Taunton's for Pros By Pros: Renovating a Bathroom

Bathrooms demand a builder's best work. As the average size of bathrooms continues to grow and homeowners demand that they have as much style as any other room in the house, the challenges facing anyone undertaking a bathroom remodeling project multiply. Written by architects, builders, plumbers, and tile setters, this collection of articles from Fine Homebuilding magazine will help you overcome these challenges with confidence. Renovating a Bathroom covers the broad range of design options, materials, repair procedures, tools, and installation techniques that can help you transform an ailing bathroom into an exceptional one.

Written by the pros who actually do the work, these articles will help you to:

• redesign a bathroom for improved function and appearance
• choose and install a toilet
• tile a bathroom floor
• install a leakproof shower pan
• use caulks and sealants to prevent moisture problems
• create an accessible bathroom

About the For Pros by Pros series
To get the best results when building or remodeling, you need advice from the best professionals in the business. For Pros By Pros books bring together the expert designers, builders, and remodeling pros who have written for Fine Homebuilding magazine.

Introduction

Part 1: DESIGN
Ten Important Elements of a Good Bathroom
Accessible Bathrooms
A Gallery of Favorite Bath Details

Part 2: SHOWERS, TOILETS, FAUCETS
Choosing a Toilet
How to Install a Toilet
Plastic Tub-Showers
Installing a Leakproof Shower Pan
A Walk Through Shower Doors
Residential Steam Showers
Choosing a Lavatory Faucet

Part 3: TILING
Tiling a Bathroom Floor
Tiling a Tub Surround
Tiling a Shower with Marble
Tiling with Limestone
Silicone Caulking Basics

Part 4: LIGHTING, HEATING, VENTILATION
A Look at Bathroom Lighting
Choosing and Installing a Bathroom-Vent Fan
What's Hot in Bathroom Heaters?

Credits

Index

You might think that a builder's best work should be reserved for the living room, or maybe the kitchen, the big public parts of a home. But consider the bathroom. Where else do people sit for extended periods of time with nothing better to do than scrutinize the width of your grout joints or the state of the caulking around your bathtub?

But close scrutiny aside, there are other reasons why bathrooms demand a builder's best work. On a square-foot basis, bathrooms are the most expensive rooms in a house, in part because they aren't just lavatories anymore. They're also miniature health spas where we seek sanctuary from the stresses of modern life.

Bathrooms have come a long way from the outhouses and wash basins of our forebears. But the price of all that comfort and convenience is tremendous complexity. They are intense little rooms, condensing electrical needs, plumbing fixtures, and ventilation into as little as 40 sq. ft. Fortunately, this book is here to help.

Collected here are 18 articles from Fine Homebuilding magazine. Written by architects, builders, plumbers, and tile setters, these articles will help you design a great bathroom, choose the right materials for it, and install them correctly. Unfortunately, the information in this book won't guarantee you'll have time to soak in the tub once you install it. But if you do, the grout joints will look beautiful.

-- Kevin Ireton, editor-in-chief, Fine Homebuilding