Tips & suggestions for new bathroom install

JustAnotherSaver

We were looking at a new kitchen but i think needs have dictated that the bathroom will have to be done first.

I doubt we'll get our bathroom through B&Q as i have a feeling that while they may have some decent stock, i think the feedback from those in the know would be that it's overpriced for what it is and you can get the same or better for less elsewhere? Am i right or wrong with that?
Regardless, it's the only place local so we went there for a look to get ideas.

For example ... We noticed that all the toilets on show were those 2-button-push things and we wondered whether they worked better than your old fashioned handle. Little detail things like that. Sure they may be saving on water but we don't have a meter installed anyway. Not only that but the actual mechanism and also the internals - are they just as easy to fix as your regular toilet handle? Same price? Same in terms of reliability?


Not just about toilets but that thought process made me think what other areas are there that you may not consider thinking about where others can advise through mistakes they made or things they'd just do or choose differently now they can look back.

Some may call it overthinking but i prefer to call it forward planning. It'll be 12-24 months before we get a new bathroom but if we can learn from others where we can say - we're glad we asked that because we were going to do it that way but this way or this option works so well.



My wife commented how she'd prefer as little grout as possible for cleaning & looks so was looking at those big sheets (again in B&Q) rather than small tiles, though we know absolutely nothing about them, whether they're good or not or whether anything is better.

Sinks for example - shallow, deep, square, round - splashes when using taps. I guess a shallow sink would be bad and cause a lot of splash when using the taps, though i don't fancy buying in a shallow sink, a medium sink & a deep sink, having them installed 1-by-1 and then selecting which one i prefer based on its practicality - hence me asking here.

Ceilings is another thing. My wife has commented on PVC ceilings as that's what her mother has in their house, although i'm not 100% sold on the idea. I have a feeling that condensation would collect really badly on there. Our existing ceiling may be a problem - it has like a vinyl wallpaper on it but stains bad due to the condensation/heat. Not only that but the ceiling is shaped with an angled piece of i think timber in the corner. It's not a flat ceiling in other words.

I think an extractor fan would be a must? Although we wouldn't want anything rattling in the wind or super noisy in any way.

Hopefully you can see where i'm going with the thread? Just little pointers, suggestions, tips from people who've had theirs done & can comment on what works & what doesn't.


Oh & for the record our bathroom is quite small too. It's about 2mtrs-x-2mtrs, approximately.

Lizabeth21

I agree with your wife - as little grout as possible. We/I opted for the largest wall tiles I could find.

We had two B&Q bathrooms - complete gutting and soil stack replacement and re routing of the interior waste.

Whilst we did have some issues their 5 year warranty was piece of mind and worked as you would expect it to. None of the issues were to do with water leaks!

We have an extractor fan in both (bath and shower in both) and have used bathroom paint on walls and ceilings (window in each also) - no issue with condensation.

With the sink we had a mixer tap where the spout turns - other wise it’s always in your way.

Oh and forward planning indeed! Enjoy the process.

tacpot12

An extractor fan is a must if your are having a shower fitted. If you're only having a bath, you might get away without one.

I would have the fan controlled by a humidistat AND the light switch. Its a complicated arrangement but it ensures that if the humidistat senses the room needs to be dried, it can run the fan regardless of whether the light is on or not. Modern fans are very quiet so the fan won't disturb you even if your bedroom is close to the bathroom.

Bathroom paint on the ceiling will be fine if the extractor fan is controlled by a humidistat. PVC is not a good option due to toxins it produces when it burns.

I've been very pleased with a Carronite Bath I bought about 5 years ago.

If I were redoing our bathroom, I would assume that the bath/shower was going to leak at some point and tank the bathroom to keep any leaks in the room.

I can't advise on the best sink, but you are right to be concerned, however modern taps should aerate the waterflow and this will eliminate most splashing even in shallow sinks.

Two button toilets are designed to save water, which they do, IF you understand which button produces the small flush and which the large flush, and use the right button. I've found them to be more reliable than older style flush mechanisms.

getmore4less

Put a few weekends aside and go proper viewing of what you can get.
You may need to travel depending where you live.

Places with decent large showrooms that stock a wide range of items and carry catalogues will open your eyes if your only viewing has been a B&Q.

you can start on line to get an idea of how much stuff is out there.

Just look at somewhere like Vado to see the ranges of taps and fitting on offer
https://www.vado.com/products


places like B&Q and others generic sheds just don't carry the ranges.

specialist bathroom places will use more suppliers but again may have limited stuff on display unless quite big, you need to get used to using on-line and brochures.

Same with tiles you need to go to a lot of places unless you just want big white ones.

keith969

A friend had a bathroom supplied and fitted by B&Q, it cost about £10k. The fitters were terrible and there were a lot of long term problems.

