Kankakee's permit list and a bathroom job
The City of Kankakee names remodeling, interior demolition, new and replacement windows, exterior doors and skylights, and plumbing work among the projects that require a city permit, and it says emergency repairs need a permit application by the next working business day.
A bathroom project can touch more than one of the words on that list, or none of them, depending on what you plan. Rather than guess, put the question to each remodeler at the first meeting: which items on the city's list does this plan fall under, who files any application, and whose name goes on it? If the answer is unclear, the city's building office is the place to ask.
A pamphlet you should be handed
Illinois law requires a home repair and remodeling contractor to give customers the pamphlet "Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights". For contracts over $1,000, the homeowner and the contractor also sign a Consumer Rights Acknowledgment Form before the contract is signed.
When a remodeler sends a proposal, ask two things in writing: will the contract be over $1,000, and when will you receive the pamphlet? Read the pamphlet before you sign anything, and keep it in the same folder as the proposal.
Write down what is wrong today
A remodel can start from a list of complaints rather than a stack of magazine photos. Stand in the room for a few minutes on an ordinary morning and note what gets in the way. Perhaps two people cannot use the sink at once, the towel bar sits where the door hits it, the shower runs hot and cold when someone flushes, or there is nowhere to set down a phone or a razor.
Next to each complaint, write what would fix it for you. Some fixes are small, such as a new valve, a shelf or a different towel hook. Others mean moving a wall or a drain. Handing the same list to every remodeler gives them the same starting point, and it lets you see which bids answered your actual problems.
How you step in and out
The way someone enters the shower or tub shapes the whole room. Think about who bathes here now and who might in a few years. A tub with a shower overhead suits small children and people who like to soak. A shower with a low curb is easier to step over. A curbless entry raises its own questions: how the floor will carry water toward the drain, and whether the floor framing or the finish outside the shower may change.
For each option you are weighing, ask the remodeler what it would take in this particular room, whether the drain would move, and how they would keep water from reaching the floor outside the shower.
Light for the mirror
A single fixture on the ceiling can throw shadows across a face at the mirror. A remodel can add light at the sides of the mirror or above it, a separate light in the shower, or a small night light for late trips. Ask the remodeler which fixtures they would suggest, how each would be switched, and whether a dimmer makes sense for any of them. Bring a photo of the room at night so they can see what you see.
Footing on a wet floor
Floor tile varies in how slippery it becomes when wet. Smaller tiles on a shower floor add more grout lines, which can give feet more grip. Textured or matte surfaces may feel different from polished ones under bare feet. Ask to see samples, wet them at the counter or at home, and stand on them. Ask, too, whether a bath mat will fit where the door swings.
Steam after a shower
Moisture that lingers can fog the mirror, lift paint and leave the room smelling damp. Ask each remodeler how the plan moves moist air out of the house, where any fan duct would end, how loud the fan would be and how it would be switched. If the room has a window, ask whether a fan is still part of the plan.
Try finishes at home
Showroom lighting can make a tile or a paint color look nothing like it will in your house. Borrow samples and set them in the bathroom for a few days. Look at them in morning light and with the lights on at night. Hold the vanity color next to the floor tile and the wall paint together, not one at a time.
Planning for the days without the room
If this is the only bathroom in the house, ask early how long the room is likely to be out of use and whether the toilet can be reset at the end of each day during parts of the work. Ask where tools and materials will be kept, which door the crew will use, and how dust will be kept out of the rest of the house. Knowing the plan ahead of time lets you arrange showers elsewhere if you need to.
Questions for each remodeler
Put the same questions to everyone you interview, and ask for the answers in writing:
- What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?
- Who will do the plumbing and the electrical work, and are they on your payroll or subcontracted?
- Will you provide proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation before the start date?
- How will you tell me about something found behind a wall, and how will its price be set?
- What does your written warranty cover, and for how long?
Questions about your homeowner's policy while the room is under construction go to your insurer.