Are you contemplating including an ensuite in your bedroom?
Irrespective of whether it's your own bedroom, your guest bedroom, or your children's bedroom, this can be a good choice for any house.
For one thing, you can ease congestion in the bathroom during the morning, and for another, you can create a separate, private space.
This can be very useful if you want your own private place to get away or if you have an idea of providing a relaxing, stress-free environment for your family or any visitors you may have to stay with you.
Whatever the case may be, adding an ensuite to any one of your bedrooms is not a small project and requires some careful thought and planning. That’s exactly why we’ve created this guide.
Read on to find out more about building and decorating an ensuite bathroom in your home.
Decide Where You Want It
One of the first things you need to do, and often one of the easiest decisions to make is to think about which bedroom you want to add the ensuite to.
There is, in most cases, some logical explanation for this, such as you necessarily want to put it in your bedroom, your guest room, etc. Or perhaps there is only one viable option in your property, a bedroom with an office or large wardrobe attached that can easily be converted.
Whatever, you have to at least have an idea where you want to put the extra bathroom and must be 100% sure you are pleased with this choice before starting to build.
Determine If You Need Planning Permission
In most cases, you will not be required to get planning permission if you are transforming an existing part of the property into a bathroom.
That being said if the ensuite is part of a house extension or if your home is a listed building, you may be required to get permission.
For a start, it's probably best to check with your local planning authority anyway, as you don't want to find out that you've fallen foul of the rules halfway through construction (or even completion) of a build and have to tear things down.
If you require planning permission, ensure that you have completed all, if necessary, application forms to the best of your ability. If you're feeling stuck, ask a professional for help to get this part of the process done.
Make Sure the Ensuite Meets Your Needs
When you start to create an ensuite you should guarantee that it will fulfil all your requirements. For instance, is it a compact bathroom and you just want it to be functional, with a toilet and a sink? Or perhaps you want to add a bath as you don’t currently have one in your house?
Anyway, you must be sure that your journey of toil and expense will produce an ensuite as close to your requirement as its length and your budget permit. Thus please think and plan well before you even start to buy or constructing anything.
Make a Detailed Checklist
It's not just worth missing out on the most minute of the details and as much as possible draw up a checklist of what's to be done in the bathroom and what you aim to have in the room. Your list might include items like:
- Wall demolition or reconstruction
- Plumbing
- Electrics
- Plastering
- Laying tiles or tiling the walls
- Installing new appliances
- Painting the walls
- Waterproofing and adding silicone to joints
- Finishing touches and decorations
You could even break each of these items down into smaller lists, making note of estimated costs, materials needed and how long you anticipated each stage will take.
Decide Who Will Do the Work
One of the biggest and most important considerations for your ensuite project is going to be deciding who will complete the work. You may well be able to do a lot of the work yourself, or you may have a family member or friend that is in the industry and can help you out.
However, if that is not the case, you'll have to find the appropriate tradespeople for the job and schedule them. This raises a number of other problems, such as a decision about when they will be available, a decision whether/how a price will be allocated for labour, a decision as to whether or not any preparation will be required prior to their arrival.
Additionally, you also aim to obtain the best (and cheapest) company that can perform the task. But don't hesitate and take your time on this step of the process. Be sure to do some research, ask around and always read reviews and online feedback before settling on a company or individual.
This will help you to find the best person or team for the job.
Start Choosing Your Bathroom Suite and Appliances
As soon as you know who will be fitting it, be it you or someone else, there comes the time to choose your bathroom suite. This will greatly depend on the scale of the space that it will be occupying as well as what you expect to achieve with it. However, this will provide you with a foundation for your newly remodeled bathroom.
You can take a look online or pop into your local bathroom showroom to get some ideas and place your order.
Finalise the Cost
At this stage, you should be able to get a really good idea of how much your ensuite is going to cost and the timeframe in which it will be completed.
You might find that you have to cut back on certain areas as costs add up or you might find the opposite is true and you have room left in the budget to add a few more luxury items and create your dream bathroom.
Either way, make sure to review your budget frequently so you don’t get caught out.
Place Your Order and Let the Work Begin
Once you’re ready, you can get the job booked with the relevant tradespeople and order your bathroom suite or appliances ready for the job to begin.
When the day comes to get started, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on each stage of the process, how it’s coming on and ensure that everything is exactly as you want it to be. There may be times when you have to speak with contractors or redo some of the work yourself, but this is your chance to get it perfect.
Your lists will also be useful at this moment to help with both staying on budget and that your bathroom is proceeding the way it should be.
Add the Finishing Touches
After all the fundamentals are, it's right time to decide the little extras in the bathroom that will add character to match your own style. This might include painting the walls, adding any decorative elements to the walls and putting in any furniture or accessories you've bought for the new ensuite bathroom.
