My house is a 3 BR 2.5 BA rancher in a very desirable neighborhood/great school district. I am trying to plan ahead and make the house as marketable (not trendy) as possible although I won’t be selling for at least 5-7 years. The second bathroom, which is the subject at hand, is basically original to the house which was built in the late fifties. It isn’t really a dreadful space but needs a new vanity and the tile, while plain white–4x4–is a dated. Nowadays, it’s used only by guests. Here’s what I’m thinking:
Replace the vanity. There is adequate space for a double sink vanity but, as this will typically be a ‘kid’s bathroom’, is that the way to go?
Replace the toilet (no-brainer) which has it’s own, somewhat private, nook.
Replace the tile with, perhaps, subway tile. Currently, the tile goes up the wall about 40" in the entire space (leaves about 12" of tile to serve as backsplash over the sink), except over the tub where it goes higher but not to the ceiling. I will run it up to the ceiling over the tub but I don’t see running tile around the whole room. Not a current style when I look in magazines, on Houzz, etc. so I’m thinking the plain wall is appropriate for the rest of the room. This is the plan we followed in the Master bath reno, except we used big 12x12 tiles in the shower up to the ceiling and on the floor (no tub in MBa).
Use the current tub (the only tub in the house), which is a classic shape, ceramic, white and in good shape. I believe a family home should have a bathtub, don’t you? My plumber friend (but he’s not a decorator!) says it will be fine. We’ve used a shower curtain, hung by traditional shower rod, all these years. I would replace that with a frameless glass door. I hate the sliding ones! I would like to be able to use one that swings but not sure if there is adequate space. The rails required by sliding doors are ugly, hard to clean and most uncomfortable when bathing the little ones!
My biggest issue is the flooring in that space. When we bought the house it had vinyl flooring. We ripped it out and, since the guys were laying hardwood in the kitchen, we just put it in that bathroom as well. I couldn’t make another decision–sent up the white flag and went with ‘easy’ for a change! That was 18 years ago and it has been fine…the flooring is in great shape. Full disclosure: we have an only child who often used our shower because the water pressure, etc in our shower was better. (I was a bit obsessive about not getting lots of water on the floor!) What can I tell you but it worked for us–might not work for all families?! I have a friend who says hardwood in a kid’s bath would be a deal-breaker for her. Curious if that is a common thought. Not fond of the idea of pulling up perfectly fine hardwood flooring and replacing it with tile…Would potential buyers NOT buy a property just because they don’t like the flooring in one room? FYI, except for the MBa floor and the basement, the entire house has hardwood.
I’m most uncertain about flooring but feel free to let yourself go!
My advice (not a pro, but I have redone 3 homes. If this is a shared bathroom for kids…two sinks. Imagine the disgusting one…whoever…sharing a sink. If this is powder room one is fine. Biggest challenge: non slip flooring. It can be honed able, slate with covering non slip. Small bathroom…large tiles set together will give a bit of illusion of a bigger room. Most people, no matter what don’t take baths. But you need to give the illusion that you do take long beautiful baths. Babies and young kids use tubs. If yours is wonky…get it recoated. Two of our five bathrooms have original from the early 30s. We called in top of the line recoat companies and they look great.
The future buyers in our area tend to purchase and demolish. There are several groups who are trying to stop this practice. But so far…no. Generally though people purchasing will change a lot of stuff. What I try to do is to make a house acceptable to other people so they can have an order to change things. Five to seven years? Enjoy your home for you. The buyers will come.
OP if you are willing, you can go to “Account Options - Preferences - Change my picture” and upload a photo of the room, which might give posters a better idea for suggestions.
Personally, I probably would not put hardwood in a bathroom, but it would not be a deal breaker. The one deal-breaker for me is white ceramic on the kitchen floor. Also would not advise white tile on the bathroom floor. Shoot for practical if your thinking is that children would be the likely users.
Natural stone is great, but often porous. Check out porcelain tile, it is fantastic for wear and now comes in so many looks and variety. I would start looking there for choices for bath flooring, shower flooring and wall surround.
5-7 years in my area means the new owners will view what you put in as old and want to get rid of it, unless styles magically stagnate. So pick whatever you want that looks nice and fits your needs.
I agree that hardwood in a bath is going to make people shake their heads.
2 sinks is nice but people also want counter space/storage space and many remodels sacrifice these for neat looking sinks that have neither. So if you can fit in 2 sinks without losing too much storage/surface space, do it. I think 2 sinks is overstated in importance and, for some reason, people only use one at a time, kind of like “this is the one we’re using this time” and maybe it’s the other next time.
A seasoned real estate agent told me the same thing as Lergnom: bathroom/kitchen styles change about every 7 years, so you might as well wait until you’re closer to selling – or put in what you like now, knowing new owners will probably want to make their own cosmetic changes.
Yes to double sink if bathroom likely to be shared by kids. Yes to tub if new buyers likely to have babies/young children. Reglazing can make a tub look brand new.
I agree you need a tub to sell, particularly if the home would appeal to people with kids.
I would leave the shower curtain. IMHO, they are an easy way to add color or style to a bathroom without costing very much money. Plus, and more importantly, they can be taken down/replaced to be cleaned or if you have to bath a dog and want things out of the way. I cannot stand glass doors as they show every last drop of water (I have hard water).
