bathroom remodel advice- what to upgrade for the best value?

Question

I have a large master bathroom about 12 x12ft.
What should I upgrade or change for the best increase in resale value.
Right now have big garden tub (fiberglass) and separate shower unit( fiberglass with glass door), vinyl floor, a 9 foot long older double vanity with cabinets below(MDF not wood) put in by contractor who build the house.
I will definitely need to replace the shower and the vinyl floor because they need to be repaired.

Do you think replacing the vinyl with ceramic tile floor is a better idea, or keeping it vinyl and upgrading the vanity/cabinets. The cabinets don't look bad, but are a bit outdated and match the ones in the kitchen and half baths. The similar homes in my area are selling for about 160K. I bought this one for 130K so I don't have much room to spend.

the ceramic tile i've seen is textured these days so no more slipping problem.
I will have to replace the old pre-fab shower unit. so now i'm trying to decide if i should replace with another pre-fab unit which would be about $1000 plus $ for installation OR tile the walls after i take out the old prefab unit. the good thing about the old prefab unit was it had a nice bench.

Answer 1

Upgrading is a always a plus and should be done. Change out your flooring with linoleum, tile is slippery and takes a lot of maintenance, replace vanity and top, change out entry door(s) keep the garden tub, keep the shower unit, paint the walls, replace all faucets, if the toilet is out dated replace it. This few changes will make a drastic improvement and up your value of your home. This will cast you around $800.00-1,200.00 for supplies. If you can't afford this then do a little bit at a time.

It will cast more if you have a contractor do this; $1500.00-$2000.00.

Answer 2

I agree that you need to replace the vinyl shower. It should be ceramic and you can keep it simple so as not to break the bank. The floors also should be ceramic or porcelain to increase your value. New homes don't do vinyl floors. I would update the double vanity to wood and the countertops to marble if you can. A warm darker wood with a coordinating marble top and tile floors will really make the room come together. Kitchens and baths, particularly master baths are key to re-sale and people will deduct from your price if you haven't kept them updated. A $3000 redo could add $10,000 to your sale. Not bad for a little extra design savvy.

Answer 3

Not sure about this, if it was just the vanity unit I'd say replace it but as it matches the rest of the house . . . ?
Be careful with ceramic tiles in the shower/ bathroom they might be slippery when wet.
Why not just replace the doors and worktops on the vanity unit, baths and kitchen for a more modern look and get a good quality vinyl for the floors ?

Answer 4

Definitely do ceramic on the floor. I don't think it will cost that much and it will give a much richer impression than vinyl. A 9 foot double vanity would be pretty pricey to replace with solid wood and higher end countertops like granite or Corian , but I would do it if I could find some good deals. Maybe you could keep the cabinetry but simply update faucets and vanity lighting. Paint the walls with a neutral color of semigloss.