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.

We well not the lazy teens very often squeegee the shower, then spray with shower shine and it does work.
But someone was telling me about a shower hoover, that sucks up the water. They use it on the condensation on windows too. I'd love to know what it is.

re the chrome taps - Crosswater do a range called Mike Pro, that is available in brushed stainless steel and brushed chrome as well as normal shiny chrome. looks fab, if pricey.

Am trying to buy stuff for 2 bathrooms and am annoyed with myself for not sourcing things sooner. Either the items take 4-6 weeks for delivery or there are companies like QS that everyone complains about.
Any idea where I can get Duravit sinks & Matki showers quickly?

And also meant to say that Grohe thermostatic valves are great, well worth the money!
Found great tiles at Porcelanosa (www.porcelanosa.com) and Mosa (mosa.nl), like being a child in a candy store : )
and I like those loo paper holders that sit on the floor and hold 4-6 rolls at a time - takes care of storage issue and you don't run out

Quick question for this thread.
Branded or unbranded toilet, basin and bath?
I have noted spend on taps, shower etc.
But what about the white goods. There are some well priced, nice lookings sinks at places like bathempire, but is branded better, more durable (and better when selling the hosue in a couple of years)?

Oh blimey. YY to what Piglet John said re cabinet over sink. We spent a bloody fortune on our bathroom. Put a very swanky mirrored cabinet over the sink.
I duly filled it up with all my assorted crap.
One week later I opened the cabinet & a heavy glass jar leapt out, it landed in the brand new sink & cracked it.
I cried.
That jar cost me £400 to replace the sink & have it fitted
So if you have a cabinet, make sure you only store light, soft things in it. We have another tall cupboard now which I store all my heavy things in.

Another quick question for this thread - we're just doing our bathroom now - are there any German brands which make individual taps? I can't find any and the sink I want has only two tap holes.
Also, if it's easier to fix individual taps, I'd rather have those...

Just realised I was hijacking thread... sorry...

I love my heating mat behind the mirror. I never need to wait for it to de-fog before doing my face in the morning. A small but valuable luxury when time is precious!

Just about to choose taps for basin and bath. Any ideas on best medium range taps?

Marking place as doing ours in the autumn. Our bathroom is tiny. My top tip would be have cupboard space near the sink for toothbrushes etc, saves having them on display.

Never buy a bathroom cabinet with a sliding mirror door. It is a right phaff to use and seriously cuts down the amount of stuff you can store.

Curved showers are the devil to clean--I put down old towels and pour hot water with vinegar in to the channels to get the gunk out.

We have a bath shaped spa bath and it doesn't take that much more water to fill. You do need to run it with the degunking stuff regularly or you can get a lovely buildup of filth, particularly if you don't use it often.

My major piece of advice about the spa bath is that if you see the idiot plumber putting it behind a panel that needs tiling and the only access is through the bottom of the cupboard beside the bath and you ask him how the pump will be fixed if it needs it? Don't let him go ahead with the job when it's clear from the start access is virtually impossible. It's been a prick of a job to replace an O ring.

Good taps, no white floors as too dirty looking, non slip tiles, no flat basins to pool water, aqualisa shower ( find a deal), soft close toilet, probably not a towel rail if only heat source and even if massive, limit grouting area, no cupboards above sinks to allow things to smash your basin, separate shower attachment to shower, good but not outrageous priced suite ( ideal standard and above). In this house we only have showers above baths and prefer only having one open space thing to clean, although I know separate showers are desired. Good ventilation, especially if only bathroom.

Don't buy a house or flat with a bathroom with no window. Extractor fans are not as effective as leaving a window slightly open and they are pitch black when you are not using them - perfect for mould.

Bookmarking this thread....very useful.

Am so glad this thread has appeared - was just about to start one asking what I should think about in a bathroom refit

I would NOT recommend anyone to buy from Betterbathrooms. Their customer service is probably the worst I have ever come across.

Order placed on Thursday the 18th, it was still not dispatched until Tuesday the 23rd. Spoke to customer services someone called Colin answered the phone who was rude, I asked to speak to a manager and was told he is busy on another line and someone will call me shortly. No manager had called so then I called again and Janine answered the phone who requested another call back as apparently managers were all on the phone again and promised a call back shortly. After several hours had passed I phoned again to speak to Steph who said she couldnt keep me on the phone to wait and speak to the manager and she would have to hang up on me.

As soon as I told her I will write to all the directors of the company if a manager didnt speak to me within 20 minutes she suddenly found that a manager was available to talk on the phone. Paddy, the line manager came on the line who was as useless as the other bunch couldnt care less that his team were pathetic and made false promises and rubbish excuses as to why the order still hadnt been dispatched after 5 days despite EVERYTHING on the order was IN STOCK!!!

The order was cancelled and a refund has been promised to be made in 2-3 working days. Lets see if this promise is dealt with or not.

Do not buy from them, do not be fooled by the low prices they offer. I can almost guarantee that if anything goes wrong with the products you order in the future they will not give a damn! DONT waste your money!! My order was for £2,447.86.

I have done a company check on the company and found
The company directors are:
Peter Stevens (The main owner)
Colin Stevens (Most likely Peter's Son)
Paul John Thomas Gilbert
David Colclough

1. dont buy a cheap toilet - especially not from b&q. Check if the toilet seat looks a normal size and that both the seat and lid will stay up on there own...
2. If you do buy a push button cheap b&q toiler expect it to literally fall apart.
3. Do you love having a bath? If so get a shower over a big lovely deep bath. If you really dont care get a wonderful walk in shower, no point having a big white dust catcher.
4. If you are having an extractor fan (good idea) make sure the electrician has listened to you when you say you want it on a separate switch from the lights. No romantically dimmed lights and candles for me.
5. And a personal one for me - dont tile the whole bathroom. Tile where it gets wet and plaster the rest so you can update and change colours as fashions change.

Pay attention to sealant in the corners of things. Crappy sealant will cause water to drip into your downstairs neighbours and they will hate you forever.

When your plumber calls you and asks 'which way up would you like me to put the chrome surround for the shower controls, vertical or horizontal?' Don't reply with 'oh, let's have it horizontal, same as the bath controls'.

Instead, ask them to read the surround and put it in the correct way as per the hot and cold symbols on the surround. We have a beautiful bathroom but nobody can work the shower because the controls are the wrong way round!

I've read the whole thread & found it very useful. Couple of questions..
I've ordered white, quite big bumpy tiles. Why not white grout and if so what colour?
Should the limestone be tumbled, honed or polished and does the none white group apply to floors too?

if you mean on the floor, white grout will never look clean, even the day after it was put in.

Thanks PJ, so grey grout with white wall tiles?
Limestone can have grey grout too.