Coldest bathroom in the uk.

[OzmaofOz]

Ok I might be exaggerating slightly, but it is bloody cold in there.

We have a Victorian terrace house, bathroom is at the back of the house and has 3 outside walls.

DP has mentioned insulation, putting in another ceiling but its pretty low in there anyway. The old owners had carpets in there, but we are not keen on that.

Is there any way of making it warmer in there ?
TIA

I suspect that reinforcing the walls with insulation is the way to go. Can you call in a few builders for quotes?

Thanks, yes will do.

DP and FIL are both pretty "handy", do you know if its a job we could do ourselves ?

Just watched a house on my way to work be rendered with super insulation on the outside which was incredibly quickly done. And damn smart afterwards.

Do you have a flat or pitched roof? Its hard to increase insulation on a flat roof but a pitched roof does give a bit more leeway.

Oh. And I speak as one who had an identical bathroom in a terrace, it haf no damp proof course ans was north facing. Siberian at times.

It's pitched, and luckily we are south facing so when the sun shines it is quite bright and warm in there.

Will look in to insulation, hopefully in time for next winter.

Is it a less old extension (ie not Victorian) - is it solid walls or could it be cavity? - that would be easy!
(Parent's house was built in 1819 - walls are 2ft thick stone and actually quite warm but one bedroom with three external walls is an extension (originally to house a bathroom) built in late 1800s/early 1900s, solid brick walls - not so warm and ideally needs external insulation...also has a separate attic space - but really small (my dad got me at 11yo crawling in there to lay the insulation cos he was too big! child labour !)
To insulate solid wall is a bit of a nightmare (you loose inches off the inside, use insulated plasterboard on a frame and need to redecorate), can do external (if it is rendered) but that's quite (very) expensive.
First things to do...
Check for draughts...
you can go round windows etc with a candle flame and look for flame moving
Check around edges of floor are sealed (esp if it is a suspended floor - floorboards) - and you can insulate under this - esp important if it is a ground floor room (either need to get under or lift boards)
Check any fans etc have backdraught shutters - they close when fan isn't in use (people have been known to take them out - cos they can rattle in the wind...I sealed mine up with tape and didn't use until I had a replacement cos someone had done that!)

Also do you have recessed spot lights - are they sealed units? They shouldn't be covered with insulation in attic space - if they aren't sealed you can get hoods (or make plasterboard boxes or use ceramic flowerpots apparently) and then you can insulate over them...

Can/is the roof space insulated - get that done if you can ...(might be why DP is talking about another ceiling? Modern guide lines are a depth of 270mm rockwool - slimmest way you do that is using celotex/kingspan board - I think you need 120mm depth (plus 12mm plasterboard) - and not cheap but you can get seconds (do a web search for kingspan seconds or not seconds from bulder's merchants if nec ask a local builder/handyman if he has an account- don't get it from B&Q/Wickes etc -they charge crazy prices!)

Also do you have a towel rail radiator or radiator? - is it big enough for the space and outside walls? (check BTUs - apparently towel rails (esp chrome) are a bit rubbish as a source of heat... I have had a massive one fitted in my new house for a tiny bathroom with 3 internal walls - only way to make it provide enough heat for space apparently ...)

Finally - won't make bathroom warmer -but if you can put rockwool insulation all around your bath behind the panel - keeps water in bath warm for longer and (but this could just be because I THINK it should!) seems to make metal baths feel warmer...
Good Luck ..horrible being cold ...this house used to be freezing!

Thanks, will look in to everything. Extension was 1970s will check it out tomorrow. We do have a radiator but its quite old, will look at getting a newer one installed.
Thanks for replying.

1970's likely to be cavity wall -have heard mixed reports - can cause trouble with damp/condensation ..but probably worth looking into...
Not sure you will be able to get a grant for it - some energy companies/councils will do houses for free not sure about extensions...but worth having a word with energy saving trust...(at worst I think a whole house costs a few hundred)
Not just age of radiator but also size - it might just not be big enough...I had central heating put in here - it a funny shaped mid terrace - so we have two rooms that have 3 outside walls - when they calculated size of radiators they didn't realise and take that into account or that the windows are huge)
(My bathroom here was baltic - previous owner (who for lots of reasons I refer to as Mr Bodge-it - moved cos he got divorced - really not surprised if he was my OH I think I would have murdered him!) had extended into the eaves with no insulation - in places it was 12mm plasterboard attached to the roof rafters ... might as well as had a bath in the attiic!)
Good luck....

Our bathroom was cold, underfloor heating is your friend. Ours is toasty now

You're wrong, ozmaofoz, we have the coldest bathroom in the uk! Have a very similar bathroom out the back of our house - it's basically like an outhouse, we have to keep the door shut otherwise the rest of the house gets cold. We have had really bad condensation problems which we have tried our hardest to fix inside and outside but it is still siberian in there. I don't have a lot to advise, we are moving partly because the bathroom is such a pain in the butt.

We have the world's toastiest bathroom.

It has both underfloor heating and a heated towel radiator. It is frequently the warmest room in the house and we are seriously considering going and camping out in there.