When a student is deciding if they want to live in university housing or off-campus, the largest factor could be the state of the living arrangements. If you want to make university housing more appealing to students, start in the room they will likely be sharing with others: the bathroom. With over 1 million bathroom remodels under our belt, let us at AmBath help guide you through your next college bathroom remodel project.
The first thing you need to consider is how many people will be using this bathroom during the year. Is it a solo bathroom, or will it be an entire floor of people living in a dormitory? A general rule of thumb is that if more people use the bathroom, the more durable it needs to be, as well as the easier it needs to be to clean.
Next, think of the scope of your project. Are you renovating university housing that has bathtubs? Is it all standing showers? How many are you renovating? When does it need to be completed by?
We can’t answer that for you, but we can help you along the way.
What Material Is Best For University Housing?
As we talked about above, the more durable the material, the easier it will be for you and for those that use it. But durability doesn’t mean you have to take away from the look of the bathroom. Let’s break down what you can do.
Standing Shower Remodels
Showers can be replaced, or you can choose to install a liner over their base.
The base of the shower (where the water is caught and drained) is relatively inexpensive. The new liner is seamlessly fitted over your existing shower. Depending on the material, the liners are extremely durable and can be easy to clean.
Our shower base liners are custom manufactured to fit over any size and style shower base. Each shower base is manufactured from an impact-resistant solid surface polymer. This unique material will not crack, fade, chip, peel or gather mildew.
If you choose to do a replacement, you can separate the task between the base, the fixtures, and the wall surrounds. Replacements are more costly and timely, but they are built to last and a completely new bathroom is an incentive for new residents to apply.
We also supply shower replacements and wall surrounds. They use solid surface aggregate, cast marble or solid surface polymer shower bases to provide durability against scratches, cracks, and rust ensuring a long-lasting look and feel.
Wall surrounds, which is the tiling that extends up the wall in a shower, can vary from tile to natural stone. For universities, we recommend going grout-less, as it is easier to clean and durable. We offer two grout-free options: cast marble and solid surface polymer. We also use large format porcelain tiles and standard tiles.
Bathtub Remodels
If your university housing has a bathtub, there are a few things you can do. You can replace the tub, cover the existing tub with a liner, reglaze it, or convert it into a shower.
If you’re worried about the cost or the timeline of the project, we recommend a liner. A bathtub liner is extremely similar to a shower liner and is made of scratch-resistant solid surface polymer.
However, if you’re looking to redo the bathrooms, nothing can compare to replacing the bathtub entirely or converting it into a shower. Our bath replacements are made of pressed steel, cast steel, or solid surface polymer and will not chip, rust, crack, or fade.
Converting your bathtub to a standing shower is more eco-friendly and will dramatically open up space. Your old tub will be removed, then new fixtures will be installed, along with wall surrounds and a shower base. AmBath offers the following materials: solid surface aggregate, cast marble, or solid surface polymer. There are various styles and colors to choose from as well.
We do not recommend reglazing the tub, as the new finish is not built to last. It is a good quick fix, but you will need to refinish the tub every year or so.
Why Remodel at All?
We know bathroom remodels are cumbersome and they can often mean blocking off the area from us. But redoing a bathroom in university housing will make the building more desirable to live in. It will be good for the university and good for your students. On top of that, a remodel will last longer. If you do it through us, we warranty all of our products so you’ll never have to worry about damage.
Give us a call and see how we can benefit your students.