Grab bars in the bathroom are a great way to increase the safety of this room in your house. Many accidents take place in the bathroom. If you have elderly or disabled people living in the home, it is especially important that you provide this safety feature. If you have been considering installing bathtub or shower grab bars, this quick guide will help you learn what you need to know to get started on this project.
Why Should I Install Grab Bars?
Grab bars are often used in hospitals and care facilities to help individuals navigate slippery bathroom environments. If you deal with mobility issues, or if someone in your home deals with mobility issues, a grab bar can often prevent dangerous slips and falls from happening.
What You Will Need
To complete the installation of bathroom grab bars, you will need to purchase a grab bar kit from your local home improvement store. You may be able to find kits online as well. It is important that you read all the included instructions for the kit before you get started. Other items you need include:
Hammer
Level
Drill
Stud sensor (optional but helpful)
Locate Studs
To ensure that your grab bars are rock solid, you will want to be sure they are anchored to the studs. These are the solid pieces of wood located behind drywall at certain intervals. If you have a stud sensor, you can use this device to locate the studs. Remember, if the grab bar is not properly installed into a stud, it could fall out of the drywall causing injuries. Mark the studs as well as the mounting holes.
Installation
You will drill a 1/8-inch hole at one of the marks. You should feel that you have hit the stud. Next, caulk the mounting flange using tub and tile adhesive or silicone caulk.
You can then use a 5/32-inch wood bit to drill pilot holes into the stud. Insert a plastic anchor in the holes you just drilled. You are now ready to screw in the shower bar to the wall using No. 10 or 12 stainless steel pan head screws. Again, check that screws are penetrating the stud.
When To Call Professionals
If you do not feel confident about completing this project on your own, you should definitely reach out for help. An improperly installed grab bar in the shower or tub will actually increase the chance of injuries rather than decrease it.
Positioning safety for grab bars is essential. A professional can come out and install a grab bar for you safely and efficiently in no time.
Are you wondering how you can make your bathroom smell fresh and clean? Many people don’t clean their bathrooms until they find out they are having company, and sometimes this may even be last minute. It’s typical that your guests will need to use your bathroom at least once while they are at your house. If your goal is to make your home look and smell like a luxury spa, there are a few tips you can follow to help you along the way.
Quick Hacks for Bathroom Cleaning
Plastic Grocery Bag on Door Knob
Before you start cleaning, grab a plastic grocery bag and hang it on the doorknob in your bathroom. This allows you to gather trash rather quickly instead of emptying your bathroom trash can all over again.
Use Disinfectant Wipes
If you are in a hurry, and you want convenience, it can’t get any easier than disinfectant wipes. You will even probably be able to clean your entire bathroom much faster using just a container of the cleaning wipes. If you run one of these wipes over the bathroom counter and sink, you will see just how fast your entire surface will shine.
Get Rid of Clutter
If you are one of those people that has hair products and makeup lying around your bathroom, make sure to put them away. Just open up a drawer and throw everything inside for an instant clutter-free and clean counter.
Clean Bathroom Mirrors
Many bathroom mirrors are probably splattered with toothpaste and much more if you have kids. If your guests use your bathroom, this is probably going to turn them off. Porcelain & fiberglass refinishing always works wonders. Before using this though, give your mirrors a quick splash of glass cleaner and wipe them down quickly to avoid spots and to brighten your entire bathroom.
Glass Cleaner on Fixtures
While you still have your glass cleaner out, spray some of it on various sink fixtures and clean them, too, for instant sparkle.
Use Essential Oil
Bathrooms can leave unwanted lingering odors. To make sure that your bathroom remains clean and smelling nice, add a few drops of essential oil to the inside of your toilet paper roll.
Clean Toilet Bowl
It is true that a regular toilet brush can quickly clean your toilet bowl. However, it can cause problems when you have dripping water from the toilet bowl when you take it out. Besides, no one has an additional 15 minutes to let the cleaner sit in the bowl. A better option is to use a Clorox Toilet Wand System. It comes with disposable heads that you can connect to the wand.
Change Towels
That hand towel that you have sitting in your bathroom has probably been in there for weeks or months. Make sure that you swap that towel with a fresh one for your guests so they will think you actually do laundry on a regular basis.
Get Rid of Dirty Clothes
Do you have a hamper sitting near or in the bathroom filled with dirty clothes? If so, you can quickly just throw it in the bathtub with the curtain closed, or move it into the laundry room. They will never know.
A variety of bathroom sink styles and materials makes it possible to install and use simple but effective sinks that are relatively affordable. You also could buy sinks that are very ornate and made from costly materials that could greatly increase the price. It is important to choose the bathroom sink styles and materials that will deliver the best use and long-term satisfaction.
Different Types of Sinks to Consider
Choosing the best bathroom sink ideas to use often depends on how the existing plumbing enters the bathroom and the size of the room. Some sinks might stand alone on a pedestal. Others might be mounted to the wall or rest on a countertop.
Specialty sinks even fit into corners so that small spaces can house small bathrooms. You just need to consider the available space and likely uses to determine the best bathroom sink ideas.
Choose the Best Basin Materials
You could buy a very nice sink that would look great in a master bathroom and a family bathroom. Bathroom sinks are used often but seldom for anything more than washing your hands and brushing your teeth. Good materials for a bathroom sink include:
Porcelain
Ceramic
Stone
Fireclay
Some bathroom sinks might be used in a more industrial capacity, like at a work site. It might be best to use a sink built from a sturdy metal that resists scratches and dents for more industrial types of bathroom uses. Some of the best for that include:
Stainless steel
Cast iron
Copper
You could also buy sinks made from composite materials or even glass. The wide variety of sink materials makes it important to determine what works best for each sink in your home.
