With the bathroom being such a frequently used spot within your home, it’s only natural that it will suffer from the wear and tear of daily usage. This wearing will only be compounded the more people frequent it so that makes keeping your bathroom in top shape an absolute must. 

While bathroom renovations can seem like big, daunting projects, you can always make things more budget-friendly by focusing on certain problem areas and renovating the bathroom as a whole, over a longer period of time.  Here at RenoQuotes.com, we have compiled a guide to give Calgarians an idea of what to consider when renovating your bathroom and some good places to find what you’ll need!

Shopping Guide for Bathroom Materials and Accessories in Calgary:

General Bathroom Renovations:

The Royal Flush Boutique: This decorative plumbing and hardware store has been servicing the greater Calgary area for over 25 years.  With very knowledgeable staff on hand combined with their decades of experience, you shouldn’t have any problems finding whatever you need here.

The Ensuite Bath & Kitchen Showroom: This store acts as one of Kohler’s main distributors for Calgary so if you’re looking for Kohler fixtures then this is the place to go.

Bathroom Floors:

The Tile Shoppe: This is one of Calgary’s premier retailers of discount flooring tiles. From porcelain to natural stone and even mosaics, The Tile Shoppe has all your flooring bases covered and even carries wall tiles and bathroom vanities.

City Tile Design Studio: Since 1990 the City Tile Design Studio has been providing the people of Calgary with an exceptional selection of flooring materials. To add to that, their in-house design team can help you with any questions you may have thanks to their great depth of knowledge.

Nu-Way Floor Fashions: For nearly 50 years Nu-Way Floor Fashions has been bringing high-quality flooring offerings to the people of Calgary. With a massive showroom and a dedicated staff, Nu-Way has everything you could need to choose your perfect new floor.

Plumbing (bath, shower, sink, toilet, and taps):

Plumbateria: If you’re looking for a destination showroom that stocks all the most contemporary designs, then Plumbateria is a must stop. Plumbateria is Calgary’s only Premier Toto Showroom and stock other brands such as Grohe, Riobel and much more.

Benner Plumbing: This shop carries a wide selection of bathroom plumbing fixtures, covering many different brands, to suit all styles and budgets. They also have several showroom consultants instore to help you with any questions or concerns you may have.

Bathroom vanities, cabinets, and counters:

Vanity Calgary: As a factory owned distributor, Vanity Calgary offers amazing wholesale prices on tons of different bathroom furniture. If you’re in search of more contemporary European styling then Vanity Calgary is a one-stop shop.

Cabinet Solutions: This shop specialized exclusively in cabinetry for all rooms but offers great bathroom solutions. Whether you want something preassembled or a custom-made solution, Cabinet Solutions can walk you through the process with ease.

Superior Cabinets: Superior Cabinets lives true to their name by offering superior customer service with an incredible selection to match. In their 35 years in business, they have built a reputation for offering the exceptional cabinet solutions.

Ceramic tiles:

Centura Tile: For porcelain and ceramic tiles Centura has an extensive selection with enough variety to please even the pickiest people. Their sales experts are also very knowledgeable and will be glad to answer any questions.

Apex Tile and Flooring: Since 2012 Apex has serviced the flooring needs of the people of Calgary with enough options to guarantee you will find what you’re looking for.

Bathroom Paint:

SouthPointe Paint & Decor: As a main sales point for Benjamin Moore paints, SouthPointe has any paint colour you could think of. Combine this with highly trained and knowledgeable staff and you have a paint store that can take care of all your needs.

Sherwin-Williams: Being a world leader in paint and painting supplies, Sherwin-Williams will without a doubt carry exactly what you’re looking for and with 9 stores around Calgary, there is always a location close by.

Photo: Pixabay

A few tips for bathroom renovation projects

The heat and moisture that envelops the bathroom constantly can really impact the structural integrity and appearance of certain surfaces and fixtures, making them stand out for the wrong reasons and of course needing to be replaced. So, undertaking a renovation, even a small one or in steps, will inevitably become necessary for things to remain in top shape. Keep in mind that a bathroom in great shape is a relaxing one that will extend the comfort throughout the space.

The first step you must undertake before starting any remodelling project or any concrete planning is to check the various elements within your bathroom in order to determine what absolutely must be updated versus what can wait or can remain the same. This step is crucial in allocating the proper funds to make sure your budget is well rounded and will cover all the necessary upgrades.

Paint: 

Check to see if the paint on your walls is warped or peeling as this is a sign of damage from moisture. If this is the case, it is due to the fact that the paint on your bathroom walls is not optimized for the conditions of this space. Thankfully, there are now paints on the market that are specially formulated to stand up to the harsh conditions of bathroom life. These moisture-resistant paints are also quite painless to clean, making bathroom maintenance that much easier.

Floor: 

Is the floor worth updating? Are there cracks in your tiled floors? Take a close look at the floor around your bathtub or shower, as these areas are more prone to cracks due to the contact with water. If you notice any cracks, you need to make sure they are repaired and sealed as quickly as possible. If you allow water to get into the cracks it will likely cause further cracking, something which you should avoid at all costs.

Cabinets: 

Are your bathroom cabinets brimming with items? So much so that when you open them stuff falls out? Maybe it’s not that bad in your case, however, the importance of storage space in a bathroom cannot be understated. Despite this space usually being quite small in terms of area, we tend to keep a lot of things in our bathrooms, from hygiene products to linens and small electronics like razors or even televisions.

This makes having adequate shelving space in your bathroom indispensable! Of course, make sure that the space inside your cabinets is being effectively utilized so you can organize yourself accordingly.

Bath, shower, toilet, and plumbing: 

The number one thing to look out for around these areas is any indication of mould or mildew accumulation. These aren’t just unsightly growths but mould can be potentially harmful to the health of those using the space if airborne mould spores are in present in large quantities. Of course, it is also very important to look for cracks in the enamel surfaces of fixtures such as sinks and toilets.

Since the water flow needs to stay consistent, take note because if you notice that it is weaker than it should be, this may point to a blockage or a deeper issue with your plumbing. If you notice that there is an issue with the flow of water and it is related to plumbing issues, it is best you allocate enough of your budget to remedy the situation as this should be a bigger priority than surface remodelling.

When it comes to paying more for a material or fixture of higher quality, it is recommended seeing that these more expensive items tend to have greater durability and a better warranty.

If doing-it-yourself is not an option or you’re more comfortable leaving part of the job up to a contractor, we highly recommend hiring a trusted professional to carry out any work since you can rest assured they will do the job correctly.

To see examples of bathroom renovation projects completed by RenoQuotes.com contractors, check out "10 examples of beautiful bathroom renovation projects". 

Looking for an idea of how much bathroom renovation projects can cost? Here is a video we prepared that presents different prices associated with this type of transformation :

Author: David Ben-Zaken