Free 3D Bathroom Design With Your Bid

A free 3D design is part of how JDI Construction starts a bathroom project. This page explains what you get and when it is free, what a rendering is good for in a bathroom, what it cannot tell you, and how to review one so it saves you money instead of just looking good.

What JDI includes, and when it is free

When you schedule a bid with JDI Construction, you get 3D renderings of your proposed bathroom at no charge, along with an itemized plan. You do not have to sign a contract first. The renderings are built for your room, from the measurements taken at the in-home consultation and the layout and finishes you discussed there.

Denise Lacquement, JDI's designer who specializes in bathrooms, plans the layout and guides material selections, and she carries that design through to the project managers during construction. The renderings are where that work first becomes something you can look at.

What a 3D rendering shows well in a bathroom

A floor plan shows where things go. A rendering shows what it will be like to stand in the room, which matters more in a bathroom than almost anywhere else, because every inch is spoken for. It is the right tool for decisions that are hard to judge on paper:

• Tub or shower. How the room changes when a tub becomes a walk-in shower, and whether a tub elsewhere in the house still serves the family. See tub-to-shower conversions.
• Shower size and entry. Where the glass panel sits, which way a door swings, whether the entry is curbed or curbless, and whether the shower feels open or cramped.
• Vanity width and storage. A single vanity against a double, drawers against doors, and how much counter is left beside the sink.
• Toilet placement. How the toilet reads from the doorway and whether a half wall or a separate toilet room fits.
• Tile layout. Where the accent tile stops, how a niche lines up with grout joints, and whether large tile or small mosaic suits the room's scale.
• Light and mirrors. How vanity lights, the mirror and the window sit against each other on the wall.

For layout principles to check against the rendering, see bathroom layouts.

What a rendering cannot tell you

A 3D design is a picture of intent. Keep its limits in mind:

• Exact color and texture. Screens shift color, and stone and handmade tile vary. Final tile and grout choices come from physical samples, ideally viewed in your bathroom on a gray Vancouver afternoon as well as under the new lights.
• What is behind the walls. A rendering cannot show where the drain runs, whether the floor can be recessed for a curbless shower, or whether there is rot under the tub. Those are checked in person and confirmed at demolition.
• Waterproofing. The membrane or pan behind the tile does the waterproofing, and it never appears in a picture. Ask how it will be built; our page on waterproofing explained covers the options.
• Code compliance. Safety glass, exhaust ducting and receptacle protection are design and inspection questions, not rendering questions.
• A price. The quote is the price. The rendering shows what the quote describes.

How to review your 3D bathroom design

Most of the value comes from reviewing the design carefully before anything is ordered. A change in a rendering costs nothing. A change after the tile and vanity are ordered costs time and money.

1. Walk your morning routine. Where you set down a towel, where the hair dryer plugs in, where you reach for the shower handle before the water is warm.
2. Check every swing. The bathroom door, the shower door and the vanity drawers can collide. Ask to see them open.
3. Tape it out. Mark the new shower and vanity on your existing floor with painter's tape and stand in the space.
4. Check the view from the door. The first thing you see from the hallway should be the vanity or a tiled wall you chose, not the toilet, if the layout allows.
5. Write every change at once. One complete list is faster to revise than several partial ones.
6. Compare it with the quote. Every item in the rendering should appear in the itemized plan, and every allowance should match what the rendering shows.

Our page on comparing bathroom remodel estimates explains allowances and how to read an itemized quote.

Questions to ask about the 3D design

Companies mean different things by "3D design". At the consultation, ask:

• Which views will I see: the whole room, each wall, the inside of the shower?
• Can I see an alternative, such as tub against shower, or two tile colors?
• Will the renderings show the actual tile, vanity and fixture finishes we discussed, or stand-ins?
• How are changes handled once I have reviewed the first renderings?
• What happens next if I want to go ahead?

Getting the most from it

The renderings are only as good as what goes into them. Bring photos of bathrooms you like and notes on what bothers you about the current one. Say who uses the room, whether anyone needs a tub, and whether anyone may need a curbless shower or grab bars later. If you want two versions compared, ask before the renderings are made.

The free renderings come at the start, with the bid. Selections refine them, and by the time tile and fixtures are ordered the design should show exactly what will be built. What a JDI bathroom remodel looks like shows where each step falls. To see your own bathroom in 3D, schedule a free consultation and bid, or read about bathroom remodeling in Vancouver first.