Bathroom Makeover Timeline - Home Trends Magazine

Text by Blair Korchinski

Bathroom makeovers are always a challenge. If you only have one bathroom, or one full bathroom, they are even more challenging. Even if you have multiple baths, it is likely that members of your household will end up sharing facilities they aren’t used to sharing. Careful planning will minimize the length of time you have to live without a bathroom.

For the purposes of this example, we’ll assume that you plan to install laminate flooring from Armstrong.com and do the carpentry and drywall yourself, but have hired subcontractors for the plumbing, electrical, and tile work. Remember that because of the small size of the room, it is likely that only one contractor can work in there at a time. We’ll also assume that this is a complete makeover, with every fixture and one wall being moved.

Week One

Day 1: Have the plumber and electrician cut off service to the bathroom being renovated. If possible, they should keep any service to the rest of the house operating.

Begin demolition. Remove toilet, sink and tub.

Strip flooring to sub floors.

Day 2: Finish demolition. Remove any walls that are to be relocated. If supporting walls are being removed, remember to install temporary supports.

Inspect all inner walls, sub floors and joists for water damage.

Day 3: Begin rough carpentry.

Replace or repair any damaged sub floor, joists, or wall studs that need to be replaced.

Build any new walls.

Day 4: Continue rough carpentry.

Build any rough openings for windows and doors.

Day 5: Prepare floors as per instructions of the flooring contractor.

Install new window.

Week Two:

Day 6: Have plumber and electrician rough-in plumbing and wiring.

Day 7: Continue electrical and plumbing rough-in.

Day 8: Have inspection done.

Begin insulating outer walls.

Day 9: Finish insulation and install vapor barriers.

Begin installing wallboard, as per the instructions of tile installer.

Note: It is important that you use the right type of wallboard in the right places when doing a bathroom makeover.

Day 10: Begin taping and applying drywall compound.

Week 3

Day 11: Finishing taping and sanding.

Begin painting (primer coat).

Day 12: Finish painting.

Install tub, shower and vanity with sink.

Install cabinetry.

Day 13: Tile around tub.

Tile vanity.

Day 14: Tile floor.

Day 15: Tile grouting. (caulking)

Week four

Day 16: Touch-up painting.

Install toilet.

Have plumber make final hook-ups and install fixtures.

Day 17: Have electrician make final hook-ups and install fixtures.

Apply caulking.

Install door and door trim.

A bathroom can be done much more quickly of course. A bath and kitchen contractor may be able to complete a project like this in as little as week, assuming that everything goes exactly as planned.

Most major makeovers run closer to a month though, especially in older homes where more carpentry work tends to be needed. The small room means that there is seldom more than one thing happening at a time.

Redoing your bathroom, especially if you make an average room into a luxury room, is well worth the time.

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Canadian Home Trends magazine gives you a personal tour of the most stunning homes and condos across Canada. You'll be inspired by a selection of accessible home décor products, trend reports, simple yet stylish DIY projects, and much more. In each issue, you are given the tools to recreate designer spaces you've always dreamt of having at home, in-depth renovation and design advice, colour palette and furniture pairings, and Canada's best places to shop.