ourselves, and also replaced a subfloor (the old one was dry rotted). Ours was more extensive, though, as we had to replace the tub too. We found that buying light fixtures and sink fittings from the clearance table or rack of our local big box stores helped to save a lot of money. Most holiday weekends we could find a selection of what we needed. Repairing and repainting items is a great way to save money too. We repaired the light fixture in the sink room, and it looks great again. We repainted the over-toilet cabinet to match the new trim and it looks brand new. We also bought 12" x 12" tile mosaics and broke them up into 3"x3" squares and 3" wide strips to accent the floor and tub surround. It was far cheaper than other more expensive tile trims, and only required using a utility knife to cut the webbing holding the mosaic together. Lastly, we borrowed tools from friends and neighbors instead of buying them. A contractor friend has let us borrow his tile saw, a big savings for us. We also borrowed specialty tools as we needed them throughout from neighbors, and accepted their help & expertise when we were unsure about something. We did realize our DIY limits and paid a plumber to relocate the tub fittings, because the old tub had odd offset measurements and those could not be duplicated. Still, that can be a frugal thing, too, to spend some money on an expert instead of trying it ourselves, messing it up, and having to pay to clean it up and still get a pro! Discuss this article
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