New bathroom... what would you recommend, what do you wish you'd done?

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On the brink of starting a major bathroom redo.

Would love to have an idea of (recent) costs - we will need to take out an old hot water tank and boiler, and remove the cupboard the tank was in. Hoping to reuse at least the basin...

A decent vanity unit. We paid a lot for a decent quality brand with two deep and high drawers. No need for any other storage. Allocate a space for a stool or seat. We got an IKEA towel rail chair for next to the bath.

An electrical socket for electric shavers, toothbrushes etc. We're dependent on rechargeable appliances which means charging them in the bedroom.

We did a similar thing to the OP. I hope the lists below are some help!

What we got right

1. Planned the layout accurately, and considered every option.
2. Installers were recommended and really good.
3. Heated floor and Mirror
4. Fit mirror back box before tiling. (less tiles and mirror stands less proud.
5. Freestanding bath, (Victoria + Albert "Mozzano") unbelievably confortable.
6. Automatic trap (so no stinky overflow needed)
7. Porcelain 60cm X 60cm wall tiles (small gaps and less grout)
8. Flat shower screen (much easier to clean)
9. Walk in show base (no step)
10. Small sink saved space and is plenty big enough in a BR.
11. Water softener (already fitted) huge difference to cleaning.
12. Powerful extractor fan in loft, Humidity, voice and activated schedulable (run for 30 minutes at 2:00 Hrs)
13. Dimmable lights, (voice, motion, activated) (Philips hue)
14. In ceiling speakers. Apple home pod mini.
15. Tap positioned for bath sharing.
16. Niche in shower and bath, (tall enough for Champagne glasses...)

What we got wrong

1. 60x60cm floor tiles cracked due to movement in floor.
2. black floor tiles show dust and marks very easily
3. LED light strip behind bath looked great till it got wet...
4. Bath drains slowly due to small bore pipe.
5. Shower drain gully blocks weekly, so wish I had put one at both ends.
6. Sink and shower "glug" so should have fitted an air admittance valve somewhere on the pipe.
7. Central heated tower rail, is cold in the summer....
8. Non-smart controls for underfloor heating are a pain to set / adjust.
9. Could have done with a bit more storage.
10. Paid an electrician to check and re-do some of the wiring.
11. Used plastic pipes, (no leaks so far) but copper would have been more reliable. (three friends have had leaks from plastic pipes).
12. Completely blew the budget... around £15K

I hope that helps...

I did mine in my favourite house some time ago. The things I loved were the waterfall stand alone shower and the loo. The gorgeous roll top bath was a complete waste of money, the basin was too big and the porcelain tiles cracked.

The best thing was all the plumbing went under the floorboards! The bathroom was beautiful.

Wall hung toilet and sink so they are easier to mop under. Storage under the sink. Taps recessed for sink and shower. Build in shelf behind bath with lighting. Same in shower.
No folding shower screens as they collect mould.
Heated towel rail which has a temperature control and big enough for all the towels. Underfloor heating. Switch to turn on the fan separately to the light. Back lit anti steam mirror.
Spot lights which turn off independently to the mood lighting (nice for a bath).

Oh and toothbrush chargers built in!

Extractor override on/off switch - no noisy baths.

Lights on dimmer or separate low level ones.

We created extra storage at the ends of the bath - under the curve. Push doors on the bath panel. We store cleaning / loo brush etc…

Created cupboard above the toilet cistern.

Ooh can you tell us more about the bath storage - did you buy this or design and make something yourself?

Don't have a stand alone bath that you can't get to the back of to clean. They might look lovely but they are horrible dust traps and you'll swear about it every time you drop a bottle of shampoo down the back

@boobybum

Sorry can’t photo now - if you imagine the bath as a rectangle (side on). Then you’ve got space underneath the head and foot ends, where the inside of the bath slopes up. I used a type of plywood for the bath panel & asked the builder to put little doors in it to access the areas under the sloped sections.

