Bathroom renovations can add to a home's value -- next to the kitchen, a well-designed and maintained bathroom does more than anything else to help boost the price of a home. But if you go overboard, you can end up pouring money down the drain.

Bathrooms, after kitchens, are among the most expensive rooms to renovate. There's less cabinetry involved in a bathroom, and you don't have major appliances to add to the bill. But plumbing, tubs, tiles and taps, etc. aren't cheap.

While kitchen renovations can set you back $50,000 or more, for a new bathroom, you should budget $5,000 to $15,000, experts advise.

If your bathroom is more than 10 years old, it is probably in need of a makeover.

A quick spruce-up is easy -- a colourful shower curtain and accessories such as matching towels, wastepaper basket, bath mat and small accessories -- quickly change the mood of the room.

There's nothing like a fresh coat of paint on the walls to liven up a room at moderate expense.

Other quick and budget-friendly ways to dramatically change the look of a bathroom would be to install a curved shower rod, new towel bars, door pulls or toilet tank lever. All of these can be installed with nothing more than a screwdriver.

These projects may be small, but still make a big impact on both the style and functionality of their bathroom.

"We refer to it as the 'Remodel-Lite' trend," says Tim McDonough, a spokesperson for Moen. "We have noticed consumers don't want to invest in a major remodelling project, but still want to spruce up the room."

Old bathroom faucets can be both outdated in style and water-efficiency. New faucets that meet WaterSense criteria reduce water usage by up to 32 per cent without affecting performance.

Moen's M-PACT common valve system allows consumers to change the look of a bathroom quickly. With this system people can change the style and finish of their faucets without having to replace the underlying faucet plumbing. The company boasts changing a bath and shower faucet with this system is as simple as changing a light bulb. Homeowners save because they don't need to have to hire a plumber to make the change. Because people don't have to buy the faucet plumbing a second time, the new faucets are 20 to 35 per cent less.

"In our experience, most bathroom remodelling projects involve creating more space," says Andrea Mills, design spokesperson for IKEA. "If you don't have anywhere to keep your stuff, it will be impossible to maintain a clean, organized bathroom."

She says IKEA has lots of solutions, such as wall-mounted cabinets or open shelves for spaces where storage is an issue.

Keeping the plumbing in the existing positions is the least expensive option in any bathroom renovation. Fixture items such as bathtubs, sinks and toilets can be straightforward to replace as most replacement fixtures follow uniform industry standards. But if fixtures need to be moved to use the space more efficiency, not all is lost.

"A sink can be moved to a different spot along the same wall without much problem," says Stew Millett, owner of Miles Plumbing. "Toilets can be moved about a metre -- depending on what's under the toilet -- and bathtubs and showers can be moved side to side along a wall as well."

The best case -- and least expensive -- scenario is for a crawl space under the bathroom. In some cases the plumber can work from above with the floor removed. The worst-case scenario is when the bathroom is located above a concrete slab. Breaking the concrete to lay plumbing can automatically add $1,000 to any job.

Millet also warns of adding fixtures during a renovation -- the most common being adding a separate stand-alone shower stall. The extra fixture may require the plumber to install new pipes all the way to the water main because of plumbing code requirements.

A remodelled bathroom adds value to a house, but the key is to make it appropriate to the price range of houses in the area, advise real estate agents.

"Don't go overboard with luxury items," says Niels Madsen of Re/Max Alliance. "Unless they are for personal enjoyment."

Some people embark on a bathroom renovation just before they put a house on the market with a mistaken belief that it will help boost the value of the house. But that's not always a good idea. Many buyers would rather pay a few thousand dollars less for a house that needs a new bathroom, and choose their own design.

And, Madsen stresses: "A new bathroom isn't any help if the rest of the house needs to be upgraded as well."

parrais@timescolonist.com