The many choices of bathroom renovation

It can be easy to get lost in a showroom, especially when trying to pick out a new look for the bathroom.

There are literally thousands of small decisions that people face when they decide to renovate their bathroom. And even though some can get easily overwhelmed, those details are the backbone of a brand new bathroom, said Jane Donaghy, the branch manager of Blackman Plumbing Supply in Southampton, during a recent interview.

“People don’t realize how many decisions are involved,” she said. “It’s really not just putting in a toilet.”

Some of the bigger decisions may include the size and shape of the bathtub and mirror, and the color and composition of the countertops. People can drown in the available shower options: There are walk-in showers, a plethora of shower heads, as well as options for body sprays, steam systems, or 
units with music and speakers, Ms. Donaghy said.

Then there’s the many different choices of the style and finish of the faucet and the sink to consider.

“There are so many sinks,” said Anna Dobrzycka Zaleski, a former interior designer of Jeanne Leonard Interiors in East Quogue. She just founded her own business, Savvy Style, which she said she hopes to open as a storefront in Westhampton Beach soon. “They can be stainless steel, they can be glass.”

Then there are the accessories, such as towel racks. And don’t forget the lighting.

Bathroom renovations go far beyond the paint on the wall, according to Dorel Barbos, Home Depot’s installation and regional services manager for the metro New York area. For example, if someone wants to relocate the shower and tub across the room, the plumbing will have to be rearranged. Electrical wiring may also have to be moved around. Both are subject to local building codes and are not jobs for the do-it-yourself renovator, Mr. Barbos said.

“It involves a professional plumber to do that part,” he said. “The same goes for electrical.”

The best strategy to keep the sheer number of decisions under control is to be prepared before walking into a showroom, said both Ms. Donaghy and Dawn Trettner, a salesperson at Southampton Masonry in Southampton. Just watching bath renovating shows on television or flipping through some magazines or catalogs that show photos of bathrooms can help one figure out a style that they are drawn to.

“Then you’d know which direction you’d be going in,” Ms. Trettner said, adding that her business has stores in Southampton, East Hampton and Wainscott.

Ms. Zaleski said that it is also important to figure out the real needs of the renovation before someone sets foot in a showroom.

“Bathrooms not only have to be beautiful, they have to be functional,” she said. “Who will be using the bathroom? How often and how will they be using it?”

Ms. Donaghy said that there are three popular styles for bathrooms today: contemporary, which has a sleek and minimalistic look; traditional, 
which has an old-fashioned scheme; 
and transitional, which is somewhere between the two. She reported that she generally sees a mix of 
contemporary and traditional themes in East End bathrooms.

Designers and salespeople agree that tiles are one of the most important features in a bathroom. Sometimes the bathroom is built to match the tiles, and sometimes the tiles are the last of many decisions.

“I think overall, other than just the use of it to help keep the area dry, the aesthetics of tile,” make it such an important feature in a bathroom, Ms. Trettner said. “People look for something that reflects their personality.”

As in so many other details of the bathroom renovation, the tile choices can be overwhelming, according to Ms. Zaleski. “We can talk about tiles a lot,” she said.

Natural stones—like slates, marbles and limestones—are popular choices in East End bathrooms. Another best-selling style is subway tile, a 3-inch-by-6-inch tile arrangement in a brick 
pattern. It’s a classic and unique 
design that many opt for, unless they grew up in New York City, Ms. Trettner said.

“It’s just a little bit different,” she said. “But if you get people who live in the city all their lives, they hate subway tile.”

Glass tile is another look that many people on the East End choose, according to Ms. Zaleski.

“It reflects the water, the sky,” she said, noting that some people get designs like fish or seashells engraved in the tile.

Ms. Trettner said she has seen people who love color and people who are afraid of color. But overall, white is the most popular shade, not only for tiles, but also for an overall color scheme in East End bathrooms.

Her theory was seconded by Ms. Zaleski, among others. “Everybody wants to do a very minimalistic design,” Ms. Zaleski said. “A very Hamptons look is white, white, white.”

Most people choose white because no matter what, it can always be matched, Ms. Donaghy said. “It’ll never go out of style. It’ll never be dated.”

Budget is another huge factor in the bathroom renovation process. There is a wide range of how much a renovation can cost, Ms. Donaghy reported, 
and many factors go into the final price tag.

“Are you going to Home Depot, or you going to go all out? You can spend so much on one bathroom, you wouldn’t believe it,” Ms. Donaghy said. She added that some bathroom renovations run upward of $100,000. In fact, she recalled once selling $2,000 valves to someone so they could wash sand off their feet when they got off the beach.

The cost of a bath renovation will also depend on if a person chooses to do minor replacements and fixes or a full-scale bath remodel, which is “really, difficult to pinpoint” a cost because there is such a wide variety of looks, Mr. Barbos said, estimating that the final price tag of a finished bathroom would 
also depend on the size of the bathroom, which fixtures are installed, plumbing requirements and local codes.

“Every individual project has unique characteristics before you can give someone a price,” Mr. Barbos said. But there are other less-costly options besides a full renovation that would give a bathroom a new look, like re-facing, or just change fixtures “for a quick face-lift.”

It’s also difficult to nail down a typical time frame in which renovated bathrooms can be finished, Mr. Barbos said. Once a person orders the fixtures and tiles they want, they should apply for the necessary permits. When the products come in, the tear-out begins.

Once the fixtures are torn out, a local inspector comes in and examines the pipes. After receiving the stamp of approval, the walls can be built back up and the new fixtures can be installed and hooked up.

And finally, after all that decision making, tear out, inspection and remodelling, the paint can be lathered onto the walls, Mr. Barbos said. “Then a customer can enjoy their bathroom.”