Among the most popular updates to a home and one of the biggest value additions a homeowner can make is a basic bathroom upgrade. But with so many features in a bathroom, where can they get the biggest bang for the limited buck?
Tara Linn, a broker at Cornerstone Realty Group in Baltimore, said local homeowners are likely to make the biggest impact at resale if they have at least upgraded their bathroom’s vanity and flooring.
“Even these basic bathroom updates can make a big impression on buyers,” she said.
It’s a conclusion echoed in Remodeling magazine’s 2007 “Cost vs. Value Report.” The report’s research found that a midrange bathroom remodel recovers 85 percent of its cost in this region.
Bathroom vanities come in a huge array or colors and styles, although unfitted-look furniture-piece vanities have become much more popular locally in recent years, said Patricia Filas, a designer at Revisions Remodeling in Ellicott City. Also increasingly popular are the use of small storage cabinets mounted over the toilet.
Some favor a special banjo-style vanity, which swings out over the toilet to provide more counter space.
Saving space in the bathroom is a big issue for many local homeowners, such as those who live in Baltimore’s rowhouses, said Dave House, owner of Budget Bath USA in Carney. In recent years he’s seen many opt for narrow pedestal sinks to save room and mounted cabinets for storage.
Homeowners’ floor options have also grown over the years, and many in the Columbia area are split between the use of either tile or stone with radiant floor heating installed underneath, Filas said.
“It’s a gentle heat that warms the whole room,” she said.
Budget-conscious do-it-yourselfers can skip higher-end upgrades and still make a big impact. House has seen a resurgence in the use of basic 3×6 Subway tiles with black pencil accents.
“A lot of people have older houses and they don’t want to put a contemporary bathroom in the old house,” he said. “They want it to look like it’s naturally there.”
Such basic tile is inexpensive, with most of the cost of installation coming from the labor. But homeowners should heed the professionals’ tips for avoiding problems, which frequently come in the preparation stage of a floor project.
One mistake House has frequently seen is that homeowners tear up the old tile and lay cement-on-mesh products from home improvement stores over their subfloor. However, such bases are not needed because floor tile and its cement mounting paste — including a bonding agent — can be laid directly on the subfloor.
Care also should be taken to match the type of trowel used to spread the cement paste with the tile of tile or stone that will be placed on top of it. Trowels with deeper grooves should be used for laying irregular stones, while trowels with shallower grooves are better for standard tile.
“You don’t want the cement easing up through the grooves,” House said.
BATHROOM FACELIFT:
Visit these sites for more how to and other resources
www.ronhazelton.com/howto/bathroom_floor_tile.htm
www.theflooringlady.com/tiling_bathroom_floors.html
and
www.doityourself.com/stry/installbathvanity
