The Bathroom Refresh Kit

The BathCozy method for a spa bathroom without the remodel: paint, tile and grout bought once in the right amounts, a curtain that keeps the water in the tub, and a shower priced in water and heat

BathCozy's calculators each answer one question, and a bathroom refresh asks them all at once. The Bathroom Paint Calculator counts every wall, including the tub and its tiled surround. The Tile Calculator counts the floor the tub stands on. The Grout Calculator rounds a few pounds up to a 25 lb bag. The Shower Curtain Size Calculator asks your ceiling height and never uses it, and the Bathroom Water Usage Calculator prices the water in a shower but not the heat. The Bathroom Refresh Kit joins them. In an example 5 x 8 ft bath the paint calculator says 2 gallons; with the 70 sq ft behind the tub and its tile taken off, the walls you can see need 3 quarts and the ceiling 1. Tile is counted by the box from one lot, grout by the pound with caulk at the tub, the liner sized to cover the opening, and the rod hung at 77.5 in so a 72 in liner's hem lands inside a 15 in tub. Two people's 8-minute showers cost $70.08 a year in water and $304.48 to heat on an example electric heater, so the kit prices both before you change anything. Every figure is computed by the site's calculators on examples you replace with your own; waste percentages, the grout allowance and the hem height are rules of thumb. Safety is on the page: GFCI and a licensed electrician for any wiring, fan or heater, ventilation against mold and fumes, non-slip mats and grab bars into studs, a lead test before sanding in a pre-1978 US home, and never mixing bleach with ammonia or acids. Included: 24 printable pages with seven steps, a measuring sheet, a buy list, a shower sheet, reference tables, refresh or remodel and a quickstart, plus a personalised sheet worked from the numbers you enter in our calculators.

Look inside

Two full pages from the kit, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• The Net Wall Rule: the paint calculator's area less the tub and its tiled surround, walls and ceiling bought apart in quarts and gallons
• The Coverage Rule: the order worked at your can's lower coverage, with primer where it is needed
• The One Lot Rule: tile by the box for the area that shows, waste for your layout, every box from one lot
• The Pound Rule: grout by the pound plus an allowance, and flexible caulk where tile meets the tub
• The Full Width Rule: a liner that covers the opening flat, and a curtain as full as you like
• The Inside the Tub Rule: the rod height that puts the hem inside the tub, and the longest curtain your ceiling allows
• The Hot Water Rule: a shower priced in water and heat, the bucket test, and a toilet swap priced honestly
• Printable working pages: a measuring sheet, a buy list and a shower sheet
• Reference tables, refresh or remodel with the renovation calculator's bands, and a quickstart
• A personalised sheet worked from the numbers you enter in our calculators

The kit picks up where the free Bathroom Paint Calculator leaves off. It counts every wall, including the tub and its tiled surround, so a small bath is told to buy gallons for walls nobody paints. The kit takes the covered wall off, checks the coverage against your surface, and buys paint in quarts and gallons rounded up once. It counts tile by the box from one lot with the Tile Calculator and grout by the pound with the Grout Calculator, sizes a liner that covers the opening with the Shower Curtain Size Calculator and hangs the rod so the hem lands inside the tub, and prices a shower in water and heat, which the Bathroom Water Usage Calculator leaves out. Safety comes with it: GFCI protection near water and a licensed electrician for any wiring, fan or heater; ventilation for moisture, mold and paint fumes; non-slip mats and grab bars fixed into studs or rated anchors; a lead test before sanding in a US home built before 1978; and never mixing bleach with ammonia or acids. The worked figures are examples; your room, tile and prices are yours to fill in.