I had one done last summer. Looked into what to get, asked some advice from a local plumber. The fittings (bath/shower/basin/toilet/taps/mirror/tiles/lighting etc) cost about 2.5K, the fitting another 3K. The plumber did an excellent job (I did have to wait 3 months before he had a slot available to fit it, but good people are always busy!).

A couple of things - wanted a loo that fitted flush to the wall behind (easy to keep it and the floor clean), also had a hidden cistern again to keep things tidy (went for a Geberit, that is a two button flush and it works well). The basin was a half pedestal one, again less clutter on floor. No extractor - if the window opens use it!

It's a bit more work specifying it yourself but you can get the quality you want at a lower cost.

SuzieSue

keith969 wrote: »

A friend had a bathroom supplied and fitted by B&Q, it cost about £10k. The fitters were terrible and there were a lot of long term problems.

Yes, try to find your own bathroom fitter via recommendation from people you trust. Bathroom fitting is a highly skilled job and good fitters are few and far between. There are a few good independent companies which provide an all in one service but they will naturally be more expensive than a sole trader bathroom fitter as they have all their showroom overheads.

I wouldn't use a national chain as you have no idea how good the fitters will be. You might be lucky but you might also be left with a disaster site. It is pure luck.

JustAnotherSaver

I'm quite willing to change what we'd opt for if other peoples feedback says that there are other better products out there that may be better value or work better etc. Take the 2-button-push toilet flush that i mentioned for example. My wife said she'd prefer a handle one, probably because that's all we've ever used (both of us) and you tend to stick to what you know (or we do) but then tacpot12 there says s/he found the 2-button-push to be more reliable. If this (for example) is a view shared by many then especially with having to have had ours repaired recently, we would change our mind and go with the 2-button-push for reliability.

Just an example.

For the walls, we were walking through B&Q and saw these "Splashwall" things
http://www.diy.com/departments/bathroom/bathroom-wall-panels/DIY1411676.cat?Icamp=Nav_Bathrooms_DIY1411676

Costly. Don't know if they're much good or not. Not sure if there's anything out there that's 'better' - like i say we don't want a lot of grout in there. Our existing grout has cracked in so many placed and i'm sure some tiles are popping off and there's leaks in other spots.

I've just measured up our bathroom and it's 1.65m-x-2.03m so not very large. It also means that i don't think we have a whole lot of choice what goes where - it could end up being like my manager at work and moving stuff around just for the sake of it but not actually achieving anything.

It can't be perfect with the wall length because i've just measured the bath which seems to be 1.66m in length. Not sure if that's a cob size or not.



I think we would like to go with known brands for things so that (in theory at least) it should be ok to get parts should things fail. For example - Triton shower. Just a question of knowing what is a respected brand and what isn't.

keith969 wrote: »

No extractor - if the window opens use it!

See when we have a shower we actually have our window opened fully, yet the white vinyl ceiling paper has stained pink above the shower. There's mould spots around in different areas and condensation still gets all over. We go down the walls with a Karcher window vac after a shower.

Flooring is another area. Our actual floor space is so small. 1.67m-x-1.39m and some of that is actually taken up by the toilet & the sink. It's a sort of wooden floor in there right now. Interested in good flooring ideas (that aren't freezing cold!)

Rolandtheroadie

Done our bathroom in the last year, tiled the walls and floor with large tiles.
Fitted a hidden cistern/flush fit pan, so that the boxing in (also tiled) hid the waste pipe. This also gave a handy shelf for the OHs nice bathroomy things.
I've not got round to doing the ceiling yet, but that will be white paneling with the silver/mirror strips, as I'd seen it in a friends, and it looked nice.
The hidden cistern sometimes needs a second flush. I don't know if they're all designed the same way, water enters from sides on this one, rather than just swirling from the rear. I set it up for the maximum fill before it came out the overflow.
I bought flexible pipes for water connections, as there was slight movement in where the sink and bath sat, and it's easier than altering or manipulating the existing copper.
Our suite came from Victoria Plumb, stored in the garage for a little while before fitting. If you do similar, open it all when delivered and check for damage.

Jackmydad

Make sure that anything that is boxed in has access to get at what's inside for repair if needed. You will need access at some time. . .

JustAnotherSaver

Jackmydad wrote: »

Make sure that anything that is boxed in has access to get at what's inside for repair if needed. You will need access at some time. . .

Yeah this is why i'm not a huge fan of the hiding things away approach. They may look neater but above all i'm a practicality person.
I'd happily have things all boxed away looking very swish but when it comes to repair time i know i'd rather be saying - i'm glad i left easy access to that because that just saved us a load of hassle.

getmore4less

Ceiling entry shower from loft no pipes in the walls.