Diy Bathroom.

I,M_SAD

Hello,I am seriously thinking of attempting to do as much as I can with refitting my small bathroom.Has anybody any suggestions of a good diy guide or book please?
I will have the electric shower done by a qualified electrician,so nothing dodgy.
My bathroom is hideous and I cannot afford to have it done professionally.
I am hoping I can hack all tiles off however they have put them on a thick concrete
base half way round,would that concrete hack off ok by hand?
Has anybody fitted their own toilet ,just wondering if it,s a bit of a no,no.

The bathroom layout will stay exactly the same.Has anybody tiled their bathroom with no previous experience and was it ok?Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated,thank you.

gerryscot

I,M_SAD wrote: »

Hello,I am seriously thinking of attempting to do as much as I can with refitting my small bathroom.Has anybody any suggestions of a good diy guide or book please?
I will have the electric shower done by a qualified electrician,so nothing dodgy.
My bathroom is hideous and I cannot afford to have it done professionally.
I am hoping I can hack all tiles off however they have put them on a thick concrete
base half way round,would that concrete hack off ok by hand?
Has anybody fitted their own toilet ,just wondering if it,s a bit of a no,no.

The bathroom layout will stay exactly the same.Has anybody tiled their bathroom with no previous experience and was it ok?Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated,thank you.

Your very brave to tackle the bathroom, I’ve had my full house refurbished without any major upset but the bathroom was an absolute nightmare to get done. Trades people don’t work very well as a team, I had to take on sites managers role to sort out their childish squabble’s and arrange times/jobs for Plumber, joiner, tiller and the electrician,


As your going to attempt it yourself you wont have the issue’s/problems sorting out the different trades people. I think you might be able to download a bathroom design program on Ikea’s website. B & Q also do various DVD’s for DIY work.


Best of luck to you.
Gerry

wallbash

Nothing very difficult about refitting a bathroom

As long as its refitting and not rearranging . As you indicate its a small bathroom . I'm guessing that the new WC will be at the same place, bath etc

One of the biggest problem is time . If the W.C. is your only one ?
you have to cross your legs between getting the old one out and the new one in :rotfl:

But to be serious , W.C. are often only held in place with two screws, so as long as you have really thought things thru , DIY is an option.

wallbash

Has anybody tiled their bathroom with no previous experience and was it ok?

We all started some where . Was my tiling as good then as it is now .... I hope i'm better now

Will your tiling result be as good as a professional, NO !! it wont.
But you cant afford a professional tiler.
Will your resulting tiling be acceptable , I don't know, but if you don't try , you will never know.
I take it you will be using cheap tiles, so we won't be investing lots of money .

But DIY takes a lot of time , especially at first . DON'T rush anything .
Takes you hours to place the first tile .... who cares.

Can I recommend a book , sorry no.

Good Luck , keep us informed.

punknzippy

it should be relatively easy for any basic diyer nowadays , have you seen the speed fit range of plumbing ??
it makes life very easy for you , if used correctly that is .
you will need to buy the special pipe cutters around £15 , and use the shut off valves on either the main water feed pipes into your bathroom or before the toilet system and taps , will save you lots of time and disruption then and fitting can be done lesuirly without having to keep turning the water off every time (also very good if you find yourself with a leak )
fitting toilet +sink +bath is easy to do , just make sure you have a slight fall on the bath towards the plug hole else you might find a puddle in the bath that wont go down plug .
tileing is also easy , as previously said take your time with it , especially with the grouting as this makes it look good when done to a good finish , the local library might have a good book on this , didnt haynes manuals do one ??
also you dont have to remove the old tiles if their stuck on well as you can tile over them , in my last house i retiled the whole bathroom over the top of the old tiles , but i did get my little grinder on them to remove some of the glaze and to put a few grooves in for better adhesion , saves a lot of mess and gives a very good flat suface to .

i would say by the time youve splashed out on an electric tile cutter (if your going to do it you need the right kit ) and a few other special tools you will be mega quids in on what it would cost for profesionals and you will have some great tools to then go on and do the kitchen with
if you need any more help / advice please feel free to pm me
go for it and enjoy a soak in the bath afterwards

pody

wallbash wrote: »

Will your tiling result be as good as a professional, NO !! it wont.
But you cant afford a professional tiler.
Will your resulting tiling be acceptable , I don't know, but if you don't try , you will never know.
I take it you will be using cheap tiles, so we won't be investing lots of money .QUOTE]

I'm not sure I agree, I tiled my downstairs bathroom as I was not happy with the professionals finnish in the upstairs bathroom.
The way I see it is they have to work fast to make the most money and wont be looking for the same finnish you are.
I bought a electic tile cutter and all the proper flexable adhesive and saved loads of money, of course the only think is it will take longer but I think you get a better finnish.

I done all of the work in the bathroom, removing old tiles, replacing and strenghen floor, retile and paint. Only got plumber in as moving some pipes, installing new radiator (only had an electric towel rail).
Total cost just over 2k, local tradesmen wanted 6-8k!

Tip for tiles, check out designs locally then check the web, Laura Ashley tiles were £25 sqm at homebase, £10 on the web!

wallbash

I suggest you re- read the OP .

Has anybody tiled their bathroom with no previous experience

I would expect any pro , working at the speed of light
to beat the First timer .

Canucklehead

fitting toilet +sink +bath is easy to do , just make sure you have a slight fall on the bath towards the plug hole else you might find a puddle in the bath that wont go down plug .

With advice like that I wouldn't let you near a bathroom refit.:rolleyes:
The bath has a built in fall.

OP. Sometimes the tiles come off clean, sometimes it takes it back to the brickwork.

GSR.

jimbugalee

We've just re-fitted our bathroom ourselves with no trader help but we did move it from downstairs to a third bedroom and had to apply for building control. I am sure you don't have to do this.

My Dad did the tiling and although he's only tiled a couple of times he spent hours working out how the tiles were going to fit so there were no small bits at the end etc. He just worked slowly and steadily and I personally think it's even better than a trade job as we spent so much time on them.



My main advice is take everything slowly and one step at a time. Do you have friends you can ask for advice? Even if they are not helping - sometimes just a double check to make sure you're doing the right thing is helpful.

Good luck!

Barneysmom

Yours looks gorgeous jimbugalee :cool::cool:

There's something you need to remember to do, the earth bonding on your plumbing, it's quite important.

Just take your time, if it takes a year it doesn't matter, as long as you get it right.
Don't pick too outrageous a colour, else you'll be sick of it before it's fiished...

jimbugalee

Thanks Barneysmom ...... ah yes our bathroom has taken months but we've done everything quite slowly and also had the rest of the house to contend with. We don't have any experience apart from a bit of common sense!