en suite do's and don'ts

[talkingtorch]

Having a loft conversion start in a weeks and need to get thinking about en suite things.

Room is 5 ft x 6ft i think.

really want built in furniture so can hide clutter eg sink with cupboard underneath but they seem quite big and take a lot of floor space.

toilet and hand basin. pedestal sink or free standing?

Where can you buy a sink unit that is not wall hung?
see a lot of these about but want a floor standing unit.

What about flooring and tiles? what is happening and whats over?

what furniture do you have?

Anyone have shower panels rather than tiles? i like the look of a mint green perspex/ acrylic one but dont know what to do with tiling by sink etc?

I dont have exact budget worked out but think i have about £1500 for taps/tiles/toilet/sink/ shower basin/screen and tiling.

Can i get good quality for my budget or will i have to increase my budget?
TIA

We inherited our very small ensuite so difficult to reconfigure.

Sink set into cupboards works well. Storage v.important.

Make sure your shower is big enough to hold a stool. You can think of it as Japanese style if you wish, or oldie having a sit down. Excellent for having a good scrub of the feet while not falling over.

On no account have pale floor tiles as they show all the hair. Five minutes after you've cleaned them.

How are you heating this? Heated towel rail if no rad. You'll also need a heatlight thingy.

Slimline toilet tank.

Never fit a toilet with blind fixings. They look good but are a bugger to replace when the toilet seat goes funny, as they all do.

BIIIG mirror to cast as much light as possible.

Don't get a Saniflow.

Do get a powerful extractor fan, preferably a ducted one that can be much more powerful than a small wall fan.

Do use it.

Think about the tiling as in my experience that is the budget killer.

Were you thinking of completely tiling the walls to the ceiling? That can be practical given the steam that'll be generated but gives quite a clinical look.

Thanks all. The room will have an extractor to pass building regs and it will be a regular loo not saniflo as its going above our main bathroom. looking at 1500 as a budget, that now seems low when i consider tiling for floor and walls.

how can i get the extractor ducted? assumed it was going on wall as this was most obvious and efficient.

have a look at the throughput of your proposed fan. Cheap builders' 100mm extractors are rated at about 80 cu.m/hr which is too little. 240 cu.m/hr is much better. A larger one is usually quieter, and the latest generation with ball-bearing motors are very quiet.

It should not be directly above a bath or shower cubicle (but ducts can be) as the electrical safety regulations are them much more stringent.

More powerful fans are bigger, and it is easier to use a ducted or inline fan as it can be out of sight, but if you are putting it on the wall, look at a 6" one.

I agree PJ, but extractor fan over shower is best way to get rid of steam at source - this one is suitably IP rated etc -

www.lyco.co.uk/vent-a-light-4-extractor-fan.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=base&customer_tax_visibility=2&gclid=CNKH1_Ld0sUCFWvHtAodZBkA5w

"Suitable for shower enclosure and wet areas, this inline shower fan comes with both chrome and white bezel and will Extract 110m3 Air Per Hour. It also comes complete with 3M of ducting, grille and light transformer IP Rated

Designed for use in showers, the fan is rated at IP44, while the light assembly is IP57 "

We went for a counter-top basin on a wall-hung shelf as we wanted plenty of free floor space to make the room feel bigger.

Then we hung a large LED-lit mirrored cabinet over the basin for all our stuff. That was quite expensive (£250'ish from Pebble Grey) but looks great and I think the room (similar size to yours) would have felt cramped with a floor standing unit for the sink.

Top Tip: go for the largest shower enclosure you can fit in - plan it out on a scale drawing. I worried our was too large until I drew the floor plan

Ikea do a narrow sink and bathroom cupboard, we have it in our downstairs loo and the small en suite in the second bedroom.

Get a vanity-- the room isn't too small and hiding all your clutter will make it seem bigger than no vanity and crap everywhere (trust me). Also, get a medicine cabinet for your mirror. It can store a lot of stuff as well and will make the bathroom feel much calmer.

1,500 is a bit tight for tiles, shower taps, sink and taps and cubicles but you should be able to be okay. Like someone else noted-- don't tile everywhere, just around the shower and floor and just above the sink.

oh thanks for the further posts.

where apart from ikea did you get the vanity units from?

was thinking of tiling shower and sink only.

have extra budget for mirror/ loo roll fixtures/blind/labour of tiling etc.

fainted at topps tiles today when was told porcelain walls would be £900!

I had good service from plumbworld on the internet, bought taps and shower unit, named brands. they also do vanity units and shower screens. Reasonable prices.

don't put a cupboard over your basin or WC. When glass bottles and jars fall out, they will crack it. Put a mirror above the basin, and your cabinet or shelves to one side.

We put a cupboard above the bathroom door for overspill - a tall narrow cupboard but hung horizontally. It's really good for extra loo roll, infrequently used lotions and potions, spare shampoo etc. It's good space which people often neglect to use and doesn't impact on the rest of the room at all.

Do nt put in mosaic tiles....

I'm a fan of vinyl on bathroom floors rather than tiles. Way cheaper, warmer, and no danger of grout getting mucky. You can get some really nice tiled effects (and some terrible one)

choirmumoftwo what a great idea to have a tall cupboard hung horizontally over the door - doesn't spoil the aesthetics of the room (if you're worried about that sort of thing, which I am).

I've had bad experience of vinyl floors in bathrooms: cheap ones just come unstuck, expensive ones are just as expensive as tiles.

If you are not too fussy about colour, size etc you can pick up ends of ranges or discontinued porcelain tiles way cheaper than at Topps Tiles