Advice on renovating bathroom?

joebob

Always find it best to get builders workmen etc from friends or family recommendations .

Bambi12345

Thanks everyone - really useful advice.

Bambi12345

FreeBear said:

Bambi12345 said: I live in a first floor flat and have a neighbour below me/a management company for the block

Check your lease - If you have a rotten floor, whilst the floorboards may be your responsibility, any rotten joists should be for the freeholder to fix/repair. Before you embark on a major refurbishment, I'd suggest doing a bit of exploratory work to see how much damage there is (particularly under the toilet & bath floor). If joists need replacing, cooperation with the flat below will be required, and it should be work that the freeholder carries out (depending on the lease terms).

Any creaks in floorboards may well be cured by putting some screws in. Not an uncommon problem and doesn't immediately point to a major problem - Got creaky floors here, some are a result of ham fisted lifting of boards in the past for rewiring & plumbing. fixed most of them by using 40-50mm screws in place of the old floorboard nails. Joists are all fine and do not need replacing.

Thanks - will do. My flat is a weird situation where there isn't a freeholder as such, since the block is owned by a residents' management company that we all have shares in (the management company responsible for day to day stuff is employed by the RMC). However, there is a lease so I will check that before commencing any work. I guess it's probably sensible to explain the work to the management company before I hire anyone, just in case there are problems with the joists that they'll need to be aware of?

I know there is damage to the chipboard/insulation (as explained in my OP) but there's definitely at least one more proper floor (I think likely the actual subfloor?) below that. Obviously it will be very difficult to assess the full condition of said subfloor until everything is pulled up...

But thank you - very useful post, and it's reassuring! Owning my own place is a huge responsibility and I wasn't prepared for all the problems that have cropped up, but I'm learning that it's all part and parcel of being a homeowner!

Mr.Generous

Join a gym with showers and toilets for the duration. If you get a new chipboard floor make sure its grade P5 - moisture resistant board. Years ago it wasn't used much and they all rotted.

Rosa_Damascena

Mr.Generous said:

Join a gym with showers and toilets for the duration.

I would agree with this. Fortunately I didn't have to as my parents are within easy reach - during the pandemic I would drop in first thing, shower downstairs and disappear before they were even up.

OP - is there anyone you can trust locally to give you a good recommendation? I was incredibly lucky to have a great set of builders - they looked out for me in so many ways! - but finding them was a matter of pure luck. I was buying a small item from a private vendor on Gumtree and saw they were having a lot of work done and the rest is history. These guys have been busy at mine over 5 years and I now have the home of my dreams.Just don't expect any renovation to be painless, living with disruption is par for the course.

Bambi12345

Thanks both - luckily I have friends nearby who I know would let me use their showers, etc., so that should save me! I need to save up some more money before going ahead but will definitely be a relief to get it done!

Mutton_Geoff

Bambi12345 said:

Thanks everyone - really appreciate the advice. I'm not unsettled by the thought of picking out the bathroom suite, it's more the uncertainty around the flooring situation that really stresses me out. I live far away from my family, which is frustrating as if they were closer I know my dad would be a useless person to have around (as much as it's unfair, from experience I know that workmen are way more respectful to other men than to women). 

How do people go on living/functioning during a bathroom renovation? Would anyone trust workmen with keys if they were to stay with a friend for the duration of the renovation, or would that be unwise? Every fibre of my being wants to get away from the renovation site while the work is going on, but at the same time I know it's important for me to supervise the work and keep an eye on what they're doing...

You may be looking at this from the wrong angle and pre judging their motives. It's usually a good idea to be there because every job throws up questions, eg we can put in the new floor joists but we'll need to move the toilet pan left a few cm, the shower outlet will have to be on this wall here instead of there because of xyz. You can confirm with them as you go along which saves them having to make decisions on your behalf or waste time trying to get your approval over the phone.

Albermarle

Mutton_Geoff said:

Bambi12345 said:

Thanks everyone - really appreciate the advice. I'm not unsettled by the thought of picking out the bathroom suite, it's more the uncertainty around the flooring situation that really stresses me out. I live far away from my family, which is frustrating as if they were closer I know my dad would be a useless person to have around (as much as it's unfair, from experience I know that workmen are way more respectful to other men than to women). 

How do people go on living/functioning during a bathroom renovation? Would anyone trust workmen with keys if they were to stay with a friend for the duration of the renovation, or would that be unwise? Every fibre of my being wants to get away from the renovation site while the work is going on, but at the same time I know it's important for me to supervise the work and keep an eye on what they're doing...

You may be looking at this from the wrong angle and pre judging their motives. It's usually a good idea to be there because every job throws up questions, eg we can put in the new floor joists but we'll need to move the toilet pan left a few cm, the shower outlet will have to be on this wall here instead of there because of xyz. You can confirm with them as you go along which saves them having to make decisions on your behalf or waste time trying to get your approval over the phone.

I agree and when we had a loft conversion and earlier an extension there were quite a few on the spot  decisions to make, usually first thing in the morning. However from the OP they are not very good at this sort of thing.
 In the summer I had people in to do my kitchen, and while they did a good job in the end the process was extremely stressful - they discovered the subfloor was damaged midway through the process, and I was asked to make lots of ad hoc decisions about what I wanted (e.g. floor type, insulation type) that I wasn't prepared for and felt I had lacked the necessary knowledge to answer properly. I felt like I was floundering and felt very condescended to throughout the process, which was humiliating. I'm not a stupid person but I feel out of my depth when it comes to anything to do with home repairs, etc.