Not Sure How You Guys Do This Every Day

[Marvo]

Today was day 1 of my downstairs bathroom renovation.

• Remove accessories like towel rail, shelves, mirror, panel heater, toilet roll sculpture etc.
• Remove basin, cistern and toilet and bath.
• Drain plumbing, disconnect redundant pipes and cap open pipes, make wiring safe.
  
• Break down brick surround that supported the bath with a jack hammer and break up & remove half a cube of concrete that the bottom of the bath rested on.
• Chisel open external wall and remove several drain pipes.
• Remove wall tiles with jack hammer.
• Remove floor tiles with jack hammer.
• Carefully remove the old adhesive from the walls and floor back to original plaster level using SDS drill in chipper mode.
• Collapse in a heap on the couch.
• Persuade wifey to assist in removing shoes and helping with the hobble to the upstairs shower to get clean.

 

[Marvo]

I managed a few hours tiling today before I had to go work. Not much to report, progress was slow but steady which is about the best I could have wished for.

 

[DodgyRog]

I feel your pain..... literally.... being 85% of the way through completely rearranging my bathroom in a similar fashion - and also as a DIY warrior rather than full time pro.

The good news is the last couple of days I have been able to get up from the sofa in the evening with slightly less groans and pains than I did after the first few days - I am either getting used to it or I am doing less work each day - I suspect the latter.

Are you having the clothing issue too ? - whereas I started off fully kitted out in various old clothes they have gradually been thrown out having got smelly and damp and I keep ending up doing work in more and more decent clothes as I am running out of old ones or I cant be arsed to change especially as I have to keep legging it out to pick up family etc. This evening I trashed my half decent Levis jeans and trainers !

The worse thing I find though is the constant stopping and easing off - sitting there just thinking, staring at the bloody thing, then over thinking things again instead of just getting stuck in...... the pauses are getting longer and more frequent .... must....keep.....going.....!

Keep going though as yours is looking a fine job and you can soon sit on the bog and admire all your hard work.

 

[Marvo]

Lol, hope your bathroom works out well for you. I feel for you but it's kind nice to know I'm not the only one in pain after a few hours on my knees.

I've not had the problem with clothes thankfully, you probably wouldn't believe it looking at the mess in the last photo but I'm pretty clean and methodical so I've managed not to get covered in adhesive yet. The dust is a different story especially over the first couple of days when I was ripping out and making new levels in the floor but the dust (and most of the blood spatter) washed out without too much problem.

 

[Marvo]

Okay, it's been over 2 weeks now since I started but I've been busy at work so I've been doing a couple of hours here and there as time allows. If I add up the hours it comes to around day 9 or 10.

Good news is I'm at the stage where things are becoming completed rapidly one after another so there's constant gratification at see finished parts and I'm actually enjoying it more now.

 

[Old Mod]

That’s good to hear Marvo.

 

[Marvo]

Finished all the full tiles;

Followed by cut tiles;

And also grouting and the dreaded stainless steel trim around the window on the external corners;

 

[Marvo]

Got the toilet waste pipe in position, tidied up the grout and the shower glass installed. This evening I've fitted mixer tap to the basin, hung the basin and fitted the drain.

 

[Marvo]

The only big job left now is installing the toilet and cistern. Then it's lots of little DIY type jobs fitting towel rails, mirrors, soap dishes and all those kinds of things. Oh and cleaning....lots of cleaning.

 

[Old Mod]

That looks really good Marvo, fair play!

 

[Marvo]

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the result. With hindsight there's a few things I would have done differently to get a better, more professional overall finish but I'm happy that I think I did the best I could have done with my limited skill set.

 

[Old Mod]

I think you’ve done really well tbh.

 

[Marvo]

Just wanted to say a big thanks to everyone for the assistance and encouragement.

The bathroom is back in full use now although we're still adding finishing touches and accessories and there's still some silicone needs doing in places. This will probably be the final pictures.

I became known as the Midnight Plumber over the last few weeks by some of my buddies and one of them even made me a commemorative mug;

 

[J Sid]

very nice
what's with all the toilet rolls? Your turn to cook this week?

 

[Marvo]

very nice
what's with all the toilet rolls? Your turn to cook this week?

If I was cooking there'd be a pressure washer stood there instead

I'm a closet tiolet paper sculpturer

 

[Blunt Tool]

Very nice @Marvo you must be well happy

 

[Wayne Brown]

I do the lot but must admit it getting harder as I am the wrong side of 50 but still banging em in , a good set of knee pads is a must and the prep work is very important to the overall finish, a hot bath ,co - codamol and bed is how I carry on theory being the body repairs itself while you sleep. Cheers kop

 

[Dan]

Don't mind me while I bump up some older but good threads. If you can contribute to the thread, go ahead. But if it's nothing for you then don't reply and it'll soon drop off the What's New page etc.
Worth linking to our new forum structure while I'm doing stuff:-

• USA Tile Forum for DIY and Professional Tile Fixers
• UK Tiling Forum for UK tiling advice
• Canada Tile Forum
• Tiling Advice Australia
• Ireland Tiling Forum
• Tiling Tools
• DIY Tiling
• Tiling Courses
• Tile Import / Export