My first bathroom project

[Supercoley1]

Hello, I am just setting about doing my first full bathroom DIY job (not pro at all) and have managed to do most things through internet research etc.
The project in question is a bathroom that currently has a shower over bath, W/C, sink and a wall hung radiator. The room is approx 280cm across the breadth (window wall) and 270cm from the door to the window wall. There a dog leg to the room as the airing cupboard is set within this room into a seperate area on the left of the door.
I will be keeping these apart from the wall hung radiator which I want to remove and then put a towel radiator in another place. I don't have a problem with the plumbing and radiator aspect.
We have had the bathroom like this since we moved in 30 months ago and all we did was to change the bath taps for a shower mixer type, tile the shower area on the window and half the bath side wall (It only had a 420mm high splashback around the bath previous to this), put up a shower curtain rail and laminate the floor. Pretty basic 'quick' but ready to use. The picture below shows what this was like:

After planning to redo the bathroom we decided to do it early July and it would take a few months to complete due to the budget (Each month we can afford the 'next step')
So on 10th July we started to plan the bathroom. The W/C and sink will remain in the same place. The Bath will still be on the wall but will be moved so that each end is an equal distance from the wall. A frame will then be built around the bath so that I can tile under the rim and make it look like the bath has been 'sunken'.
The radiator which is currently on the right as you enter the bathroom will be removed and then the plumbing redone to put a towel radiator behind the door as you enter the bathroom.
The area where the bath is will be tiled in black, white and lime green inspired by a picture on Toppstiles here:
Fusion Kiwi Wall Tile | Topps Tiles
however we don't have anywhere near the budget to use those tiles and get the exact design. I have sourced some lime green, black and white tiles that are all a lot cheaper and are 150mm x 150mm. The design of this area is here (These plans are rough guides as they don't allow for grout joints. I will line them up properly when I get the tiles to gauge the number across etc when the tiles come.)
This is the 'fold out' design and what you will see facing the bath. The lime is bit bright in these pictures where the tile I have bought is more subtler more like the ones in the Toppstiles picture:

And this is the plan from above:

The green/black/white combo will only go as far as the bath surround and the rest will be plain white.
This is the lime tile I have bought. 2 boxes:
Tiles, Ceramic Tiles, Wall Tiles, Gloss Lime Green Tile
The floor will also be tiled with white 330x330 tiles. Very crisp very clean, very bright with the single 'feature' area of the bath drawing the focus.
I will update tomorrow on what I have done already.
Regards
AC

 

[Mike]

You do have the cost of a new set of taps/controls and a new shower head though 😉 Not cheap. I think it's a little too far for the budget at the mo.
The plywood and waterproofing is stretching at the mo. lol
AC

£100 would suffice for the new shower and head, would be a shame not to do it and regret it later. may be better if you could wait a bit till your budget is a bit bigger

 

[Supercoley1]

Re: My first bathroom project - Removing the old - May contain disturbing images 😱

On we go. lol:

25th July and the project became somewhat urgent. Water dripping through the kitchen ceiling and therefore the shower became unusable. We both hate baths so this project commenced earlier than expected.

For a year or so I had noticed that the original tiles (the bath splashback) sounded like they were pretty hollow and you could actually push them backward!!! The tiles I had laid above the splashback for the shower corner were still rock solid.

I set about removing the whole lot ready to re-tile. The pictures at the end tell the story but just some detail.

Behind the original tilework the previous 'tiler' had gobbed some 'hard as nails' or similar (probably sealant. lol) and then pushed some plasterboard onto it. Then the tiles were laid with the old 5 blobs method and jobs a good 'un. :mad2:

Trouble being that what I removed was wet mouldy and black plasterboard that meant the tiles came off in sections rather than individually. the grout on the rear of the tiles was not hard!!! I could use a dinner knife and slice it off in a single 'swipe'. I could have reused these BUT they were old imperial measurements and therefore a few mm larger than the 148 x 148 (150 x 150 for some retailers) that are common place these days.

So now added to the job and eating into the budget is replastering. :lol:

They had also 'bodged' the windowsill with plasterboard and that left me 2 areas at each end to sort out.

