First-time house renovation

suisidevw

Thanks for such a swift response. Will check out local retailers and make sure we haggle then!

The guy who quoted for our bathroom said the only company to avoid would be B and Q due to their fitment and quality. Are you happy with yours?

Do you have a shower over your bath littlerose?

Thanks!

jimbugalee

Hey Sam,

We got our bathroom suite from B&Q when it was half price and another 10% off. I am sure they still have some offers there and a wide selection. They said delivery was 6 weeks but it came within 2 (although I bet you couldn't guarantee it if you wanted).

My parents have one of those baths which has a circular end with a rounded shower screen. It works well as a bath/shower.

I can't advise too much on tiles as our whole bathroom is travertine (http://seatonroad.blogspot.com/)

We got our towel rail from Screwfix which was fairly cheap I think and delivery is next day.

Again, taps we got from B&Q as they were half price but Screwfix also have some nice ones. Our shower head is from Screwfix also and a lot cheaper than anywhere else.

Erm ... can't think of anything else but shout if you think of anything!

littlerose12345

suisidevw wrote: »

Thanks for such a swift response. Will check out local retailers and make sure we haggle then!

The guy who quoted for our bathroom said the only company to avoid would be B and Q due to their fitment and quality. Are you happy with yours?

Do you have a shower over your bath littlerose?

Thanks!

Definitely haggle!

We're happy with the quality so far My sister also has the same toilet and has had no issues either.

Yep, we've had a shower fitted on one side of the bath but the bath isn't one of those P shaped shower baths as we couldn't find one to fit the space

jimbugalee

Have just seen the point re B&Q quality. Our sink is 'Toronto' and the quality is absoutely fine. It's really sutrdy. Prob too big for a small bathroom though.

The bath is 'Curve' and I can't really tell as it's not really out of packaging yet. Looks good enough tho. It was reeeeeeeeeeally cheap.

I think the toilet will be the downfall as it's part of their 'to go' range and I think it could be better but it was a bargain. Maybe we'll get a posh loo seat!

littlerose12345

jimbugalee wrote: »

Again, taps we got from B&Q as they were half price but Screwfix also have some nice ones. Our shower head is from Screwfix also and a lot cheaper than anywhere else.

Oooh I forgot to mention taps.. ours were from Screwfix too (Moretti Avanti ones we'd seen in B&Q but a lot cheaper.. I love them!!

Our shower is Grohe and found it on an eBay shop for a fraction of full price.

littlerose12345

jimbugalee wrote: »

I think the toilet will be the downfall as it's part of their 'to go' range and I think it could be better but it was a bargain. Maybe we'll get a posh loo seat!

Yep, forgot about that!! The plastic toilet seat was rubbish!! We quickly changed it and looks lovely now!

TomsMom

jimbugalee wrote: »

Well apparently if you burn solid fuel (i.e. wood or coal) you need to have a hearth at least 30mm thick so prevent cracking. You can go down to 20mm but is a bit risky. Here's an extract from a supplier:

OK, got it! Obviously vastly different from our old gas fires on a slate hearth but I understand it now. I think slate would look fabulous with a stove.

suisidevw wrote: »

Any links to your blogs with your bathrooms for ideas would be amazing too.

Here's ours. Befores and afters.

We got our bath, and toilet/basin for en suite from Diamond Bathrooms. We went to their showroom, very helpful people and even beat their own internet prices as we ordered there and then. We phoned up a couple of times to add to the order, always very helpful. I think we also asked them to get the vanity basin in the main bathroom, Roca brand which we're very happy with.

We got our toilet from JA Bathrooms, spoke to them on the phone, again very helpful and sourced some border tiles at a very advantageous price for us.

Our tiles were from Wickes, just happened to be some we liked there and they were on offer, plus we got a discount code for first order from their catalogue so that worked out well. We did have a problem with delivery, they sent different batch numbers which was pretty stupid, but that got sorted and we asked for a gesture of goodwill seeing as they messed us about for weeks and we got an extra discount for that.