Small ‘crawl’ space but enough to stash loo brush, toilet cleaner & gen cleaning stuff for the bathroom.

Let me know if you need a picture.

Oh, our mirror cabinet has a digital clock display on it. Very useful.

Insulate your bathtub! It's been an absolute game changer. The water stays warmer so much longer and I can really wallow. I also got a slightly wider than normal bath since we had the space, it feels so comfortable and roomy, I love it.

How did you insulate @Barleysugar86? Often thought about this but never got round to doing anything about it.

I'm sorry I have no idea, it was something my now ex suggested and I agreed it sounded good but I don't know how he did it!

I’ve not read everyone’s suggestions but if you do decide to create some wall shelves inside the shower cubicle, put them as far away from the shower head as you can or make sure the tiler knows to angle the tiles slightly to drain into the shower - or you will end up with standing water in the niche which then seeps through the grout and down the wall.

Motion activated low level lighting for night time visits.

Dimmer switch or two lighting circuits for relaxed bath time.

What is a flat shower screen please?

Flat glass panel.

We've just redone 2 bathrooms.

Things I'm pleased with:

• Walk-in shower with a very thin shower tray (we couldn't have a wet room) and frameless shower enclosure - looks a cleaner design and more modern.

• main bathroom has a feature wall of tiles (same colour as other walls and floor) and other bathroom has one wall and the floor in a feature colour. Sounds weird but looks good. Got the ideas from a tiles show room and I love it.

• concealed shower valves and bath plumbing (so knobs are on the wall but no taps or rails on display. Water comes out of bath overflow).

• floating basin (easy to clean floor under it)

• wall mounted toothbrush charger

• heated towel rails

Regrets:

• putting up a bathroom cabinet. On reflection the room would have looked sleeker without it and I had enough room in the basin drawers (but it is practical)

• awkward cleaning behind one of my toilets. Not sure I could have done much about this though.

You're so right about the angle of the tiles, that is something else we got wrong...

The motion activated lights are worth it just for avoiding arguments as to why the bloody lights have been left on AGAIN!

Our bathroom is really cold. I wish we’d better insulated the external walls. It could have been done before we tiled it but too late now.

This is such helpful thread. I've a bathroom renovation starting end of month and I am clueless!

I don't care - they are super-gorgeous!!

Omg am totally sold on an Omnitub seated deep bath - thank you, would never have looked at them otherwise. That could solve the issue of our small Lshaped bathroom layout. I like that they're UK based too.

Pretty much what I did. Also storage cupboard is wall-hung. No bath as mine was an en suite reno. Little seat (triangle shaped) in the shower. Recessed shelf in shower, and 2 recessed shelves above toilet, with LED lights. LED lights under wall-hung WHB and mirror with LED light.

Tiled entire floor/walls in carrara marble porcelain tiles, so has a spa-like feel. Fan on separate switch, also recessed lights and LEDs all on three separate switches.

Toilet seat can be removed for cleaning, and is rimless. Softclose drawers under WHB. Gunmetal fittings mixed with chrome - ie taps, shower, door hooks, toilet roll holder etc. Wall-mounted toilet flush in white to blend in with the tiles.

I abso-fucking-lutely love it!!! Put in a tall grey radiator with towel rail. Everybody else has to keep their towels on the ladder radiator in the main bathroom.

My advice?

1. Spend lots of time on the planning process.
2. Find yourself a really knowledgeable bathroom consultant. Mine was very patient, and came up with so many ideas. I visited several times and spent hours.
3. Get recommendations for a really good bathroom fitter. Mine was amazing and project managed it all. Even did lots of other small DIY jobs for me including putting up a 6 stone mirror!! Came up with good ideas too, and picked accent mosaic tiles that look fabulous on my shower seat and in my recessed shelves.
4. Be prepared for it to cost, to get it exactly the way you want!!