At Calgary Bath and Home we often get asked about the cost to renovate a small bathroom. Usually, the bathroom in question is the Main Bathroom which is typically about 5x8 feet and has a tub, vanity and toilet. That would cover about 90%+ of all Calgary bathrooms today. So a small bathroom typically is just your average bathroom.

Next is the Ensuite Bathroom which is, typically, about 10x10 feet or bigger and usually has four pieces – tub, shower, vanity and toilet. There are many variations on Ensuites compared to Main Bathrooms – some good – many bad.

New home builders, sad to say, didn’t always have the greatest designers for the most part (this is a bit of unavoidable generalization). But from our experience visiting thousands of homes over the years, we can say with confidence that most new home builders did not, and many still do not, always put enough thought (or money) into good design – unfortunate but quite true – that’s our opinion).

Many homeowners find new home Ensuite Bathrooms poorly laid out and impractical (same can be said about kitchens but that’s another story). New Home Designers in the 1980s and 1990s were often 20 something year old technical school male grads with some computer knowledge but no practical home design knowledge. These, well intentioned gents did their best, of course. But what we have today in many homes are home design disasters that builders allowed to leave the computer file or drafting table without enough thought on good design. Subdivisions today are filled with thousands of homes like that.

Fortunately, there is hope. These mistakes can be undone. Much of our bathroom renovation business is undoing, what boils down to, poor design by new home builders. Thankfully, today we also have better designers, thanks to an influx of 20 something ladies with computer design skills and a better idea of what a practical Ensuite Bathroom (or Kitchen) should look like. Today’s new home designs reflect that change in gender balance on the design stage and some beautiful ideas are now coming to fruition.

All Designs change from generation to generation. Ideas from the 1980s are ancient today. Add wear and tear and the advent of wonderful new fixture and tile designs and you can see why bathroom renovations are so popular in Calgary.

Old bathrooms detract from the value of the home – that is common knowledge in the real estate industry. Updated bathrooms (and kitchens plus other things of course) add real value and help sell homes at full asking price and sell fast.
Updated homes have a significant competitive edge in real estate. As buyers we all instinctively know that so we need to put ourselves in buyer’s shoes. Un-updated homes sit on the market longer and sell for less, often much less than they should because many buyers are not into the challenge of embarking in completely rebuilding a 30 year old original-condition home for the next two or three years.

Old does not necessarily mean poor condition or poorly kept either. But it does spell “money” to most home buyers. Moving is stressful. Shopping for a home is stressful. Adding renovation thoughts is usually a non-starter for many people shopping for a home.

So the advice is, keep the home updated year by year and enjoy the pleasures of modern bathrooms and kitchens (flooring and more) and when you really do want, or need, to move your home will show well and sell fast for top dollar.

That, by the way, does not mean going overboard and over-improving. Keeping everything in perspective is important to maximize value. You can get really nice value while keeping to simplicity. Some would say minimalist is the right word. I’d say I agree. Modern means many things to different people. Simple, appeals to most so how can you go wrong. In the end, it’s all about good taste and value.

We get asked about renovations for five or six thousand dollar budgets all the time. That’s unrealistic unless you’re not expecting much in the name of quality or anything resembling a good finished product. In Calgary realistic budgets in starting in the $8,000 to $10,000 range will provide excellent results with room to go a bit crazy on maybe some fancier tile.

Renovating your bathroom is a good sound investment that always pays off.

Call us for a free estimate. We’re here to help:

Call us at 403-560-8015.