Bathrooms - lessons learnt. Hints and tips.

[ErrolFinn]

I am just starting the process of replacing our tiny bathroom and I was wondering if anyone who has had a new bathroom fitted recently had any good hints or tips? There are so many beautiful bathrooms on Pinterest but I have no idea where to start!

What has been your best purchase and what do you regret about your new bathroom?

I am pleased with my niche in the shower for shampoo, gel, etc.,
I like my big mirrored, plain, cabinet that I can put all my small stuff in.
I am also pleased with my cupboard for my washbasin, with two shelves one for loo roll and the other deep enough for cif, bleach etc. Both of these mean I only have nice stuff on show.

My expensive towel rail has a very high btu for its size so easily heats the bathroom, it comes on whenever the hot water is on via the heating.

My two regrets, I had high gloss porcelain tiles, they look gorgeous however even with a water softener they show every drop of water, I'd go for Matt next time. Additionally the unit for the basin is just too close to the wall, makes it awkward to clean the tiles there.

Best purchases

• the biggest wall tiles we could get - less grout lines and less constantly having to bleach them to keep them looking clean and white

• back to the wall off the floor WC and sink - means you can mop really easily

Regrets

• Wish I'd gone for a karndean or vinyl flooring not tile - we've got black non slip tiles and they just look dirty all the time

• Wish I had installed a bath panel that has removable panels for storage to hide all the cleaning supplies/spare loo rolls

• Wish i had an electric towel rail installed rather than a mains fed one. As it obviously only comes on when the heating is on (so hardly ever in summer) At least with electric you can turn it on whenever you want

Best thing is having storage. We have a built in cupboard under the sink that holds everything.. shampoos etc and it keeps it looking lovely as everything is out of sight and tidy.
Vinyl flooring is fantastic, mine looks like tiles (you wouldn't know it isn't tiles) but isn't cold and slippy. And it was a lot cheaper!
Only two things went wrong with me. I was 2 tiles short. Luckily the fitter noticed on the first day so I was able to get another 2 by the end of the week! And make sure you're clear on things with your fitter. I was at work and came back to something the wrong was round.
My fave purchase is actually a £6 mirror/shelf from Ikea! It's the simple things that can make it all come together. Enjoy your new bathroom!

You get what you pay for with taps. Buy expensive ones and they will last forever, buy cheap and they'll need replacing in a few years.

Glad we went for big tiles and grey grout - no more scrubbing grout lines!

We went for shower/bathroom boards rather than tiles. They are a bit more but five years on like new. So easy to clean and zero grout.

Covered storage was another positive for me. No more dusty shelves. Cupboards all the way.

Storage - we have a big undersink cupboard which then continues on to a full height cupboard and it CAN make things look so much neater (till DH and the kids get up).

As few nooks and crannies for dust to collect on as possible.

Grey/coloured grout looks better for longer. Or use shower boarding, its like big sheets of thick plastic comes in lots of designs and is really easy to keep clean.
Dont scrimp on taps as you do get what you pay for.
If getting fixed bath panel make sure its reinforced as cheaper ones get cracked easily.
Glass shower screen if shower over bath hate curtains.

Coloured grout - doesn't look mouldy/dirty.

Ikea Rattviken sink (raised edge catches water) and Hemnes under-sink drawers (loads of storage).

Niche in shower.
Basin suspended so room look bigger
Huge mirror to make it look bigger and
My most favourite.
A towel rail that runs with the hot water not heating system so cheap as chips to run and dry towels even in summer!

Good:

• Bath is slightly larger than normal, because its an L shape. Not a corner one, but just projects out slightly more on one side giving more space.

• Our bathroom is small, and the wall next to the bath is a mirror from about 1m upwards. It adds so much light and makes the room feel much larger

• Integrated sink with storage cupboard underneath. Our previous one was just a pedestal sink and there was no storage.

• Our tiles look shiny, but actually have grit on them, so if you scratch them with your finger, it feels gritty. Very handy, non-slip feature that isnt noticable at all.

Bad:

• Floor tile grout is constantly cracking. We had a board installed underneath, had the tiles up and re-done multiple times, but I assume there is just too much movement. Obvioulsy not a problem everywhere. Thinking we will have to replace with vinyl!

• No drainage hole in the bathroom floor. I'm from abroad, where all bathrooms have a drainage hole in the floor to wash down water after mopping/ washing the floor etc and to drain away excess moisture after showering. Never seen one in the UK, but they are very handy.

