Assessing the Space

To remodel your bathroom space, either on your own, or with contractors, you need to fully understand it and have the ability to work with it on a smaller scale. You can simply say what you want and have it be so. Start by sketching it out roughly on a piece of paper. Include everything in this sketch. Start with the body of the room from a birds eye view… a floor plan. From this add outlets and other electrical endings, heating and cooling elements like air conditioning vents, electrical heaters, ventilation systems, fans, lights, light switches, and gas lines. When have noted these things move to plumbing. Where are your water lines, both hot and cold? Notate the drainage system; water closet, as well as grey line (from your sink and bathtub or shower.) When all of this information is sketched out, measure your space accurately and pencil this on to your sketch. Include the wall to wall measurements. Never assume anything is the same as a similar part of the room, always double measure. Measure the length of the walls, distance from the floor to the outlets, light switches, and plumbing connections. If you know where your plumbing is under the floor, add this to your drawing. This allows you to have a map for your remodel project. If you plan to involve a contractor or designer, they will find this very helpful as well. Never round of to feet. Never round of the inches. If the measurement from one outlet to another is 5’, 6 ¼” make sure you notate the one quarter inch. Do not leave it off.

Transfer this rough draft drawing to graph paper and make it as close to scale as possible. You can make several copies of this drawing to use in designing furniture and fixture arrangements. Knowing where water lines and electricity is currently will help you asses possible design plans for the remodel. If you want, you can also purchase an architectural scale and do an architectural quality drawing. Stencils can be purchased at a ¼” scale that includes vanities, water closets, showers, baths, and High end, name brand tubs. When you have a few designs completed that you like, you can then draw elevation views. Make sure you draw the wall sizes, including heights, outlets, etc. all to scale. To help you determine color schemes with your tile, wall color, etc, you can purchase colored pencils or markers that are often used for rendering to help you decide what is perfect for you. The elevation view allows you to see things from a perspective that is more accurate for determining whether the vanity fits under the window; or if you will have enough cabinet space from the water closet to the ceiling. If you do not purchase a scaled template for these drawings, you can easily find standard measurements in resource books, libraries, and on the internet. Ensure that this new design provides ample access to outlets, has proper ventilation, and appropriate cooling and heating for those hot summer days, and cold winter nights.