YOUR PLANNING GUIDE FOR LUXURY

HOME REMODELING & CONSTRUCTION

If done right, building a new custom home or
remodeling your current one, is an exciting and
highly rewarding experience where you transform
what you have into what you’ve always wanted.
You are not merely adding material value to your
life with premium quality fixtures and fittings, you
are creating the space where your most treasured
memories are made with your family and friends.
Bringing design into line with the function and
atmosphere of your home eliminates the stress
of clutter, the difficulties of disorganization, and
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e xperience a
of elegance
(713) 572-2284
BathsOfAmerica.com
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opens up your time to focus on what is most
important: truly enjoying life.
Baths of America is a Houston based, family
owned and operated home furnishings gallery,
specializing in luxury bathroom and kitchen
products for new construction and remodel
projects. Our mission is to help you the entire
way through your project, so creating the dream
home you’ve always wanted will be as stress
and hassle free as possible.
This guide will help you plan your home
construction or remodel, by providing you with
tips we’ve learned from being in the business
since 2004. Since you want it right, and you
want it spectacular, we invite you to enjoy the
Baths of America experience.
Here you will find insights on what you should
expect from a showroom, how to plan your
project from start to finish, how to correctly
estimate costs, and common mistakes to avoid.
Congratulations on your decision to create the
home you’ve always wanted!
How to Plan For Third, start interviewing contractors. You may
need an architect, engineer, general contractor,

Your Room Remodel or an interior designer to help facilitate the

project. Have them come to your home and
discuss your plans. Good contractors will have
superb credentials, and include details about
~B~ their insurance, payment schedule, fixed costs
and allowances, exclusions, expected duration
The first step is to evaluate the big picture. of work, and warranty in a written contract.
What do you want to be able to do with your
Now that you have a contractor, start going into
new space, that you cannot do with the current
showrooms to get a tactile idea about fixtures
one? As you collect photos of ideas by following (sinks, showers, toilets, cabinets), counter
Baths of America on social media, you’ll start to tops and tile, appliances (ovens, wine fridges,
notice a pattern of what you’re looking for. Do etc.), and hardware (cabinet knobs/pulls, door
you need more space (or less) in a certain area? handles/knobs, and locks). Look for a showroom
Better organization of appliances and fixtures? that assists you all the way through your entire
What are your first, second, and third priority project.
upgrades? Some
Big Box Baths of
Luxury
Next, set a ballpark budget. It is good to have a Stores America
Stores
range, as costs will vary based on the scope of
your project, which will change as you plan with During Your
your contractors. We’ll get more specific later, Purchase
but there are two types of costs: fixed costs and
During Your
allowances. The first are determined by labor
Build Phase
hours, home structure, and basic materials;
they are fairly consistent across contractors. After Build
The second are chosen by you, and vary based Walkthrough
on the brands, styles, and options you want.
How to Choose Your
Showroom
~B~
Here are some important factors to consider
when evaluating which gallery you choose to do
business with:
● Can I walk in to the showroom whenever it
is convenient for me, or must I schedule an
appointment?
● Do the sales consultants treat me as a
VIP, regardless of how busy they are, and
whether I am buying one item, or 100 items?
● Is my sales consultant listening to me and
my needs, or just trying to make a sale?
● Does my sales consultant posses enough
knowledge about home remodeling to walk
me through the process from start to finish,
and correctly advise on everything that is
needed?
● Does my sales consultant plan to oversee
my build phase with me, or will he or she
pass off responsibility to my contractors?
● Does the showroom offer discounts and
payment options, or add value to my
purchase?
● Does anyone from the showroom come to
my home to double check the work of the
contractors?
● Does the showroom coordinate the delivery
of materials, fixtures, trim, and appliances,
so everything is ready when it’s needed at
the different stages of my build process?
● Is the company proactive at catching back
ordered parts or delivery mistakes before
they interfere with the build process?
● Is my sales consultant available to help me
if there is a problem, such as a broken or
missing item from the factory?
● Does the company follow up with me after the
build is completed, to make sure everything
is in working order?
● Am I given an opportunity to provide honest
feedback directly to the company on my
entire experience?
 Calculating Your Budget Correctly
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According to the 2018 Houzz and Home Survey, 77% of homeowners said
they had a budget in mind when planning their project, but nearly 50% go
over budget. Here are some tips to avoid that problem.

A critical component of staying under budget is

to draw up exact “as built” blueprints of your
home. Having a measured drawing of
existing conditions will save you money
by reducing the chances of surprise
changes during the renovation.