This is why I am understanding the advice on here r.e. tanking and not trying to get out of it 🙂

More to follow

Regards

AC

 

[Supercoley1]

28th I made a little 'mock up' of the bath/shower area for my wife to visualise :lol: I do get bored at nightimes :lol:

AC

 

[Supercoley1]

On the 31st July I started the 'real' work including redressing the problem previous 'tiler' had left me.

The wall had been dry for 5 days and was sprayed with some anti-mould disinfectant. So on went the plaster 🙂

I said I am not a tiler and now I will say I am not a plasterer. However this area will be tiled so I see no point in it being skimmed. Just needs to be properly mixed and be level.

While I was at it I decided to remove the skirting boards which were original so they of course took the crumbly plaster with them (old type 6" square nails into mortared in wood fillets through 60+ year old plaster isn't a good mix really.) So I replastered this too.

I already said I'm not a tiler or a plasterer and now I can say I am not a plumber either. lol.

I now turned the stop valve to the toilet, emptied the cistern removed it to the bath and then unscrewed the pan from the floor as I wanted to lift the 6mm ply the council contractors had covered the floor with. Lo and behold another plaster job appeared. The contractor had re-plastered the wall with the cistern in Situ so the wall here was a few mm set back from the rest. The old plaster around the screwholes was also crumbling away so I chipped this all out right to the brick and plastered it up.

I removed the 6mm ply and pulled up some floorboards to see where the pipes were (remember I want to move the radiator and reposition the plumbing behind the door for a towel radiator) and also where the joists were.

After making notes (marking on the walls) where the pipes and joists were I put the floorboards back down. I then walked around felling for movement and screwed down any loose floorboards. At this point I replaced the 6mm ply. Of course I have since been told I need at least 12mm ply so the 6mm ply will be coming back up not just to redirect the pipes but for good to be replaced by some 12mm. Oh happy days. lol

The floor tiling will be the last job so the 6mm floor will be used until then.

You are now up to date as it stands. The lime tiles have arrived and I am currently making the framework for the bath surround. The first tiling won't commence until at least (oh no I just saw the date) Friday 13th August as we are now waiting for the wife's payday. lol

I'll post up some pictures of the frame in the next few days when complete but it won't have an 'inner shell' because I was planning to mount 12mm chipboard on the frame and then tile. I have of course since learnt that this is a no-no. Not a problem as I was going to rob the chipboard from another project now that this project has become the priority.

Regards
AC

 

[faithhealer]

28th I made a little 'mock up' of the bath/shower area for my wife to visualise :lol: I do get bored at nightimes :lol:

AC

I think thats a first mate lol
will you do me a 'Tracy island'!

 

[White Room]

Nice chair😳

 

[andy8758]

Good to hear from you Supercoley.

My first DIY project was tiling our bathroom 10 years ago. I appreciate this is really tough for a DIYer - and I even had a brother-in-law on hand (for advice and help) who knew about plumbing and tiling (council housing maintenance). Even so, it was tough to get it right, whilst having a wife and 3 kids all wanting toilet/bath/sink/shower as well!

I have since taken up tiling as a trade - maybe you will get the bug after doing this!

Good planning, but I would not have plastered anything - probably used something like BAL's Quick Render (can tile after 3 hours - cant tile on fresh plaster for 6 weeks), although use of 12mm tile backer boards is always the best course to take if you can.

Good luck and look forward to seeing how things go for you. :welcome:

 

[Supercoley1]

I doubt I'll do it pro. lol I don't drive 🙂 Hard to get equipment and supplies to addresses on my bike :lol:

AC

 

[Time's Ran Out]

28th I made a little 'mock up' of the bath/shower area for my wife to visualise :lol: I do get bored at nightimes :lol:

AC[/QUOTE
That is a work of art.
Hope the corners line up on the real thing and start with a full tile across the middle line on the bath wall and it will give a bigger cut into the corners.
This is getting interesting.

 

[Supercoley1]

I've used the tiles (and spacers) to work out how many tiles will be needed. Works out at 12 full tiles plus just under a half tile at each side. (So just under 13 in total across the back wall)

The tiles WILL line up in the corners 😉 The walls may be a little more bowed in reality though :lol: remember I plastered most of them. Will upload some new piccies tomorrow. completed the frame today although it hasn't got it's plywood shell on yet.

AC