What do you wish you'd known before renovating: Bathroom Edition

[applesauce1]

We're buying a new house and should complete end of December/early Jan (🤞).

The en-suite and family bathroom both need to be ripped out and started over. We'll do it all before we move in.

This started as an exciting prospect, but now I feel completely daunted as there is just too much choice.

We have a £12k budget for this element of the renovation but, it would be nice if things came in under budget (has such an astonishingly obvious statement ever been made?)

I really like the aesthetic of industrial/modern fittings and reclaimed stained wood. These looks are all over Instagram but don't appear in any catalogues. I really don't want to go for the hexagonal tile thing or anything too 'of the moment'.

Before I spend toddler nap time scouring the internet for bathroom furniture, please tell me everything you wish you knew, or your best advice, for bathroom renovations. The kitchen version of this thread was brilliant.

PS for more modern fixtures also look at Lusso Stone. They have nice designs, seem to be high quality (so far) and reasonably priced. Our black taps were Britton and shower set was RAK but would have looked at Lusso Stone as well. Oh and Drench are also worth a look.

Placemarking as we're about to do our's - thanks OP!

Did you look at this vanity OP?

I hate rainfalll shower heads as you either have to wear a shower hat or get wet all over. “Normal” shower heads can be moved up or down depending on whether you want to wash your hair or not.

We have built in alcoves for shower gel etc. Shower taps are at the entrance to the shower - turn shower on, wait for hot water to arrive then walk in.

I wish I had put in a washlet but they are about £2k.

I have a beautiful freestanding bath. I hate it!

If I did it again, I’d get in the bath in the showroom. Never occurred to me to get in the bath. It’s the most uncomfortable bath ever. Bloody beautiful to look at though.

Get a sink where the water on the top (next to the tap) drains INTO the sink. We got one with a flat top as I didn’t like the look of the grooves for soaps dishes etc. Really though it annoys the hell of me that water floods to the outside of the sink when I wash it.

Unless you’re loaded and can remodel again in a few years I’d go for a bath/sink etc that is plain in stay or traditional, I wouldn’t go for anything that will age quickly.

That is not like on TV where you go away and come back a few days later to finished bathroom 😫
Ours was started back at the end of August.... and although the plumbing work etc is done we still need to paint and finish it off..

We've just had our bathroom done. The guys we used were hard working and food workmanship but now the products are in use I'm quite disappointed in the items I bought which were all really expensive and I wished I'd stuck with cheaper options!

• Kaldwei Eurowa steel bath. Even though it is 5cm longer than my previous bath it's very narrow and just about fits my width. I'm tiny! The slides are quite curved and it's a 130l capacity bath. I had no context when I bought it and saw the different capacities for a 1700cm bath. I wished I had understood what that meant!
• I bought an expensive Ideal Standard toilet and the seat is incredibly uncomfortable
• I bought Grohe bath and shower taps. They feel good quality although all made in Thailand and no longer made in Germany

The tiles are gorgeous and the radiator is huge and super warm.

I bought most products from eBay (new and from eBay shops).

If you're thinking making of moving the loo make sure it won't involve digging up a newly layed garden path 🤦

Also agree about avoiding Victoria Plumb or Victorian Plumbing. Bella Bathrooms were very good to deal with & Topps Tiles excellent.

Try the bath and the toilet seat although the latter may feel better if you reposition yourself (sorry if that’s TMI) get your shower tanked and use tiles. I think panels always look like a caravan and would put me off your house if buying it.
Personally I would prefer half tiled or less to a fully tiled room.
Definitely have storage below the basin.
Think about putting in a pressurised tank if you don’t have one, no problem with water pressure then.
Fit a hand hose with rainfall shower. Gives options but I’ve found no problem keeping my head out of the rainfall shower, obviously easier if you have a large tray.
Choose a door if you’re having one on the shower with as few places to trap dirt as possible. I think though all parts of a modern shower door are removable to clean.
Pick something you actually like and it will give you a great deal of pleasure. I did my en-suite last year and I’ve been so thankful during lockdown for the pleasure it gives me every time I use it.

We've made some choices.

I've taken a huge risk and ordered an oak chest of drawers to turn into a counter top sink vanity. I wanted a lot of under sink storage. I wanted drawers. I wanted real wood. We're investing in good extractor fans and will treat the wood as well as we can but I am crossing my fingers that futureapplesauce doesn't look back at pastapplesauce and think, "What the fuck were you thinking, apple? You style-over-substance idiot."

I haven't ordered the tiles yet due to lockdown. I wanted to choose them in person. I actually haven't ordered anything else yet. So to clarify my first sentence, I have made one single potentially stupid choice.

I don't know whether to order Grohe taps etc or whether to choose things from the plumber's catalogue of unbranded but personally recommended things. The price difference is huge so I am worried about the quality.

Get nice taps and fittings. Got ours from cast iron bath company. Shop around though for most things. Especially tiles!