Can we do a bathroom lessons learned thread?

[dontcallmemam]

My Pinterest and Houzz are full of gorgeous bathrooms but thinking practically are there any good tips?
It seems a decent extractor & an open window are important.
Good flooring?
Adequate storage?
Any tips gratefully received.

Board, panel thingies, we've got black pixels - love it

www.mitchellsworktops.co.uk/wall-panel-colours.php

oh thanks. They clean themselves, by the look of them

Well sort of, but you don't have the grout to go mouldy and manky whilst the tiles stay pristine!

For me, the most important thing was an area of flat surface near the hand basin for contact lens bottles, toothbrush charger etc.

I can't bear it when I stay at someone's house and have to balance/cram everything onto the side of the basin.

Underfloor heating is the bee's knees.

And I love my heated/illuminated mirror.

Sorry not read the whole thread but softclose loo seats are the biz

Sensible thread that I need to pay attention to - when I'm awake properly :)

schoolnurse - having just got these by Xilema in our new bathroom, and having fooled everyone who's seen them, I would recommend having a look at some decent wood effect tiles.

For keeping spots down on fittings, yes, a small swipe of baby oil, or any oil really, works wonders - I use it in the kitchen and for the fireplace too.

Alpaca - we used an alcove with a window in it to put in a walk-in shower. Had sandblasted glass fitted and means you can air the shower post-use without immediately freezing the rest of the room.

Do wish we'd gone with underfloor heating again though - had it in the last house, but didn't bother in this one for some reason.

we also have xilema wood effect tiles.
they really do look and feel like wood (if a little colder). and they are non-slip which is really important in a bathroom imo.

we don't have underfloor heating, as that would have meant a step up into the room (another thing to consider) but have a double layer of the underlay stuff plus aqua panels + aqua membrane so it doesn't feel freezing.

We also have a small window in shower area which stays open unless really cold. Means shower is always ventilated but rest of room stays warm.

I like these shower panels. I've used the glass ones on projects and am about to get them for my new bathroom.

Marking my place - I asked week before last about 'normal' costs (Homebase seems really expensive) so will read this whole thread when I get a mo - I need lots of advice!

This thread is just what I need. Just about to embark on re-doing our bathroom and there are some great tips on here.

Those of you who have underfloor heating (presumably electric?) - is it expensive to run? I've always heard that even a small amount of underfloor heating was very expensive

I have a question about showers and pumps - the main bathroom which is about to be done has currently got a rainfall style shower which as far as I know is not linked to a pump.

Our ensuite has an aqualisa power shower which is linked to a pump. We do not have great water pressure.

Can you use one pump to run two showers or are we likely to need another pump?

We have recently ish moved into our house and ripped out both bathrooms. What has really really pissed me off is the electrician fitted the light/extractor fan right above where the rainhead shower head is, rather than slightly to the front or side. This means that there us a big shadow as the light just reflects off the shower head. Sooooo annoying. Not sure what to do though?

you can use one pump to run two (or more) outlets, but if it is an Aqualisa pump it may be integrated with the mixer. Some Aquilisa products are very sophisticated. If you can find the makers name and model number on the pump, look it up on the maker's website.

Has anyone ever used an Ebay trader? Thrres a few local to.me quoting 1700 for fully fitted all walls floors ceilings lighting etc.

We desperatley need our bathroom done and it needs completely gutting.

North East area if anyone can recommend anyone.

Thanks PigletJohn - it's in the loft so I will have a look. It's got to be at least 10 years old though.

I had a lovely bathroom man around last night to measure up and talk about ideas. We got the plans to the house out and we'd be able to turn two very small en suite shower rooms into a decent jack and jill with a freestanding 1.5m shower, bath, double sink proper bathroom. Works for our use of the house and the occupants of the two bedrooms however obviously it's losing a bathroom on the overall count. We bought the house as 5 bed / 5 bath but in reality it's 4 bed (they counted the downstairs telly room as a bedroom. There's also a downstairs study that could easily be a bedroom) and one of the bathrooms is on the ground floor - it's the downstairs loo but with a rather luxurious shower in it. Odd arrangement. All the "real" bedrooms have en suites, but in these two they are positively poky, windowless and not very nice. Were goign to completely replace one and put the other on the list but could afford to do the jack & jill now.

what's the view on having one less bathroom but having a bath and useable space instead of tiny shower rooms in estate agent terms?

www.lakeland.co.uk/2298/Clean-Shower is the type of thing for stopping limescale on shower screen. Got the screen really clean then just sprayed every time I showered and I pretty much never had to clean it again. I've also seen a Wilkos own brand one.

Here's a tip for keeping bathroom mirrors mist free in a shower room if your budget doesn't stretch to a desmisting mirror.

Clean mirror as usual. Then get a little bit of handwash, shampoo or similar. About a pea sized amount. Rub it all over the mirror. You will panic a bit as it will be all smeary. Keep rubbing with a clean cloth or towel until the mirror isn't smeary.

It lasts us about a week before it needs redoing and prevents the moisture from adhering to the mirror.

Easter personally I hate titchy en suites with poky shower cubicles. I'd choose a larger jack and Jill any day, though my husband has an irrationale dislike of jack and jills.

Tyranasaurus the Method shower spray (from Sainsburys etc) is good too

What's a jack and jill?

one bathroom, two doors - so it's ensuite to two rooms. Basically just taking a wall down between two small shower rooms to make one big one that will be accessed from two different bedrooms. Difficulty being if one of them ends up as a spare room - you don't really want to share with the guests?

Cheers.

Although plenty of people share bathrooms with their guests and cope!

We are going to be doing our bathroom too. In our last house I did one bathroom, shower room and ensuite. Lessons learned - I hate cleaning ladder radiators, no to white flooring and choose your toilet from a shop. I bought one from internet and it seemed to sit a long way into the room. Swapped it for a cheapie in b&q. I bought most items from Victoria plumb and found them to be cheap and reliable. Plumber was also impressed. Something we have done over the years is line our shower cubicles with cheap vinyl. Easy to keep clean, cheap too.