How To Remodel Small Bathrooms With Free Printable Graph Paper

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If you are remodeling your small bathroom then you need some graph paper...

 

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Using graph paper to remodel your small bathroom 

Before starting work on your small bathroom-remodeling project you will need to draw a plan showing where everything is going to go. If you draw your plan to scale and you've taken care over getting your measurements right then you will be able to see from it whether or not your new bathroom design is going to work or not. Believe me if your bathroom design isn't going to work then it is much better to find out before you start ripping out the existing bathroom than afterwards when you have bought the new stuff and you find that it doesn't fit in the room.

Drawing a scale diagram of your bathroom isn't difficult; you might remember doing something similar at school. The trick to making life easy for yourself is to draw your plan on graph paper square or squared paper. This is nothing more than a sheet of paper with horizontal and vertical lines drawn at regular intervals but it makes things so much easier.

For free graph paper and a tutorial on how to use graph paper to design your bathroom visit Bathroom Remodeling Ideas - Free Printable Graph Paper

Yes there is software you could use to design your bathroom 

Why does everyone want software to do everything for them today? People expect that all they have to do is buy a remodeling or design program for their PC and it will do the job for them. Well this just isn't the case. Is there software available? Yes there is and some very good programs there are too. Will it make your life easier when you remodel your small bathroom at home? Unlikely.

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Now if you are a property developer or a professional designer of kitchens and bathrooms then remodeling software is an essential part of your life because it enables you to reuse your work over and over again. However if you are just redesigning your bathroom at home then I would advise against it. Here is a list of arguments against using software:
  • Bathroom remodeling software is expensive (More than a sheet of paper)
  • You will need to learn how to use the software, which takes time.
  • Producing a design could take longer than using graph paper square
  • It isn't easy to change the design while you are in the showroom
  • The software may not do everything you expect it to do.

The scale drawing method is very simple 

If you are worried about the scary words "scale drawing" then don't be. All it means is that you are going to make a smaller than life drawing of your bathroom while keeping all the distances in proportion. For instance if your bathroom is 8 foot by 10 foot and you have some squared paper with 16 squares by 25 squares then you can simply use the scale 1 foot = 2 squares. Your scale drawing would then use 16 squares across the top by 20 squares down and leave 5 unused squares at the bottom.

How did I arrive at that scale? I divided the number of squares across the paper by the length of the shortest side of the bathroom. Then I divided the number of squares down the page by the length of the longest side of the bathroom. This gave me 2 squares to the foot (16/8) across and 2.5 (25/10) squares to the foot down. Now both scales need to be the same for a true scale drawing so I chose the lower of the 2 scales, which was 2 squares to the foot. This ensured that my drawing would actually fit on the paper.

Make scale drawings of the walls too 

The most important drawing you need is the floor plan but you should also make drawings of the walls too. Your wall drawings should show the height and length of the wall and also the size and position of any windows and pipe work etc. You will use these drawings to estimate the number of ceramic tiles you will need and the position of any wall mounted cupboards or other fixtures.

Before you start designing you might want to watch these instructional tile setting videos to give you an idea of how to estimate and set your tiles.

Cut out all the bathroom fixtures and shuffle them about 

I think that the fun part of using squared paper to design a bathroom is drawing the new fixtures to scale on graph paper and cutting them out so that they can be pushed into position on top of another sheet of graph paper with a drawing of the room on it. You can spend many happy hours experimenting with different arrangements like this.

Spend time getting your bathroom design right 

Make sure you spend plenty of time on the design phase of your project because whatever you come up with will be what you have live with for some time to come so it pays to get it right from the beginning.

Don't forget the bathroom accessories 

When you are having fun rearranging the fixtures using your graph paper square design paper, bear in mind what accessories you will want to put in the bathroom. While accessories aren't fixed they still require room so if you are planning to put a large potted plant in the bathroom make sure that you leave enough space for it.

Discuss the bathroom remodel plan with your contractors 

Before you finalise your design make sure that you have discussed it with your contractors to avoid any disappointments later. They will point out any problems with the arrangement and any difficulties that you might face with regulatory requirements that you must adhere to.

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How To Remodel Small Bathrooms With Free Printable Graph Paper 

 

by steveg

Hi I'm Steve Garratt. I'm a software developer with interests in many areas. I hope that you enjoy my lenses.
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