How To Choose the Appropriate Shape
A sink basin comes in many shapes and sizes. They could be rectangular or square and fit in a more modular setting. Others could be oval or round and have shallow sides that taper down to a drain. Consider the size of your bathroom, how you need to mount the sink, and how often it is likely to be used when choosing the best bathroom sink styles and materials.
A good rule of thumb is the fewer people who will use a sink, the smaller it can be. A sink that is used is a spare bathroom or mostly is used by one person does not have to be large and bulky. The budget also plays a big role in choosing your ideal bathroom sink. You obviously need one that will match your budget while doing all you need to do.
There’s a reason that bathrooms around America have tile flooring: thanks to its superior resilience, inherently hydrophobic properties and beautiful appeal, it’s a prime candidate for bathrooms! But, just because it boasts some of the best features around that make it ideal for the bathroom environment doesn’t mean tiling is infallible.
Anyone who has ever cleaned the tiling in their bathroom has seen what can happen to tile in just a few months’ time. Grout changes color, scuffs and abrasions appear on the tile surface, and small patches of mildew can take root with ease. Sure, new tile may look great, but what about tile that has been put through its paces?
If you’re starting to wonder about tile’s ability to remain a top bathroom option, don’t worry: there’s an easy way to protect and preserve your bathroom tiling in Glendale. We’re talking of course, about sealing it.
Sealing your tile is simply the act of coating it with an epoxy that dries on top of the tile and grout, leaving behind an invisible barrier against all of the detractors of the bathroom environment that might seek to lower its appeal. Take a look at five of the ways sealing your tile is going to ensure it lives up to your fullest expectations:
Sick of scrubbing scale buildups and hard water spots out of your tile? Sealed tile won’t hold these blemishes as well and when they do appear, they’re easily scrubbed off without you having to get down on your hands and knees to work them out!
Has your white grout become grey and black, leaving a behind a lackluster appeal? Have it professionally cleaned then sealed and you won’t have to worry about the color fading away again. Sealant preserves grout by blocking its natural pores against debris that might cause it to change color.
Sealed tile and grout is going to resist water to a tremendous degree, which in turn protects your subflooring and vapor barrier. What this means over the long term is a lack of shifting, sinking or moving tiles that can occur when warping happens below the tiling.
If you have stone tile (not ceramic or porcelain), it’s an absolute must that you invest in sealant. Sealing stone tile means preserving its integrity over the long term and preventing water from eroding it in time.
As mentioned above, grout is naturally porous, which means easy rooting for mildew and other natural growths that occur in humid and moisture-rich environments (like your bathroom). Sealing the grout and tile closes up these pores, making it a no-fly zone for organic growth.
Having tile in your bathroom is absolutely a smart choice for materials, but it’s one that’s not infallible. Make sure you’re giving your bathroom tile in Glendale the support it needs to stand strong and stay looking great for years to come with proper sealing.
Flipping houses is one of the most lucrative professions out there. But, as you might expect, this isn’t something that just anyone can do. In fact, it takes someone with a tremendous depth of knowledge regarding the housing market, property values, home renovations and legal procedure.
If you didn’t already know, the main idea behind flipping a home is to buy low and sell high, usually after putting a few dollars into upgrading and modernizing the home, to make it more appealing to a new buyer. This is the hard part, however, since you’ll need to minimize your out of pocket cost and maximize the value-add of your investment.
This is where the bathroom becomes a superb opportunity. Bathrooms are a clear focal point in homes (we spend a lot of time in them), they’re cheap enough to upgrade (when done right) and they can leave a big impression on people if they exceed expectations. Because of these things, it’s in many flippers’ best interests to pay some attention to the bathroom.
Let’s take a look at a few of the things that can really jack up the value of a home, that won’t end up costing you in the end:
Shower refinishing in Glendale, AZ is going to be a big value-add for many people. People see the shower as a comfortable amenity: somewhere they can relax, unwind and get clean. Refinishing the shower means refreshing this coveted space and projecting an air of cleanliness for prospective home buyers.
Countertop finishing in Glendale, AZ is another great way to enhance the appeal of a bathroom, without actually having to put in a lot of work or expense. Breathing new life into the existing countertops goes a long way to restoring the entire look and feel of the room.
Updating fixtures is a great way to modernize without a lot of heavy lifting. Replacing those old 70s fixtures with something a bit more on trend can give the impression that more things have been updated and that the bathroom is modern-ready.
Throwing in a brand new mirror or investing a few bucks in vanity refinishing in Glendale will dramatically increase the appeal of the bathroom. Not only is a mirror something that’s coveted in a bathroom, it can also open the room up and help reflect natural light: two things that really resonate with home buyers.
If you’re going for the big finale, upgrading materials might just be the big winner for you when it comes to flipping a home. Changing out linoleum for tile flooring or old porcelain for a tile shower can tip people over the edge and cause them to stop and think positively about the entire home.
Flipping a home is never easy, but if you can leverage a single room to your advantage, it can help to create an entire train of thought regarding the hole home. Capitalize on the bathroom with some of the above tips and see what some TLC to this oft-used room can do for you!
