New York Bathroom Remodeling

In New York, bathroom remodeling can mean a number of different things. Large New York-based bathroom remodeling companies may service homes well into Long Island and across the Jersey Shore, while individual contractors may focus on customizing their remodels for their neighborhood, especially given the high cost of transportation. These individual contractors may be diamonds in the rough or among the more unreliable contractors floating around the city. Large companies, on the other hand, offer comprehensive service and usually quite a few more installation options.

Likewise, hauling the supplies up several stories for a New York apartment or condo can be a veritable nightmare in the wrong contractor's hands and bears little resemblance to a more conventional suburban home. We've seen small bathroom remodels as cheap as $3,000 and as high as $20,000. If you pull out all the stops for a larger master bath, it's not uncommon to see project costs hit the $50,000 mark. Whatever your New York bathroom remodeling needs are, ServiceMagic can put you in touch with the best the city has to offer.

Cost vs. Resale Value for New York Bathroom Remodels
The cost of your New York bathroom remodel is also likely to influence how much additional property value your new bathroom might bring. Superficial bathroom remodels that involve little more than new paint, lighting, and decorating are unlikely to substantially increase your property value. Home appraisers, for example, generally don't even consider such elements when calculating property value, but high-end remodels also don't perform as well as budget-conscience projects. Full bathroom remodels are a good idea, anyway, especially in older homes where water damage may be lurking behind and endangering the long-term well being of your bathroom. In other words, by doing a New York bathroom remodel right the first time, but seeking out cost-effective materials and labor, you can often recoup the entire expense of the remodel through increased property value. At the same time, if you're not planning on selling your home in the immediate future, your personal enjoyment and tastes will trump a relatively small measure of financial return. If you love marble, you love marble, and there's no reason to let someone talk you out of it.

New York Bathroom Remodels and Small Bathrooms
The most common problem New Yorkers experience with their bathroom capacity is space. In Manhattan, it's not unheard of for apartments to have a toilet, a separate shower stall, and no bathroom sink with monthly rents of two grand. As you move further and further out into and beyond the boroughs, space becomes more available, but small bathrooms are still the norm. Creative remodels can help you get the most from these bathrooms. Custom-built cabinets, corner sinks and vanities, and contemporary lighting can make a small bath feel more spacious or, alternately, allow you to install a shower stall in a former half bath. Likewise, bathroom additions are more popular in the greater New York area, where homeowners love their homes but need greater bathroom capacity.

New York Bathroom Renovation Contractors
Picking up the phonebook to locate bathroom renovation contractors in New York or anywhere else is a risky prospect. You can find some of the best contractors and some of the worst, and it usually takes quite a bit of legwork to figure out who's who, when you could otherwise be planning the details of the remodel itself. ServiceMagic takes a lot of the guesswork out of this equation by prescreening each and every contractor in our database. At the same time, you'll still be able to solicit several estimates, breeding the competition and leaving your options open.

As a general rule, you should be wary of estimates that are substantially higher or lower than the rest. This may be a sign of price-gouging, shoddy service, or you may be looking at estimates that are intentionally incongruous. Conventional wisdom says you should budget for 10 to 15 percent more than the initial estimate for unforeseen problems. Some contractors may include this leeway in their estimates, others may not. You'll probably need to talk to contractors about the details of the project to get a true understanding of how each estimate compares to the others. This extra allowance is not a sign of a poor contractor. Even the best contractors can't foresee everything that can go wrong once the project starts. When it comes time to make a final hiring decision, use your gut, but also take a look at our quality-controlled online customer reviews to see what other New York property owners have said about this contractor.

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