The Appraisal Institute, an international

association of professional real estate appraisers,
recommends creating a rule of thumb budget based
on the approximate value of each room as a percentage of the overall
value of the home, as follows:
KITCHEN: 10-15%
MASTER BATH: 10%
GUEST BATH: 5%
PATIO/DECK: 2-5%
OTHER ROOMS: 1-3%
Once you have your “as built” specs, and
a ballpark budget, send your plans out
to contractors to get a sense of what
their basic costs of doing business will
be, such as labor, project management,
and overhead. Your written outline of the
project determines certain baseline costs: a
drop in bathtub has fixed costs, regardless of the
brand or its features, which is different than the fixed costs of a freestanding
tub. Changing a toilet from a floor mounted to a wall hung means changing
the plumbing line, which is fixed cost, and different from changing the type of
toilet. They will give you a basic number by room, and break down the costs by
category, such as electrical, plumbing, tile, flooring, cabinetry, and labor. The
difference between these costs and the overall quote is your allowance
to choose your fixtures, such as the brand and features of the fixtures,
appliances, and hardware. You can spend more of course, by paying
the difference.

Don’t forget to factor in the cost of living during your remodel. If you
are staying in your home and no longer have a kitchen or master bath,
plan on eating out more or having another place to shower. Depending
on the complexity, it may be easier to send the kids off to summer camp
and have a stay-cation at your in-laws home for a few weeks.
How to Plan for New
Home Construction
~B~
So you have a plot of land, and you’re ready to
build your dream home on it. Congratulations!
Baths of America is here to help you plan your
project the right way, and minimize the expense
of having to redo mistakes.
Similar to a room remodel, begin by collecting
ideas and imagery into a portfolio, and identify
the patterns in what you find yourself liking. Write
and sketch out what you want to do with your
home besides simply live in it: will you be raising
children, hosting events, or needing specialized
spaces for a home office, study, workshop, or
outdoor cooking? Compile all your desires into a
written project scope. You can always dial back
later; this is the time to be wildly audacious.
Your next step is to find an architect who will help
you put these ideas into a blueprint. The architect
will share the draft blueprints back and forth with
an engineer, and both will work together to make
sure your blueprints are structurally sound and
meet legal code requirements.
Once you have blueprints, you can send them
out to building companies for pricing. The two
main types of pricing are fixed cost proposals
(bids or quotes), and time and materials
(estimates). Fixed cost bids tend to be more
predictable on your pocketbook, but will give
you less choice over who your builder hires as
subcontractors, or the exact materials they use.
Estimates tend to be much more precise on
every single cost in your project, making it easy
to compare proposals, but will cost more if the
project experiences delays or requires changes.
Hiring your builders should never be based on
price alone. A low proposal may not include
realistic allowances for your custom choices of
fixtures and appliances; this doesn’t change the
total cost you end up paying, it just makes it look
less on paper. Even the best builders still can
have cost overruns due to unforeseen events,
so you must always budget for contingencies.
 Spend Ratio Across Your Build Phase VII - Clean Out:
Cleaning out all the dirt and
100%
dust from inside the house,
90%
washing and cleaning the
80%
exterior, hauling away all
70%
60%
trash, and making it “move
50%
in ready”.
40%
30% Extras:
20% Builder’s fee or cost-plus
10% percentage, contingencies
0% for cost overruns in labor
Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV Phase V Phase VI Phase VII Extras and materials, theft, final
inspection, and any last
Fixed Costs Allowances
cosmetic touch ups.
Here is an example cost breakdown based on a
new 2,400 square foot, three story home.

Phase I - Planning and Foundation:

The Importance
Architect and engineer fees, land survey, building
permit, excavation, laying down the foundation
Of Luxury Products
slab, connecting plumbing undergrounds.
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Phase II - Framing:
Labor and materials for frames, When choosing your home
cornices, decking, doors, windstorm, fixtures, spending more for
firewalls, trusses, beams, windows, higher quality will reduce your
steel portal, and the roof. cost of maintenance, improve
your quality of life, increase
Phase III - Rough Ins: your resale value, and also
Installing the hardware for HVAC, potentially reduce your costs
gas, plumbing, electrical, and data, of construction.
followed by insulation and drywall.
Over six years of use, a $100
Phase IV - Trim Out: toilet will likely need a plumber
Initial paint, tile, counter tops, stairs, between 5-8 times, costing
fireplace, electrical and plumbing about $100-150 each time.
fixtures and trims, cabinetry, initial Whereas a $600 toilet, due
flooring, garage door, HVAC trims. to its superior design and
materials, would likely not
Phase V - Exterior: need a plumber even once,
Exterior wall materials and initial and require less maintenance.
paint, balcony/deck railings, gutters A linear barrier drain with a
and downspouts, fencing, water meter, driveway, PVD coating for your shower base generally
landscaping, pool, final land survey. costs 2-3 times more than a standard four slope
round drain, but can typically be installed in one
Phase VI - Finishings: day rather than three or four days. The higher
Final paint, mirrors and shower enclosures, cost of materials up front results in savings on
carpeting and wood flooring, appliances, and labor and maintenance over the years, resulting
decorative hardware. in you having more time to simply enjoy life.
 experience

a flow
of e l e g a n c e

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Sugar Land Showroom
15345 Southwest Freeway
Sugar Land, TX 77478

(713) 572-2284
BathsOfAmerica.com
Houston Warehouse
4430 W. 12th St.
Houston, TX 77055

@BathsOfAmerica