Family Bathroom essentials

[littlem133]

I am planning our new bathroom which will have to cater for my husband and I and our 3 young sons. What sort of thing do I need to choose? I am thinking a back to wall toilet so no horrid stuff hides behind the loo for me to clean. P shaped bath for the shower and bath. Mixer taps in the bath so no scalds in the bath with the hot tap. Any more tips - choice of sink taps, position of bath taps, etc etc ? Ta

We recently redid our bathroom and went for a bath filler which sits in the overfill and is switched on and off alongside the shower control, i.e. turn one way for shower, other way for bath. No taps to clean round is great and because it's off the mixer valve there is a temp. limiter set

Make sure there is enough room for storage.

Consider:
toilet paper
wipes
potties
bath toys
spare towels
toiletries
medicine cabinet

You can never have too much storage!!!
(and, avoid pedestal basins precisely because they offer no storage).

Back to the wall toilet will cost you a lot more than a standard loo. Consider if you really want it that badly.

We recently did our bathroom and I too have 3 small boys. We went for an L shaped bath and a sink unit with drawers. We also used grey, rather than white grout which is my biggest bit of advice, in fact, that came from a mumsnet thread! It looks lovely and doesn't look grubby / mouldy. I'd avoid Victoria Plumb as the quality is shite

Agree with the double ended bath - easier to bath more than one. My head is saying a loo where the seat automatically goes down but my heart is saying it'd be broken within hours. Or is that just the men / boys in my house.

The only thing I would advise is as much tiling as you can, with the grey grout, to aid cleaning but to make sure it is heated properly. We had a gorgeous big bathroom is our last house, completely tiled, but it was freezing.

Some great advice on here. Thank you!

I want flat surfaces, all wipable!! (Esp around the loo!) Interesting re the grey grout. The plumbing means I need to put the taps at the bath ends. But I too hate the plugs that you need to put your hand in the sink/bath to operate!

Look at the bath filler, no taps required then. I'd never even realised they existed before.

It has to be tiles (not lino - good grief) especially with boys in the house - if you don't like the cool surface underfoot then you could always go for underfloor heating but most cold tiled floors are cold because the room is cold so make sure the heating is up to scratch - lots of heated towel rails don't heat the room properly so check the stats out before you buy.

And, did you know, that grout is now available in a huge range of colours - we have just had our bathroom floor and walls tiled and the grout matches/complements the tile colour. It doesn't have to be white or grey.

Agree with others' advice about filler, double-ended bath and plenty of storage.

You should get a bath panel which you can pull down and store stuff in with a shelve. My friend has one and all the products for bath/shower are stored in it, I need it in my life !

2nd the bath filler. No taps to clean, no taps to bump, no taps to clean behind, no taps to dilemma over choosing, more money to spend elsewhere. Win win.

mixer taps offer no protection against scalding. You can get thermostatic safety valves but as you need to supervise bath time anyway, is it worth it?

teach them to aim and to clean up!

Two boys. We have cork tiles - warm on feet, easy to clean. Double ended bath with shower over so no-one gets the tap end. Back to wall loo with soft close lid (as still had one to potty train when we did bathroom).

My one big mistake was to get push down plugs rather than lever/twist type plugs. The boys keep knocking it when in the bath and running half the water out!

Didn't get glass bath screen as they are awkward when trying to wash small people in the bath, so just have a shower curtain.

Rubber flooring. Rubber is warm underfoot too.

I wouldn't go for tiles on a bathroom floor, the wooden floor joists move and tiles crack. Also the grout cracks between the tiles and small DC love pulling little bits of grout out...

We have tiles, amtico and rubber on the floors in our bathrooms and rubber has stood the test of time best, Amtico second (it has lasted, but it's more of a pain to clean).

Built-in niches by the shower. Bottles can be stored in them, avoiding that messy, mould on the sealant round the shower tray problem. Better still, store the bottles in a stainless steel wire tray in a niche for easy removal/cleaning.

Shower head on bath tap, not just overhead. Makes it easier to hose down small DC and clean the bath.

I wouldn't have rubber. We had a rubber type flooring - and every single bit of fluff, dust, specks of anything kind of clung / stuck to it. It never ever looked clean (it was a chocolate brown colour with circular type indents) a bit like this - and it was awful. Maybe there are more expensive / different brands but I wouldn't advise it at all unless you're happy to get on your hands and knees and scrub it daily.

Agree with lots of this

• bath filler (have it on the far side of the bath so they cant reach in and scald themselves while bath is running)

• Mixer bath/shower controls on wall so no taps to bash

• Lever taps are easiest for dc

• grey grout. Tiles are the most hardwearing floor surface - they are cold but elec underfloor heating doesnt cost that much and takes chill off

• The Bette Ocean bath is good for showering in without being P shaped as it has one straight end and lots of internal space. Takes ages to fill if you want a deep bath though!

• Get a shower screen that folds all the way in both directions so that you can fold it flat against the wall when using the bath. Ensure shower head is high enough to clear the top of the screen, and put the bath/shower controls on the other wall so they arent behind the folded back screen... Hope this makes sense.

• definitely a back to wall loo. Or wall hung even better.

• yy to storage wherever you can fit it

• think about extractor fan wiring options - we have one which goes on automatically, not immediately but if the light has been on for a couple of minutes (so it doesnt go on if you just go in briefly eg yto wash hands). we also have an override switch. Or you can get moisture controlled ones.

I have one of these blanket box type storage units in our bathroom. It holds all the towels and the bath toys which are played with less often. I have two small DSs.

I love the amtico flooring that we have - it is a wood effect, not at all cold underfoot and I find it easy to clean.

We have loads of storage - one of these mirrored cabinets holds our medicines and everything we would use daily, as well as a double cupboard under the sink, with two small single drawers alongside it.

I would second having a bath with wall mounted taps in the middle - much easier to bath both DSs at one and no arguing over who goes which end.

I would also second the grey grout for wall tiles.

I have also recently bought a new roller blind. It is this one. I like it a lot as you can have the blind down for privacy, but it still lets the light through. really cheap, but effective.

My parents have a push down plug in their bath. I find that even when it is pushed down, and you're in the bath, there is still a huge lip, and its painful if you kick it with your toe! Though that's a mistake that I've only made once

Good thread. Can anyone link me to a wall mounted bath filler they have bought and are happy with.
I think an easy to clean loo/seat and grey grout are my top tips (have two DSs).
Also plenty of storage and an extractor fan.

victoriaplum.com/product/bath-filler-waste-amp-overflow-bfw for the filler ...but bought locally but this kind of thing.
www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/cruze-twin-square-concealed-shower-valve-with-diverter-chrome for control. Left and right for shower or bath. Other one for temperature. Or if you need a 3rd for an extra wash down shower head they also exist.

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/cruze-twin-square-concealed-shower-valve-with-diverter-chrome.aspx. bad link in last post