As you begin planning your next building renovation or construction project, there are some potential unexpected stumbling blocks which lead to lost time, money and energy.

You’re ready to start tearing down walls or begin clearing land, but be careful about running with assumptions for construction projects. Remember to evaluate the renovation property value. Before you run wild with your redesign dreams, review some common remodeling myths which have been debunked and explained.

1. Doing It Yourself Saves Money

You’re feeling confident and ready to take a sledgehammer to that extra wall. However, by rushing into a project solo, you may cost yourself more money and energy than you’re saving. Be honest with yourself about when you’re in over your head and need to hire a professional. Professionals can offer added value with planning the project. Sometimes mess-ups cause more work for contractors to fix than if they had been hired earlier on in the process.

2. High-Priced Contractors Are More Reliable

With most market products, increased costs are assumed to indicate increased values. While that may be true for furniture or steam cleaners, it’s not always the case for contractors. Be sure to conduct thorough research before selecting a professional for your projects. Check out photos of previous work and read through legitimate reviews from real customers. Consider talking with friends and family as well about contractor recommendations.

3. You Should Plan Before Hiring A Contractor

While you may have clear visualizations for the upgrade you’re trying to make, a professional would have more experience in the mechanics of your design. You don’t have to have everything all laid out before talking to a contractor. They should be just as much involved in the planning as in the actual construction. If you’ve taken the steps to find a reliable company, you should feel safe and in including them throughout the whole process.

4. High Quality Materials Increase Property Value

Top value materials may seem like a great idea to increase property value, but remember to stay within the quality realm of your locational area. If there’s a possibility of selling down the line, the value should be relative to surrounding organizations for higher buying potential. More expensive does not always mean higher quality. Evaluate the purpose of each given material, to determine if its suited for the job at hand.

In additional to style and utility, consider the environmental impact when choosing materials like glass or steel. Using eco-friendly products may be more expensive up-front, but they usually help to save money in the long run, in addition to helping the environment. Creating attractive exterior designs and renovations also goes a long way to help enhance community health and desirable walking experiences.

5. You Don’t Need A Permit For Minor Renovations

While more cosmetic changes won’t require a permit, be careful with even smaller renovations. Several local and state laws will require you to obtain a contractor’s license before initiating construction-type redesigns. If not, simply hire an outside contractor.

Key Areas for Commercial Bathroom Design and Renovation

With the numerous crucial details of developing a new business, designing an appealing commercial bathroom often gets overlooked. However, ensuring a thoroughly comfortable customer experience goes a long way in cultivating brand trust and loyalty. That experience starts with taking care of guests’ most basic needs: the restroom.

Whether it’s a mall, school, hospital or other commercial business, be sure to utilize safe, effective planning and know that it will shape visitor opinions. When evaluating the appeal and functionality of a commercial restroom, narrow your attention to four primary categories: sinks, flooring, lighting and accessories.

SINKS:

Out of everything in the bathroom, sinks are the most used and perform the greatest variety of tasks. Choosing the right sink can be really fun. There are numerous artistic designs that will lend a modern tone to any commercial restroom. Don’t be afraid to get creative with deeper square and oval shapes.

The National Kitchen and Bath Association provides a few steps to help in choosing the right sink. First assess how many sinks will be needed. This will help you decide the best overall layout. You can choose whether you want a dominant sink, varying sizes or a row of equal-capacity sinks. After you’ve selected the number and layout, it’s time to select the right material. Materials such as stainless steel, porcelain, gentle composite and natural stone each have pros and cons to consider. For example, stainless steel is durable and easy-to clean but scratches easily and shows water marks.

Once you’ve selected the best sink material for your needs, it’s time to choose sink accessories. Consider artistic faucets and mirrors. Check out design trends for modern styles. For example, researchers found that at an 80% usage rate, polished chrome is the fastest growing selection for bathroom faucets.

FLOORING:

Tiled-floors are the most common for commercial restrooms as well as the easiest to clean. However, there’s still a great variety to choose from as far as color, size and design. You want to create a unique and gorgeous feel, and flooring is a huge part of that. Pebble tile flooring is becoming more popular. Not only is the material elegant, but it’s also quite affordable. Remember to ensure that the slip-resistant surfaces meet any state or local codes which may apply.