We also liked the Ikea Hemnes drawers, we installed them in our previous house. In this house, big airing cupboard is great and when we redid the plumbing we fitted a radiator in there so it still functions as an airing cupboard when the heating is on. We also have an automatic light in it.

Negatives we've had or fitted are black slate effect floor tiles (always looked filthy). Current bathroom has a massive bath which is actually really uncomfortable - I can't lie down properly in it as I float away and end up kind of gripping on with my neck.

We had very poor water pressure in our old house and should have investigated that before making decisions on plumbing/boilers/showers.

Has anyone fitted controls outside of the shower, and if so can you get dual controls so you can also turn it up or down a bit when you're in?

Mine is to try to avoid exposed pipes or boxing in of pipes as I hate the dusting of extra ledges. Although we may be overly picky as it never even crossed my parents' minds and they have pipes running up their walls inside their bathrooms.

My other tip would be to have plenty of ventilation. Even with two fans with external ducting and the windows open, our shower throws out so much steam that we had to paint our ceiling with special paint as it peeled off and developed black spots.

We've had two bathrooms fitted in recent years, which we did ourselves.

In one, the shower cubicle is too small, so we fitted a much larger one in the main bathroom and now that's too big!
Get a shower tray with grip built in, otherwise you will have to add shower mats!

A rimless toilet has been lovely. Those silly flush buttons are a PITA.

Get what you want. We compromised on a cheaper sink - don't like it.

We were told not to buy a square toilet as our bottoms are not square shaped.

Make sure your sink has enough edge for any soap, pots etc.

In tiny bathroom in previous house, which we did up ourselves:

Main wall above bath entirely filled with massive mirror. Made the room seem so much lighter.

"Hidden" storage cupboards wherever we could fit them in - eg in bath panel for under-bath storage, in the boxing for pipes etc.

Wall-mounted large triangular corner sink to maximise space.

Bath as big as we could fit.

Chopped out an airing cupboard that backed onto the bathroom to make space for a separate shower cubicle. That was probably the best thing we did.

@ivfdreaming my towel rail comes on whenever the central heating comes on to heat just the water, i think it's just a valve on the heating system, I'd check with a plumber you may be able to get it fitted retrospectively.

I agree with grout not being white and sinks having a edge, plus lots of storage.

I would add a douche added, we thought about but chickened out I will put one on our next bathroom.

I hate our bath, it’s too narrow and uncomfortable.

I would get a shower screen that moves rather than our fixed one.

I think good lightning is important- will you be putting makeup on in there? Will you be having relaxing showers how will the lighting work?

I'm a fan of our japanese bidet toilet and would put them in again.
Double sink inserted into an old sideboard worked well and added character.
Lovely big bath deck means there's loads of space for candles, plants, toiletries, wine and a laptop
Connecting the hot water tap on the bath to the shower pump means the bath fills really quickly.

Shower enclosure looks lovely but the fitter is now trying to tell me I shouldn't expect the water not to leak through the joints
Not sure we will realistically use the underfloor heating very much.

If you have a bath these are great for hiding away bath toys, loo rolls, cleaning products dead bodies

www.argos.co.uk/product/4720575?clickSR=slp:term:bath%20panel:3:4:1

A plug in the bath that pops up when you put pressure on it. It pops up all the tome

I'm getting a new bathroom soon and am shamelessly placemarking so I can find this again. Keep the tips coming!

Best thing ... a heated mirror, it never steams up

Regrets:

1. Grey non slip floor tiles. They stain and look dirty constantly, really hate them
2. Deep tub. Im almost certain that DH ordered the deeper one because he is tall but it’s not good for me. I’m 5’5” and still have to lift my legs high to get in, and a bath is difficult to get out of
3. Controls at the end of the tub, instead of centre. Bad news if you are taking a bath in a deep tub
4. Heated mirror. I haven’t been able to clean it properly. It streaks.

Do consider:

1. Soft close toilet
2. Hand held multi thingy shower

Love my mirrors with lights behind them, also use cut tiles for the skirting. Make sure if tiling that the board they put down to tile into is thick enough otherwise grouting will crack

I regret not having paid more for the tiler-he was shit. I wanted mitred tiles and was fobbed off. I hate the edging strip with a passion. My shower niche isn’t the shape and size I asked for I should have made them redo it but I was desperate to move in so just accepted it.
Storage is great, bath, shower tray, taps etc are all good quality and worth the money-I bought them all off of eBay and saved myself a fortune...