Home Improvement Guide
Let Me Show You the Way!

As your home improvement guide it is important for me to know what you like and dislike about your current home. That is why you just completed your home improvement how to lists. It wasn't too bad, was it?

Reviewing the ranking that you gave each item shows all of us the degree of difficulty for each task. Remember? Cosmetic was considered easy, minor requires more skills, tools, time and labor and major may mean that you call for help from your team.

Ok, let's take that list and make sense of it. As your home improvement guide, for this section, I am going to assume that you have one or more projects you are considering. If you are only looking for help with individual tasks, go to the How to Remodel Workshop.

Every project will be different. In order to break into any type of explanation, I need to use a real remodel as a home improvement guide. Whenever possible, I will relate the common elements to you. If ever this information is unclear or doesn't transfer, please contact me so that I can further assist you.

Five years ago, a family requested a bid on re-doing their entire second floor. They had cosmetic, minor and major work to be done. They also had company coming in the same time frame. Because of this, we decided to break up the larger project into 3 smaller ones.

Money was not an issue, so we did the major project first, a year later, we did the minor project and 6 months later we completed the master plan by doing the cosmetic projects.

What if money is an issue? As in, can you do the cosmetic fixes while you save or wait to receive the money for the larger projects? It depends on a case by case basis, so let's review this remodel with that question in mind.

This was the layout in the beginning. The major remodel included gutting the existing master bathroom(item labeled as 1) and starting over. The minor project was removing and replacing features in the hall bathroom(item labeled as 2) and the cosmetic fixes included re-painting and re-carpeting the bedrooms A, B, C and D.

As your home improvement guide, my answer to the question just posed, would be this: A and B can be successfully fixed up before either 1 or 2 are done. Why? Because these rooms are removed from the major and minor remodel areas. Nothing in my discussions with the family indicated that there will ever be any impact to these rooms.

In the planning stages, we don't know what impact work in 1 or 2 may have on C or D. Because of that, as your home improvement guide, I would not recommend remodeling either room until after the major and minor work has been done.

The next question would be whether you could do the minor work before the major work. In this case, since there are no common walls, I would say that would be acceptable to do. Because of the common wall between C and 1, I would still not want to do any work in C at this point.

Please consider this sequencing very carefully. As your home improvement guide, I don't want you to remodel the remodel in a year.

The original instructions that I received from my homeowner were that the master bathroom did not work and the master closet was too small. They wanted to completely start over. But, as is often the case, they couldn't see how to make the changes.

Visualization is the biggest challenge when you remodel. It is often hard to see the space without the walls and doors. As your home improvement guide, I believe that this is where a lot of money and time are wasted. Because you can't visualize the room without the walls and existing doors, you might miss a solution that is very simple and cost effective.

That is why I recommend creating a drawing that has no walls, doors or fixtures in it. This is your clean slate to draw your new home remodeling future on. For instructions on how to do this, refer to the this page.

The next step is to decide what permanent features you want for the space you are remodeling. In this case, they wanted a steam shower, a jetted tub, the toilet, a double vanity and a few cabinets for storage.

What comes first the chicken or the egg? Do you build the space to match the fixtures that you want or do you buy those first and make them fit?

First of all, as your home improvement guide, I advise you to not buy anything. Paper is a whole lot cheaper than any plumbing fixture. Definitely plan it out completely before you buy.

Here is how I determine which to do and in what order. I make my drawing to scale - preferably large enough to play with. This may mean that you take a smaller drawing down to the local copy shop and enlarge it. I also make cutouts of all the different kinds of fixtures that are available. These are also to scale and can be enlarged at the same rate. Then, I sit down at the drawing board and move them around until I find the perfect fit for all items. This method works for the minor remove and replace bathroom as well.

How will you know the sizes of things? Well, one way is to look at the list I have compiled for you in the workbook. The other way is to get home design software that has a library of these items included.

You are not done. After you have decided on placement you need to actually go shop for these items.

When you have settled on the right product, do 2 things. The first is to order the building specification sheets on each item. The second is to get a physical verification on those dimensions. If the product is in the store, measure it yourself. If it is a special order item, call them and have them do it for you. As mentioned in the home remodeling plan section, make sure you get the contact name and phone number of the individual that does this measuring.

Whew! Lots of work. Now that you have actual dimensions, write them down on your cutout and add through. Does everything fit? If so, rock on. If not, let's re-evaluate.

For starters, the shower pan and walls can be customized if you work with the right company. Does it work now? No. Now the tub is too big. Can you get a smaller tub? No, not and keep this configuration and you like it alot.

Can you move the wall? Look on both sides of that wall! Well, yes, it might work. But if you move the wall, then the closet in room C has to go, because of the window in that room.

Geez, one thing leads to another.(Oh, by the way, that is a slogan in home remodeling.)

Ok, so move the closet. Now does it work? Well, yes, except you really want a vanity top cabinet that is 12" deep,not the standard 6". No problem, remember, you just moved that wall! Create a false wall behind the vanity and the space in between will hide the extra depth of your cabinet. Wow! You are ready, your plan is done!

Oops! As you measured through you realized that the shower goes right through the existing window. Now what? Relax, as your home improvement guide, have I let you down yet?

Can the shower be shortened? No. Can the window be moved? Before answering this, look inside and out. No brick work because it is on the second floor that is sided with masonite lap siding. Good. No problems inside, because it would look better to have the window over the tub anyway. Great, move on. Now you are done, right?

When reading through the spec sheets on the tub and shower, you realized that you forgot to provide access to the operating mechanisms of both. How do you know what to do with these. There is a drawing on the sheet, but, you don't see how that will work with your space. Uh oh.

First of all, don't fret, call your local building department for advice and instruction. If that still does not solve the problem, send your question to me, your trusty home improvement guide or pose it to the engineer or contractor on your team.

Refer to the Home Remodel Design Workbook for a step by step analysis of this project. Oh, and if you want to see the real finished pictures of it, go to the bathroom remodeling photo gallery.

Great job! You have accomplished alot in this session. I hope that I have been a helpful home improvement guide. Now, let me be your home remodeling guide. Notice the change in terminology? You just went from thinking about your project to doing it. Return from home improvement guide to Cost Remodeling