2 bathrooms - under pressure!

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Should be finishing the first this week but only just been told by customer that I need to be finished in 2 weeks as he has his team of decorators booked to come in and do a total redecoration of his house. I told him when I quoted I wasn't the fastest tiler out there but guaranteed him a fantastic finish and he was happy with that.
Was just supposed to be taking old tiles off and retiling walls and do the floors but now it's turned into new suites and towel rads. 3 weeks this first one will have taken me and I'm quite happy with that since I'm on my tod but now I feel pressure.

macten · Nov 16, 2009

From the old grout joints in shower area it was obvious there would be water damage and there was. Only ever ripped ONE shower out that hadn't had water damage - this is why I always tank. Bottom header stud was rotten and needed replacing and bottom meter of plasterboard was black with mould and disintergrated. Other wall was a skimmed block wall on sand and cement render and the old adhesive (tubbed) could be removed with a sponge.

Unfortunately elsewhere the tiles mostly came off taking plaster skim too leaving a very uneven sand/cement scratch coat:

Window wall wasn't too bad and used a concrete rubbing block to take off the high points. Other rendered wall was awful but couldn't overboard or I would have lost the shower tray

Leveled off as best I could with rapid set and ditched the idea of brick bond.

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Removed window sill and made good:

New plasterboard, tanked and levelled with rapid set:

600x300 beige porcelain (makes a change.....not)
But these are polished and is my first time working with polished porc.
First thing I did was test if they would need sealing by marking a tile with a dry wipe marker and rubbing it off - this left a permanent stain so knew it would need sealing.

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Tried out my new toy and love it!
Sure I would have nicked them JB pipes if I hadn't had this:

New centers and chrome pipe for Towel rad

Tip: pushfits don't seal well on chrome pipes so use a compression cap to seal off before refilling the system (these help keep the diameter down for the holes that need cutting in the tiles too)

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Floor overlayed with NMP:

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Had to mess about with the window a bit but got a nice set out around it as a feature that worked well everywhere else.
Full bodied porc so won't be using trim on this job:

Lengthened feed pipe to accommodate thicker tile:

macten · Nov 16, 2009

Feed for lighted cabinet:

Need more tiles to finish bottom cuts so will pick some up in the morning - need to get the floor down and all walls complete tomorrow or I'm gonna be stressing.