Bathroom to shower room, what not to do!?

[sbplanet]

I think we've finally decided what kit we want for our small bathroom to upgrade it to a shower room.

We're going for a wall-hung rimless toilet, a wall-hung basin and a digital dual rear-fed shower - the gubbins to be boxed in along one wall. Then a glass panel with shower tray for a kind of wet room look. Plus a towel radiator and extractor fan. Still looking for a long thin mirror to go over the basin...

...but I starting to wonder, what haven't I thought of? You know the things were when it's all done you go 'oh no' or 'doh, why did I chose that one'?

So what not to do? :)

ps don't say leave the bath in, that's gone!!! :D

I assume that you intend never to move again? When house hunting if there's no bath I won't even look at it. Small children love the bath and a shower just doesn't suit lots of people.

We did that about 5 years ago. Same as OP... wall hung everything. Long shower area where the bath was, with a big plain glass wall with no dirt harbouring twiddly bits. Tiled floor to ceiling. The long mirror over the basin was the front of a huge shallow cabinet.

Put a switch on for the shower on a wall opposite so it has time to get up to heat before you walk under it

No were not having a digital shower I think we're getting [https://www.cphart.co.uk/hansgrohe-raindance-select-s-300-2-jet-shower-pipe/ this]] one although I could be wrong I've looked at so many Ive got confused what we finally ordered!! We have a combi boiler with amazing water pressure.
Our bathroom is a 70's extension on a very old cottage and the extension is poorly insulated we are insulating the walls first.
Once its finished Im planning on buying one of these as from the utility room and into the bathroom will all be one level.
We have a bath in our other bathroom we've been here 7 years Ive been in it once.

@perfumeistooexpensive we may move again, but we're in an area where if you can afford us you can afford to swap out the shower and put a bath in if that's what you want. :)

@newbathroomforme love the floor sweeping robot! We're having one of these (this shows rrp not retail) as it have a remote switch exterior to the shower to turn it on before you get in (@mrsbyers :) ). Plus a downloadable app to 'do stuff with' which I doubt we ever will! Lol.

www.mirashowers.co.uk/showers/digital-showers/mira-mode-dual-rear-fed-high-pressure-combi-boiler/

Nice shower, we’ve currently have a Mira shower not as smart as yours it’s been a very good shower we’ve had it 7 years it’s the only positive in our bathroom.

We are planning to do exactly the same thing and remove our bath and put in a shower cubicle as we never use the bath. Something which is a must for me is textured wall tiles because they wont show the water marks/limescale marks. Glossy tiles look nice but are hard work to keep looking good. Our children are grown up and left home, but I think its nice to have an actual bath if there are young children in the house.

“Something which is a must for me is textured wall tiles because because they don’t show the watermarks/limescale”
Don’t say this we’ve chosen glossy tiles after months of agonising luckily we don’t have a limescale problem.

You can also buy a robotic tile/glass cleaner!!

Make sure you can access the ballcock on the toilet without having to rip out the whole unit (bitter experience).

I've tried to attach pics, but not sure I've done it properly. The shower one is taken through the glass.

Wow your new bathroom is looking good @thenightsky

I'm still looking at tiles - there's so much choice!

It's handy in warmer weather if the towel rail can work independently of the central heating system. Keeps your towels fresher for longer.

Our bathroom floor tiles are shiny, BUT, when you feel them with your hand, they are actually slightly gritty and prevent slipping. You've neve know by looking at them though. Apologies if this type is well know, but I'd never seen them before DH found them!

Happydaysforever123 vetoed underfloor heating, but our bathroom is on a north facing external wall and even though we have a large heated towel rail the room still feels cold in winter so I wish we had installed it - we do have solar panels though.
I know it sounds obvious but even though the plumber is supplying the goods make sure you have a good look at them before fitting and your're happy with the quality.
Check you can switch the fan on without having the light come on as well.

I’ve got a wet room and have under floor heating - the floor drys fast. I also have a long handled squeechy to go over the floor

A steam free lighted mirror - so you can shave or apply make up in the bathroom after show

Wall hung loo and sink is in a counter top so floor is clear

Heated towel rail

@sbplanet I'm with @NaToth in questioning the move, albeit for different reasons. It's fine if you're sure you want to stay in the house forever, but if you ever need to sell then not having a bath can impact your chances of re-sale.

"Bath or Shower? Will it Affect my Property Value?
Whilst replacing your bath with a shower might not decrease the valuation of your property; it may result in it taking longer to sell, which could mean that you will receive a lower offer. When it comes down to it, the bath still has a cherished place in British bathrooms - it seems we’re still in love with the bathtub after all!"
www.bathroomsdirectyorkshire.co.uk/blog/tips-advice/post/bath-or-shower-how-will-it-affect-your-property-value-

And yes - @sbplanet - I agree that those autolight toilet do look haunted! It's a bit funny too haha!

@ChocoTrio Thanks, I appreciate what is being said. And I've lived in enough houses over the years where what I've done to the property has been partially dictated by resale value. As I said to another poster we now live in an area where property is at a premium and so if you can afford to buy here you'd be able to afford to swap out a shower for a bath if you wanted. If we still lived in a terrace property in the middle of a town I'd likely not be taking the decision to remove the bath because of possibly making resale harder or lower value. So yeah I think it should be considered. But we're at the stage of house owning where I'm now inclined to say 'us first'. :) But I'll still be putting in a white suite! ;) :D

My late mothers flat had no bath I sold it in 24 hours for £5000 more than I was asking for, not a premium area either just a average pleasant area.
Personally it wouldn't stop me buying a house if I loved everything else about it.Our second bathroom has a bath frankly Id take that out as well DH want to leave it as he's had a massive 6 baths since we moved here seven years ago!

@Elouera

- Don't have tiles around the sink surround. I dont mean on the wall, but at the top of the sink cabinet so the top of the cupboard the sink sits in. My mum did this and the tiles collect soap scrum, toothpaste etc.

• have as many smooth sections as you can that are easy to clean

• Our bathroom abroad has a drain in the centre of the room which is great for washing the floors down. I've never seen this in any bathroom in the UK though. Not sure why?

• MIL has a little autolight which comes on at night. Its great, because you can use to the loo at night without turning on the main lights and exhaust fan

• You can buy super low decibel exhaust fans. Depending if the house is a semi or if the bathroom is next to a bedroom, consider getting an extra quiet fan

I’m being dopey, where are the tiles?

@GreyishDays- Sorry, I'm not explaining it well. Mums sink sits within a large vanity. Therefore around the sink, and extending to either side is the flat, top of the vanity where you'd usually sit toothpaste, hand wash a brush etc. Its usually the same, smooth plastic as the vanity, but mum had it tiled all over this top surface with tiny tiles which collect soap scum etc. Maybe it was the 'in thing' at the time, but she has regretted it ever since.

Ah yes, like ‘worktop’ around the sink.

I have a shelf behind our sink, much like in @thenightsky photos above. I love it. Plenty of room to put contact lens stuff, bottles, brushes etc. And it stays dry too. I really notice when I stay places with only the sink to try and balance everything on, it's really annoying.

@sbplanet That's fair enough.

Hmm... one thing I think is nice in a shower unit, if not already mentioned, is an additional bit for a rainfall shower as well as the regular shower head.

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/showers/shower-heads

homeviable.com/rain-shower-head-vs-regular-shower-head/

That's an interesting article. You can get both the regular shower head and the rainfall shower head so you've got two choices, but difference experiences.

@ChocoTrio yeah we're going for a dual shower - rainfall and regular, or both at once. Plus it'll be digital so can be started before stepping in. :)