One of the best upgrades for increasing the value of your home is a bathroom remodel. Cabinet styles and floor plans change every few years and updating these can add comfort and convenience to your home.
The fun part of a remodel is selecting the cabinets, tile and faucets – these are a matter of personal taste and the latest styles, but before you take the plunge (so to speak), it’s best to consider how your remodel will affect the plumbing in your bathroom. A little pre-planning will reveal design holdups, and elements can be modified while investment is still minimal.
It’s important to consider plumbing issues that will be affected by the following:
- Cabinets – That gorgeous vanity or collection of cabinets may greatly affect your plumbing. Expensive re-plumbing issues may prohibit certain layouts, so it’s best to think about that ahead of time. Also, if you want recessed medicine cabinets, make sure that area is clear of pipes.
- Sink drains – The standard size for drains is 1.5 inches. While this is the industry standard and it’s likely adequate, it will narrow over time with hair, soap, and other debris that goes down your bathroom drains. Changing to a 2-inch drain size is a relatively inexpensive upgrade and may save you money in the future with fewer maintenance issues.
- Shower floors – When you’re remodeling, you might be replacing the old shower stall with a new tiled installation. It’s important that your contractor knows how to properly slope the tiles. The drain at the base of your new shower must be installed at the proper angle for adequate drainage.
- Toilet tanks – Will the tank be floor or wall mounted? Will there be one stool or two? This needs to be one of your first considerations. For example, wall-mounted tanks are less common and you may not realize they require drain systems that are hidden and/or recessed.
- Bidets – Some bidets utilize additional water lines that drain through the toilet, and others are separate bowls with their own lines. You’ll need to install plumbing to accommodate a bidet either way.
- Pipes – Pipes inside the bathroom aren’t the only pipes – and when doing a bathroom remodel, you’ll have to figure out the placement of external pipes. Running them along an outside wall is not recommended if you live where cold weather can cause water to freeze inside and burst them. However, if they have to run along an exterior wall because of space limitations, make sure those walls are especially well-insulated and those pipes are heavily wrapped.
Need a Plumber in Raleigh?
Plumbing a new bathroom or a bathroom remodel is a complicated business. It’s best to talk to a professional plumber early in the process. Planning for plumbing issues early on will save time and money, both in construction delays and the unnecessary revisions late in the project. Call Weather Master’s Mr. Plumber if you are in the Raleigh, North Carolina metro area and need help with your bathroom plumbing.