Taking on a bathroom remodeling project is a commitment. While bathroom remodeling is an excellent investment in your home's long-term value, it also can eat into your time and disrupt your family's activities. If you're the kind of person who wants to wait until the job is necessary, here are four situations where it's worth it to bite the bullet and start renovating.

Efficiency is Lagging

Although the aesthetic aspect of updating a bathroom is what most people picture when they think about remodeling, there's an argument for renovating once the energy efficiency of the fixtures has fallen behind. Advances in the last couple of decades have made a huge difference in how much water fixtures like faucets, showerheads, and toilets will use to get the same job done. Similarly, improvements in efficiency can reduce the consumption of natural gas and electricity. If it has been more than 20 years since the fixtures were renovated in your bathroom, there's a good chance you're flushing money down the drain with inefficient systems.

Failing Items Are Adding Up

Things break, and that's completely understandable. Over time, though, you'll find that the number of things that are failing starts piling up. Likewise, the pace of failure increases. If you're seemingly fixing something in the bathroom at least one weekend every season, such as replacing hinges on cabinet doors and shorted-out lights, it may be time to start fresh instead of fighting with everything.

The Bathroom Looks Depressing

More than other household spaces, bathrooms get dingy. Even the best efforts to push back stains will eventually not be enough. Instead of using chemicals and elbow grease to tidy up the place, it may be better to have a team of bathroom remodelers take out the tiles, replace the backsplash, and give the wall a new coat of paint. Even modest renovations can make a big difference once a bathroom starts to look a little rough.

When Timing is on Your Side

There's an argument for trying to time renovations to reduce inconvenience. If the bathroom has started to concern you a bit anyhow, the time to renovate may be when you have your next good chance to allocate some time. For example, a lot of families schedule renovations for when their kids go back to school in the fall. A long vacation is an opportunity to reduce the hassle of bathroom remodeling by simply not being there, too.