Cheap/Temp bathroom facelift

ST1991

I have a Money-Saving budget of about £100 to give our bathroom a facelift. :money:
It functions OK and we will be replacing/refitting it completely in a few years once we have the money to do exactly what we want.
Size is tiny - 2.9M long x 1.7M wide

I don't want the hassle of taking out the toilet and other fittings as we'd like to avoid fiddling with plumbing as much as possible to reduce costs.
I plan on doing it all in a weekend. Is this too much of a bodge job/can i really do this for the cost:

Flooring:
Currently it just has lino laid straight onto floorboards. It is not laid 'properly' as it is cut around the sink, bath and toilet instead of underneath, and is not sealed around the edges.

I plan on basically putting the same back down, but being a bit more careful and neat when cutting it around the fittings, and sealing it. I also plan on putting down some kind of board underneath to make an even surface to lay the lino on.
(Any recommendations on what kind of board to lay down, and where to buy it/bring it back in a car?)

Walls & Ceiling:
A lick of paint on all non-tiled surfaces.
Patch up a few small areas of the textured ceiling.

Mirror:
There are rawl plugs already in the wall above the sink, so we'd like to find a flat mirror that it suitable for bathroom use to rang here. Non-fancy, non-light up. Happy to drill extra holes to fit, just as long as it covers them.

So the question is... can this all be done within my budget, and does anyone have any recommendations for where i can buy what i need?
I am not bothered about having a high-finish, it just needs to be an improvement to what it is now.

trailingspouse

I don't know about the flooring, but the rest of your ideas should be perfectly doable.

Other super-cheap things you could do which would really make a difference
- deep clean it
- replace the loo seat if it needs it (especially if it is an old black or wooden one)
- sort out your towels, so you have, say, all the blue ones out or all the cream ones
- when you're buying soap/bubble bath etc buy whatever colour works with your towels (you'd be buying this stuff anyway, you might as well make it part of the 'look').

Slinky

How good are you with cutting stuff out? Cutting board to fit round the pedestal and toilet won't be easy. We had board put down over our bathroom floor as a previous owner had knackered the boards with his DIY. It needed a lot of screwing down in order that it doesn't squeak. You've got to be careful and not screw through any pipes.


Whilst the idea may seem a bit of a bodge a professional flooring company we'll be using shortly in a to-be-rented property have suggested laying vinyl flooring over existing if it is smooth enough. We were surprised, but they said it should be OK. I'm thinking that your existing flooring may make a better surface to lay new over as a short term measure than re-boarding?

Ectophile

The standard thing to put under vinyl flooring is hardboard. See for instance http://www.abbey-carpets.co.uk/product.php/837/flooring-hardboard

pmartin86

ST1991 wrote: »

I have a Money-Saving budget of about £100 to give our bathroom a facelift. :money:
It functions OK and we will be replacing/refitting it completely in a few years once we have the money to do exactly what we want.
Size is tiny - 2.9M long x 1.7M wide

I don't want the hassle of taking out the toilet and other fittings as we'd like to avoid fiddling with plumbing as much as possible to reduce costs.
I plan on doing it all in a weekend. Is this too much of a bodge job/can i really do this for the cost:

Flooring:
Currently it just has lino laid straight onto floorboards. It is not laid 'properly' as it is cut around the sink, bath and toilet instead of underneath, and is not sealed around the edges.

I plan on basically putting the same back down, but being a bit more careful and neat when cutting it around the fittings, and sealing it. I also plan on putting down some kind of board underneath to make an even surface to lay the lino on.
(Any recommendations on what kind of board to lay down, and where to buy it/bring it back in a car?)

I recently did a cheapo flooring in my bathroom to "keep me going" - so far so good, bought a roll of vinyl from BnQ:

http://diy.com/departments/flooring-tiling/flooring-underlay/vinyl-flooring/DIY566438.cat?Icamp=Nav_Flooring_DIY566438

and put down some of this stuff under it:

http://diy.com/departments/diall-5mm-laminate-solid-wood-flooring-fibre-wood-underlay-699m/1520621_BQ.prd

far from perfect, but a significant improvment over the mouldy carpet that was there before. That along ewith a tub of sealant around the edges has left a decent looking floor, I cetainly wont be keeping it much past a year though.

Walls & Ceiling:
A lick of paint on all non-tiled surfaces.
Patch up a few small areas of the textured ceiling.

Bit of filler, pack of sandpaper and a tin of paint along with a biut of patience, job done.

Mirror:
There are rawl plugs already in the wall above the sink, so we'd like to find a flat mirror that it suitable for bathroom use to rang here. Non-fancy, non-light up. Happy to drill extra holes to fit, just as long as it covers them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/bathroom-wall-mirror

Cheap and cheerfull. pick your size or get some mirror tiles. Job done.

So the question is... can this all be done within my budget, and does anyone have any recommendations for where i can buy what i need?
I am not bothered about having a high-finish, it just needs to be an improvement to what it is now.

All within bidget and a weekend of effort, you seem well aware its a short term thing so should be fine. As others have mentioned, some other small things can go a long way, matching towels and rugs to cover a tired radiator and cheap floor for example, along with a bit of aptience and a tub of sealant to neaten up the sink / bath / shower. That along with a REALLY good scrub can make the world of difference.

whizzybee

We did ours for under £100. The bathroom suite is lemon yellow - fashionable at one stage, who'd have thought... - combined with black tiles and green walls... Replacing the suite was out of the question at this stage due to lack of money. So two tins of dulux magnolia and light grey, new grey toilet seat, new curtains and tile paint. I actually quite like it now. The floor was already cheap vinyl wood effect which is a bit horrible but i can live with it until we decide what to do with the bathroom. And 2.9 x1.7m for a bathroom sounds quite big to me! Ours is 2.5 x 2m and its the biggest bathroom I've ever lived with

ST1991

Thanks everyone for your positive input - It really has helped give me to 'push' that this can be done, and to get it done

Regarding the wood fibre underlay, is that is a good idea in a wet environment? We have used the exact same stuff in the bedroom so have some left over, and I guess as long as we seal the vinyl ontop it should be OK?

If suitable it makes sense to go with this as a temporary measure as we already have enough to do the bathroom floor in that underlay, and it is easy to cut!

Off the B&Q i go (i have a voucher, too!)