Our taps were from a local shop who price matched after we'd done our research on the internet .

The shower base and enclosure in the en suite, plus the shower door in the main bathroom were from the plumbers' merchants in Oswestry our builders used so we got a good price on those.

The tiles are peach and the ceiling polystyrene tiles and only a shower. The bathroom is small so we need to maximise space/storage bypossibly having a pedestal sink.

Our bathroom had polystyrene ceiling tiles, underneath was a vast amount of black mould which the builders had to deal with. Could have been that in that particular area (an extension) there was a flat concrete roof which had never been sealed so the concrete was actually soaking wet.

Not 100% sure on the colours but thinking white suite with sandy coloured flooing and white tiles, chrome towel rail etc.

Pretty classic and very popular at the moment, no real danger of it ever being unfashionable. Always best to play safe really with bathrooms as it's not something you're going to change after a couple of years.

TomsMom

OOOOOOOhhhhhhhhh, :j Just had a phone call, TD on his way. Expects to reach Bangor hospital in 4-5 hours :T

lisal0u

Wow you have been a chatty bunch this morning!

Brilliant news about TD :j

Littlerose - Thanks very much! Im not sure what the angles are on the Bay as Stuart cut the skirting. We were going to try and bend a piece of wood but decided to cut individual sections. Once it was filled and painted it looked a lot less angular.

The upstairs bay was boarded and skimmed which didnt give the best of finishes so on the downstairs bay we just overskimmed and it looks much nicer!

We also used to have picture rails which we removed. I wasnt really keen on them but I did feel a bit bad for ripping out the character of the house!

jimbugalee - It was hard work, had a well earned rest last night! Jammies on by 6pm Stuart cooked us a curry and brought me a beer while I did my nails, bliss ha ha!

Im with you on the stress levels! Im determined to be moved in by Christmas but still need to get the bathroom wall tiled and walls decorated, underfloor heating and wood floor finished downstairs, skirting, finish staining the stairs and decorating the hall. And pack and move! Im just taking it one day at a time otherwise my head would explode!

Sam - Heres a few piccys of our bathroom:




We got our bath, toilet, sink, shower and taps from Bathstore, not particularly cheap but really good quality! We did get them a lot cheaper in one of their many sales that they have! Got very good service from them.

I bought the towelrail from an online company but be a little bit wary of them if you are intending to use them as your primary heating. Our plumber explained that they are not regulated like radiators are so they can say they will produce a certain amount of BTU's when actually it only will if your boiler is heating the water to 90 degrees! I bought one after working out the BTU's for the room and was then told by the plumber that it wouldnt produce enough heat to heat the room! Its only tiny too 1.8 x1.8m. Because of this we installed electric underfloor heating (only cost £99 including a thermostat).

Ooo also consider a summer heating element for the towel radiator, then you can have it on independently of the central heating!

Our tiles are porcelain in a travertine effect from a local tile shop! We haggled too and got about 50% off.

We are tiling around the bath and above the sink and the rest will be painted in some shade of cream I expect.


Im going out for tea tonight but Stuart is being good and going to the house to carry on staining the stairs. We will have to be there every free minute to make sure its done before Christmas! Some of that Euromillions money would have come in very handy right now!

Lisa x

littlerose12345

lisal0u wrote: »

Littlerose - Thanks very much! Im not sure what the angles are on the Bay as Stuart cut the skirting. We were going to try and bend a piece of wood but decided to cut individual sections. Once it was filled and painted it looked a lot less angular.

The upstairs bay was boarded and skimmed which didnt give the best of finishes so on the downstairs bay we just overskimmed and it looks much nicer!

We also used to have picture rails which we removed. I wasnt really keen on them but I did feel a bit bad for ripping out the character of the house!

Filler is amazing, makes such a difference!

Did you skim the rest of the room in your bedroom?