If you follow interior designers on Instagram or Pinterest you may be under the impression that everyone updates their bathroom every couple of years. However, the reality is that most people leave it at least four to five years before making any design refreshes and many bathroom appliances remain in place for a decade or more.
How soon you need to update your bathroom depends a lot on whether every appliance is still functioning properly, how much time you have available, and how much you are willing to spend.
Quick touches to update a bathroom on a budget
Whilst installing a new shower and bathroom suite is an expensive and time-consuming process, there are numerous smaller tweaks you can make to bring some life back into your bathroom and turn it into a more relaxing sanctuary.
1. Repaint the walls
The dampness and steam in bathrooms means that paintwork can start to look tired after only a couple of years. Luckily, however, repainting the room is a job you can do yourselves on a pretty tight budget. A weekend should give you enough time to give the walls and ceiling a couple of coats of paint, and the clean new colours will breathe new life into the room for under £100.
2. Regrout the tiling
Even if you look after the tiles in your bathroom well, the white grouting between the tiles will start to discolour and look a little shabby after a couple of years and so regrouting is a great way to add a little shine back into the room. You can redo the grouting yourself, but a handyman will get the job done more quickly and will have the right tools and knowledge for the job, so it might be worth investing in a few hours of labour.
3. Change the mirror
The bathroom mirror is often the focal point in the room, and so changing it up can bring a whole new look your bathroom. You can buy brand new mirrors relatively cheaply from shops like Ikea or Homebase, or for something a little more interesting it might be worth exploring a local antique auction.
How do you know it’s time to remodel?
The small tweaks above can refresh the look of your bathroom without serious investment of time or money, but sometimes it might be best to redo the whole room. Bathroom remodels can be expensive, so it is important to find a reputable company to get the work done on time and under budget. According to the Essex-based bathroom fitters HGM Mechanical, accreditations to look out for when choosing a company to remodel your bathroom include City and Guilds, CHAS, WRAS.
If you are wondering whether you should update your bathroom soon, here are three signs that it is the right time to do so:
1. Appliances are starting to fail
The most obvious sign it is time to completely upgrade your bathroom is that your appliances have started to fail. Many appliances will suffer small problems throughout their lives that can be fixed by an engineer, but if these issues have started to be more common or more than one appliance is breaking at the same time – it could be time for a complete upgrade.
2. You can’t get rid of a smell
Bathrooms should feel clean, and that is impossible if there is a pungent smell coming from the drains or one of the appliances. First Call Drainage, who offer drainage solutions in Grays and Dartford say that clogged drains and toilets are two of the most common plumbing issues facing most home owners, and whilst a commercial drain unblocker may work for occasional problems, if you have the problem regularly then a specialist may be required.
3. You’ve found a leak
Small leaks can be investigated and fixed relatively quickly, but if you start to have any major leaks from under the shower or bath, then you may have a more serious problem. It could be the sealant around the shower base that needs replacing, but it could be the whole unit, which could be a good reason to upgrade all the appliances together and remodel the whole room.
