Budget Bathroom Renovation: Fixtures and Faucets

Renovating your bathroom can easily become an expensive endeavor. With the addition of bathroom fixtures and faucets, your bathroom renovation budget can really go through the roof. Use these tips and techniques for saving money when renovating fixtures and faucets to help you get the most out of your bathroom renovation project.

Use It, Don't Lose It

The cheapest bathroom fixture is the one that's already installed. Unless it's damaged or totally corroded, it may be worth having it repaired-instead of trashing it. Although your faucet may leak or drip; it doesn't necessarily mean it's broken. Many leaky or drippy faucets just need a simple washer replacement to get them to work like new again.

Corrosion is a different story. It can be removed with a little elbow grease and CLR. This amazing product-calcium, lime, rust-removes hard scale and other buildup that can clog faucets and fixtures. Remove the encrusted fixture and soak overnight in CLR or similar mineral deposit removal solution. By morning, your old faucet might just be brand new.

Out with the Old, In with the Old

Faucets and fixtures start in the hundred dollar range, that's why it's sometimes best to look for gently used fixtures instead of brand new. Used appliance and building supply stores are often a treasure trove of used home improvement materials. Use these places to get the most for your money. Second outs and slightly damaged fixtures are also available direct from the manufacturers-if you don't mind a scratch or scrape. Be sure to save your receipts in case any item doesn't work correctly, as sometimes these items can be defective.

Another important aspect to think about when installing bathroom faucets and fixtures: Does it fit my sink? Faucet cutouts come in a wide variety of sizes, spacing and number of holes. If you're not sure; don't buy it! Always know your vanity countertops plumbing arrangement before you buy any faucet or fixture, or you might be buying a fixture that doesn't match your countertops existing cutouts.

Going Green

If you must buy brand new, then buying water and energy saving fixtures can help you to recoup your initial investment. According to the EPA, if just one if every 100 homes in the United States were retrofitted with water saving fixtures, it would save around 100 million kWh of electricity each year, the equivalent to removing over 15,000 cars from the road each year in greenhouse gas emission reduction. By helping to save money on water costs, you can not only recoup your investment through energy savings, you also help conserve our water-and that's priceless.