The hardwood would not make me not buy a house. I would leave it in place if you like it, it would not be too much $$ to change for a new owner. I have wood laminate (like Pergo) in my bath to complement the look I was going for and it has held up well.
I would get two sinks if there is plenty of counter space. In our old house I actually removed one master BA sink in order to have one nice swath of counter for doing hair and make up and DH and I never used a sink at the same time. But in a kids bathroom it is nice to have two, unless that eliminates any counter space.
We just redid our bathroom in white 4"x4" tile.
I don’t think its dated, I think its classic!
We also have a house with period style, 1900 arts and craftsy cottage, so trendy would look odd.
We also installed mosaic slate tile counter, with a ceramic vessel sink.
Dark wood cabinetry,
I take baths almost everyday, and little kids take baths, not showers.
In a childs bathroom, I wouldnt put in a glass door, unless the bathroom is small and you want to open the space.
Hard to clean and I would worry about safety/ ease of getting in and out.
I wouldnt put ceramic or even slate tile as a floor. Too hard and cold.
I am going to probably go with linoleum checkerboard tile.
Some fun ideas. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/34962211/list/using-the-2015-master-bathroom-looks-in-a-compact-space
I agree to keep tiles only on the tub/shower enclosure walls. But I like tile on the floor.
If you have only one tub leave the shower curtain. You need to have one space where a person needing assistance (child, injured, elder) can be helped; doors are too awkward for a helper.
I just sold a 1940s house with an original porcelain tub to a family with small children. That bathroom was renovated in 2006 around that original tub.
One suggestion I have - that we have done in 2 bathroom renovations - is to put up a mirror from sink to ceiling across the entire wall of the vanity - makes the room look bigger and decreases the painted wall area
We’re also remodeling a brick ranch. It was our rental, but we’ve decided to downsize and move into it for a few years.
We’re replacing the bathtub in the master with a large shower. For resale, I decided to leave the tub in the second bath. I’m installing a frameless shower door for our use and to make the bathroom appear larger. I agree with above post that shower doors are awkward when bathing small children so it’ll probably come out when we sell.
The bath currently has two sinks. I’m replacing those with a single sink with narrow shelves/cabinets on the sides and a full mirror in between. The bath is too small to comfortably be used by two people and I want the increased counter and storage space. I’m also ripping out the wall tiles, but extending the bath tiles to the ceiling. Probably going with a subway type tile.
Personally, I’m not a fan of hardwoods in a bath. I’d go with tile floors.
Interested in posts about large floor tiles. Our bath has honeycomb shaped tiles that we intend to replace. Is it better to use large or small tiles in a small space? Sorry, don’t mean to hijack your thread!
I would put two sinks–always a plus.
If you do decide on a glass door to the tub be sure to get a very heavy one. The inexpensive ones do not glide well and rattle as they move on the track. I think that there are new concepts out now such as glass doors that fold back so the tub is open when bathing a child.
Re: honeycomb tiles, you mean octagon?
Depending on age of house, those could still be worth keeping, but if you want a different look, I think the material and color matter more than size, because if you are using tiles, you can experiment with grout colors, to be more subtle, or to " make a statement".
But if it was really small, you dont want a big pattern, because i think patterns look better if you can see the pattern repeating.
Yes, octagonal tiles. They’ve actually been ripped out already along with the cast iron tub (wish we’d kept that!). H just told me the demolition crew was there yesterday. The bathroom is only 5 x 8. The bathroom doesn’t have a window so I’m thinking of keeping everything light and rather monochromatic.
How much do you want to spend? The only way I’d do tile in the bathroom is if there was radiant floor heating.
We are “redoing” our hall bath. All we are doing is taking down the old mirror above the sink, replacing the toilet with a slightly higher seared one, painting the walls, and replacing the faucets. The next owner can update more if they want to.
If it comes in within budget, be might do the floor…might.
^I love the look of small octagon tiles (have them in our shower) but cleaning the grout can be a problem. If I got them again, I would go with darkish grey grout so as not to have to bleach them.
Here in my neighborhood of older homes, I have seen few wood floors in bathrooms. Mostly tile, the small octagonal ones in period bathrooms, and a variety of things in newer. If redone in the 70s, linoleum of some sort, which needs to go. In my small redone downstairs half bath, I used a 2" marble tile. Small, because the grout lines add safety, and are less likely to cause a slip. The floor is pretty enough that it sets off the room, though the vanity and mirror are very much stock pieces.
However, I’m enough of a fan of wood, as are most of the people who buy these homes, and with a good coating, and sufficient throw rugs, I can’t see it being much of an issue. The glass shower doors would facilitate keeping the water where it belongs, inside the tub.
People are rich there, mayhaps. We have been in our house since 1998. It was built in '87 and still has the original bathrooms and kitchen. We have replaced the half-bath floor (catastrophic necessity) and the kitchen floor (linoleum to wood). Otherwise we are still living with 1987. If something is well constructed to begin with, people are likely to continue with it until replacing it becomes a necessity.
I have wood floors in my current home’s half bath. I think that’s different than a full bath, especially one used by kids, where the floor may get wet. Having said that, you may want to keep the wood since it’s in good shape. You can always replace the flooring later if it becomes damaged.
I may replace the old tile with new octagon shaped tiles. I did like the look of the original tiles. Didn’t think about the grout lines adding traction - good point Great Lakes mom.