LIGHTING:

Choosing the right lighting system can really set the tone and create the right vibe. In addition to the structure style, it’s also important to choose a good level of illumination Remember adjustable lighting is always an option, which could be used to set an evening or daytime mood. While dimmer lighting may add an up-scale aura, remember to ensure adequate lighting in appropriate areas for task completion.

ACCESSORIES:

The additional smaller elements can be used to enhance functionality and to improve the aesthetic appeal in any industry restroom. When considering the accessories, think intricate flushing systems, hand dryer varieties and toilet paper holders. While you’ll want to create a design flow among the restroom elements, mixing and matching can lend elegance as well. Using a variety of accessories, you can add some pizzazz to an otherwise boring commercial bathroom.

 

 

 

September 16, 2016
Wayne Foreman

Walking through the city and exploring new towns can be really exciting, until nature calls and there’s no restroom in sight. Accessibility to clean restrooms is a public health concern. In addition to accessibility and cleanliness, locational awareness is key to increasing a city's walkability and health.

Each city's walk score is determined by the number of errands which can be completed without a car. Walking, jogging, and biking ventures become a problematic and uncomfortable without nearby toilets. For pregnant women with children, elderly and those with Crohn's disease, restroom availability can be dire and every second counts.

With more apps, maps and even fees provide promising solutions to improve public bathroom and to support public health. Locational knowledge to public restroom access encourages the use of shared spaces and amenities which leads to more community interaction, lively cities, thriving tourism and health-improving walkability

BENEFITS OF AVAILABILITY

There are numerous ways restroom availability can positively impact citizen life quality as well as thriving tourism. Creating more walkable cities is one of the easiest and most effective ways to increase the health of a town.

In addition to convenience and comfort of citizens and tourists, special populations with special needs make toilet accessibility a more prominent issue. For example, pregnant women, children and people with health conditions (such as Crohn’s disease) require more consistent restroom access. Additionally, developing more  single-occupancy restrooms accommodates transgender privacy needs, which has become a growing national concern.

• Physical Health

Implementing public restroom access strategies will go a long way in encouraging bikers, walkers, joggers, etc. Walking is one of the most recommended and simplest health strategies for every demographic. Through more awareness of accessible toilet locations, citizens and tourists more frequently enjoy walkable shared areas downtown.

• Emotional Health

Walkable cities encourage interaction, which keeps residents happy and creative. Townspeople can enjoy the city more and add more life to the city. Increase convenience and comfort of city enjoyment to encourage the overall health of your city.

PUBLIC RESTROOM STRATEGIES

Despite issues with restroom availability in several U.S. metro cities, some great strategies are evolving. Many restaurants and other businesses still require purchases for usage. Hostile signs like “public restrooms for paying customers only” discourage walking pedestrians.

• Apps

In efforts to address special populations like people with Crohn’s disease who have precious seconds to secure a location when the urge arises. To cater to health concerns, many entities have taken it upon themselves to create more accessibility through smart phone apps, which calculate opportunities based on your zip code. Apps like “Sit or Squat” and “Where to Wee” include an extensive database for locating nearby pit stops.

• Maps

Places like Australia have a national public toilet map and more trails are creating rest stop icons to include in the brochures. The Australian government provides information for over 16,000 public toilets. It includes information operational hours and facility inclusion (i.e. showers and baby-changing stations).

Public restrooms are a public health issue. Starting with places like national parks and trails, designers are gravitating towards more access and awareness. Locational icons on brochures go a long way in helping guests quickly discover nearby options.

• Fees

In many European countries, they utilize an alternative solution often referred to as “50p to pee,” which stands for 50 pence. While that may sound absurd to most Americans, this small fee could go a long way to keeping restrooms safe and clean. As cheap as 50 cents for usage would be feasible for greatly improving the situation in many public spaces of U.S. cities. At least it would be more accessible.

FUTURE THOUGHTS

Once we’ve solved the issue of public restroom accessibility, perhaps then we can address the issue of accessible breastfeeding stations. Quality cities are created with quality of life for its citizens. That starts by taking care of their most basic needs.

 

 

September 1, 2016
Wayne Foreman