Adding or remodeling a bathroom is one of the best ways you can increase the value of your home. Remove outdated fixtures and tilework; if necessary, replace the substrate with new waterproof materials, and install new tile. If you're adding on a bathroom, you can make room for features like a double sink or whirlpool tub. Extra bathrooms always make a house more marketable.

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. Bathrooms are, like it or not, wet areas. Even if the rest of your house has gleaming hardwood floors, they re not the best choice for your bathroom. While some wood-look laminates can be glued and sealed to resist moisture, if water does get beneath the surface, the affected panels have to be replaced, which isn t simple or cheap. Cork flooring, properly installed and treated, can be a good alternative if you want that warm wood feeling. Cork is sustainably harvested, naturally anti-microbial and mildew-resistant. All it needs is a coat or two of eco-friendly acrylic binder to seal the joints and make it suitable for bathroom installation. Polished stone or glossy tile are slippery when wet, so if you re going with tile, look for a sandblasted or textured finish. Any stone or tile can be very cold underfoot, so consider installing a radiant heat mat beneath it. Stone and porcelain tile can be very expensive, but there s a huge variety of ceramic and glass tile available from $3 to $20 per square foot, installed. Tile installation is an advanced do-it-yourself job that can be physically demanding and time-consuming. But even if you hire a pro, it s a good investment. Some Realtors estimate that every dollar you spend on tile installation adds $1.50 to your home s value. For budget installations, vinyl tiles are the cheapest and easiest to work with. They don t last as long as sheet vinyl, though, and the gaps between them can be hard to seal. While it s a myth that sheet vinyl is an easy do-it-yourself project, there are lots of great new patterns and colors to choose from, costing between $2 and $7 a square foot. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Bob meets with the plumber to look at the air handler and then goes upstairs to check out a bathroom floor heated with radiant heat.

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. It s important to make your home energy-efficient by sealing all gaps and insulating thoroughly. But don t overlook ventilation. Vent fans in the kitchen and bathrooms are required by code in most states, and they re a good idea everywhere. They help protect indoor air quality and get rid of excess moisture from cooking and bathing that can lead to mold problems and structural damage. In the kitchen, range hoods now come in all shapes and sizes to go with your cooking surface and d cor. They can be ducted through a ceiling or exterior wall. This often requires tearing out plaster or drywall and it s best done during a remodel. If you don t want a large hood, consider a cooktop with a downdraft vent ducted through the floor. Either way, ventilation fans should always be ducted to the outside, never into an attic or crawlspace. Bathroom ventilation fans have come a long way, too. Energy Star-certified models with built-in ceiling lights can do double-duty and save you money, especially since these are so often accidentally left on. And they re much quieter, too. Some installers recommend the roof-mount type of fan. The fan and motor are installed on the roof and ducted to the interior space. In some homes, this can make installation and service easier since the unit s out in the open instead of built into the ceiling. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008

Bob looks at the tiles selected for the bathroom with homeowner and contractor NIck Beasley. They first look at the hexagon tile on the floor that is well-suited to an 1890s home. Beasley then shows Bob the white subway tile for the main field of the wall and the decorative glass tile for the edges. All of the tile is from Daltile. With work yet to be done, Bob wishes Beasley and his wife good luck as they anticipate the due date for their baby in just one week.

The tile floor in the penthouse bathroom is being installed in this segment. The tile is a manmade product from Turkey call Sim Stone and has been installed over a dry mix. The tiles were buttered with thin set mortar using a notched trowel and laid into the two-inch thick Portland cement substrate. Sim Stone tiles are a composite product made in Turkey. They are similar to ceramic tiles but with a high quartz content. They are appropriate for use in kitchens and bathrooms, as they are almost impenetrable to liquids and staining.

When you design the lighting for your bathroom, keep these points in mind. Downlighting from the ceiling will give you unwanted shadow if you're trying to use the mirror. Installing lights just above the mirror will reduce that somewhat, but it's not the best option. Placing lights around the mirror works best, giving you plenty of light, but with few shadows.

Bob talks with Nick Beasley, owner of the Melrose home, about the layout of the home before and after remodeling. The house previously featured a half-bathroom off the master bedroom and a full bathroom off the hallway, so the layout was reversed during remodeling. Beasley reviews some of the work that had to be done for this including demolition, replacing the old plumbing, reframing, and re-leveling the floor. New Pella two-over-one windows were installed in the master bathroom, which are in keeping with this older home. Bob reviews the installation of the Corian tub deck in the master bathroom, which was custom made using a digital template. Appropriate colors were then chosen for the bathroom to create flow to the master bedroom. Because of the layout of the bathroom, a half-wall was installed at one end of the bathtub. Bob reviews how Classic Glass of Stoneham, Mass., worked with the tile to install the glass and mount the curtain rod for the bathtub. Bellacor lighting fixtures were selected to complement the home's character and style. A pedestal sink was installed and a beautiful hexagon tile floor helps unify the whole room. Beasley demonstrates how the new window shades can be raised from either the top or the bottom.

Bob moves on to the third floor of the Melrose nursery remodeling project to review what has been done in preparation for the baby. The third floor will primarily be a kids' floor and, accordingly, at the top of the staircase a baby safety gate has been installed. Bob reviews the painting work done in the bedroom and then moves on to a room that was previously a home office but is now being renovated to become a child's bathroom. The room has the original beadboard and sits under the eaves of the roof. A small bathtub has been installed in front of the dormer window that has been replaced with a Pella window to prevent cold drafts. Bob reviews the unusual shape of the room. The new, freestanding Vintage bathtub has an antique style. A series of clips shows how the plumber installed the tub and connected the supply and waste lines. Bob then talks with Tara Dick of Vintage Tubs about the bathtub. Dick reviews features of the tub and explains how molds are made from older tubs so that new tubs of the same style can be manufactured. The porcelain finish is made to be one of the most durable in the industry and is capable of resisting cleaning chemicals. The ball-and-claw feet on the tub are made of solid brass with a chrome coating. Fixtures for the tub can be bought from many companies. Dick adds that free-standing tubs offer great flexibility in design and can accomodate any bathroom layout.

Basement toilets and showers need special equipment to pipe water and waste up and out to the sewer. Bob talks with Robert Lechner of Saniflo about the macerating toilet and other special piping equipment being installed in the bathroom. Lechner explains how water and waste is evacuated out the back of the toilet into the macerator. The macerator contains motorized blades spinning at 3,600 rpm that liquify any solid matter. This slurry can then be piped out of the basement. The toilet has a European-style bowl and a 1.6 gallon tank. The pipes require almost no maintenance but objects other than waste products should not be flushed down the toilet to protect the macerator. The suggested retail price for the entire package including the macerator, piping, and toilet is $869. It is one of the most affordable solutions available for locating a bathroom below grade. The addition of this half-bathroom should make a big improvement in the quality of life for this family of four.