2 New Bathrooms - Advice Please!

Webbigail

Hi All,

Hope I am posting in the right place.

So, Hubby and I have decided we need to replace the bathroom and en-suite. They are both old, tired and not working properly.

We have £4500 and I am hoping not to spend all of this - Am I already totally off my rocker??!

Bathroom needs, Bath with shower tap and glass screen, Toilet, Sink (I would like a wall hung) Flooring (probably lino or laminate tiles) tiling and a towel rail.

Ensuite needs, new shower pump, Mixer shower, shower tray and screen (3 walls are tiled, so just 1 screen) toilet & sink. As this is a small room I am hoping for a vanity type unit with the loo and sink in, Tiling and again flooring same as the bathroom.

My husband is planning on doing all the pulling out of old and either getting a hippo bag of skip. He has a plumber at work which we will pay to install new. Husband is debating whether to attempt tiling or again find someone. He hasnt tiled before but we have friends that have and are happy to help/assist/offer advice.

We are going to B&Q at the weekend to get a plan drawn up so we have an idea of measurements and then I will start trawling the internet for offers/cost saving alternatives.

So my questions are, am I being realistic on budget, how hard is it to tile, can anyone recommend some good sites to but bathroom furniture and any tips on what problems we may encounter on the way.

Thanks :j

martinsurrey

If he's fairly competent and logical, tiling isn’t the hardest thing to do, if you take your time.

Since you have a bathroom and an en suit, you can work on one while using the other, so taking a little while longer shouldn’t be too much of an issue (or is it for another reason?)

If you do all of the grunt work yourself, and get a plumber to do the pipe work, £4500 will be plenty to get a descent quality, and good stuff if you’re savvy on the internet / sales.

Webbigail

Thanks for your reply.

yes we are planning to do one at a time and although I would obviously like them ready NOW NOW NOW (typical woman) we are in no rush so yes he can take his time.

Do you know, does it matter what type of bath we go for if it is being used for showing as well?

agasi88

What ever you do when pulling out your bathroom be careful! Nothing worse than ripping out cables or denting pipes that might cost you a bombshell to fix!
Plenty of online companies who sell products defo have a search through all of them Bathstore, Victoriaplumb, B&Q, Wickes, Bathrooms4all
Peace Out:beer:

kathleenryd

Webbigail wrote: »

Hi All,

Hope I am posting in the right place.

So, Hubby and I have decided we need to replace the bathroom and en-suite. They are both old, tired and not working properly.

We have £4500 and I am hoping not to spend all of this - Am I already totally off my rocker??!

Bathroom needs, Bath with shower tap and glass screen, Toilet, Sink (I would like a wall hung) Flooring (probably lino or laminate tiles) tiling and a towel rail.

Ensuite needs, new shower pump, Mixer shower, shower tray and screen (3 walls are tiled, so just 1 screen) toilet & sink. As this is a small room I am hoping for a vanity type unit with the loo and sink in, Tiling and again flooring same as the bathroom.

My husband is planning on doing all the pulling out of old and either getting a hippo bag of skip. He has a plumber at work which we will pay to install new. Husband is debating whether to attempt tiling or again find someone. He hasnt tiled before but we have friends that have and are happy to help/assist/offer advice.

We are going to B&Q at the weekend to get a plan drawn up so we have an idea of measurements and then I will start trawling the internet for offers/cost saving alternatives.

So my questions are, am I being realistic on budget, how hard is it to tile, can anyone recommend some good sites to but bathroom furniture and any tips on what problems we may encounter on the way.

Thanks :j

See Martin's email for 20% off at B&Q this weekend - also somegreat bathroom sites on ebay.

Samibits

There are loads of online suppliers so you should do it for this amount - especially if your husband is doing most of the work. Use YouTube for any tricky bits - I use it for loads of DIY hints. One bit of advise - do not trust supplier delivery dates - make sure that you do not pull your existing bathrooms out until you have received and checked that all new items are delivered.

noelphobic

agasi88 wrote: »

What ever you do when pulling out your bathroom be careful! Nothing worse than ripping out cables or denting pipes that might cost you a bombshell to fix!
Plenty of online companies who sell products defo have a search through all of them Bathstore, Victoriaplumb, B&Q, Wickes, Bathrooms4all
Peace Out:beer:

I wouldn't touch Victoria Plumb with a disinfected barge pole. I had major problems with them, too long to detail here, but basically the items they sent were broke and they were totally unapologetic. The replacements they sent were also either broken or the wrong items. I eventually got a full refund, including delivery charges, and was left with 2 vanity base units (broken) and one basin (in OK condition but they couldn't be bothered coming to pick it up!)

I bought a vanity unit from Better Bathrooms, a tap from Amazon. I bought the shower and shower cubicle online also but can't remember the names of the suppliers off the top of my head. I think one was WD Plumbing. The shower cubicle was delivered on a Sunday at no extra charge, which I was impressed with.

evergreen39

i re did my bathroom a while ago and purchased some items from these guys https://www.h-i-e.co.uk the price seemed fair and they had a special offer on at the time that meant i got a free item with the shower i purchased, delivery seemed quick as well, like agasi88 says you can definatley save money by having a look online. Good luck with it all!

invisiblecabbage

B&q run 'lessons' on how to .... . It costs about a tender for a 2-3 hour session. Only at there larger branches though. Worth a peep to see if any tiling ones neAr you.

penguingirl

invisiblecabbage wrote: »

B&q run 'lessons' on how to .... . It costs about a tender for a 2-3 hour session. Only at there larger branches though. Worth a peep to see if any tiling ones neAr you.

Also they have a now a B&Q club which apparently gives these classes for free, so even better (although I have never tried them)

Webbigail

Thanks everyone for your replies.

We have been to B&Q who have put the plans together and have been quoted £1700 for the bathroom and £2200 for the en-suite this price is just for the supply of and does not include installation!! Its also exludes the tiles and flooring.

I would like to think that I can buy the bathroom for under £1000 (including tiles and floor) and the en-suite for around £1500-£1700. I have found some great tiling tutorials on line and also have looked into the b&q tiling course which I think will be worth the £20.

I know there was a 20% off voucher on MSE for the weekend just gone but am wondering if anyone knows when there are other offers coming up?

So my plan now is to hunt the internet and buy bits when they are on offer and store in the garage. Hubby will then start with the bathroom as this will be the easiest. We have also decided to get a dual pump that will mean we can have a better shower in the main bathroom. :T