The influence of remodeling shows on HGTV and other channels continue to influence what people want in their bathrooms.
“Overall, people want a spa-like feeling in their master bath,” says Doug King, owner of King Contracting in St. Petersburg, Fla. He is the secretary for NARI (National Association for Remodelers Industry) for 2017-2018. “But everyone wants tile and glass for their showers.”
According to the Remodeling Magazine’s 2017 Cost vs Value Report, you can recoup 70 percent of your job cost of $19,134 if you did a mid-range priced bathroom remodel and then sold your house. If you did an upscale bathroom remodel for $61,662, you‘d only get back about 56.2 percent of that cost when putting your home on the market.
So, being smart with the choices you make in your bathroom can not only make you happy but buyers happy once you sell.
King, who works with realtors all the time in his area, says that the rule of thumb is whatever you spend on a remodeled bathroom or kitchen, you can recoup in three years.
But sometimes, you don’t have to do a complete remodel to add value. Adding new lighting, a newer, taller modern toilet or putting in a new floor can add tremendous appeal to you and to future homeowners. Even painting or adding wallpaper can put some spark back into a dull room.
Here are some of the popular trends – some costly and some inexpensive — that can spruce up your bathroom and add some value:
Check today’s refinance rates.
Walk-in shower obsession
King is constantly taking out tubs from people’s homes, especially older clients, and replacing with large showers. “Most clients in their late 40s and older are not looking for tubs, only for the grandkids in a guest bathroom,” he adds.
“Sometimes, people do go with a deeper soaking tub. But we rip up more tubs and add showers with dual shower heads and multi-function diverter valves.”
He’s also seeing more linear drains instead of the round one in the middle of the shower.
“It’s off to the side and with full width of the shower. It looks like a disappearing drain,” he adds.
Vanity glam
Freestanding vanities with legs and open shelves are being seen more now, King says. They look like nice furniture.
He’s also getting requests for the distressed look, many times gray or slate, for their guest bathroom vanities. A new mirror in front of the vanity can also add great appeal and modernize the look.
Flooring phenomenon
People are tending to go with larger tiles for floors and walls, and then putting a matching countertop for the vanity.
Retro tile comeback
Penny tiles are back on the scene of remodeling. They can be expensive, so some people are doing an accent wall with them. In fact, one of King’s clients requested penny tiles from floor to ceiling behind the shower, and then continued the tiles throughout that one wall to the other side.
Fan quietness
King now makes it a standard order in all his bathroom remodels for low sound exhaust fans. “They are so quiet, that many times people call me and say the fan isn’t working. But it is,” he says.
Barn door delight
HGTV shows have made the barn door quite popular.
“You can make a barn door any style you want. It just depends on the type of door you want,” King says. “They all run on the same type of railing. Usually, we put them in the master suite going into the master bathroom.”
Muted color connection
The bathrooms being remodeled in Florida lately, he says, have a color scheme of cool colors such as grays, whites and blues.
Quartz sparkle
Quartz is replacing granite in the bathrooms with polished chrome fixtures, King states.
Luminous lighting
King has had several of his customers ask for lights built in the bathroom mirrors and also with anti-fogging abilities.
According to Realtor.com, the use of natural stone for bathrooms is on the rise, along with digitally controlled smart toilets and steam showers.
To complete a remodel of a bathroom from ceiling to floor, King says to expect at least 10 weeks from the start of planning to the contractors finishing it.
“There are three to four weeks of planning, getting permits pulled, and getting supplies ordered,” he adds. “I make my client pick out all the materials before starting the job. I don’t schedule a job until everything is picked out. You don’t want to be waiting around for the vanity that takes five weeks, and there are workers there that have nothing to do.”
