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Original poster

Easiest/cheapest way to hide these pipes? (photo)

74 replies

PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 20:32

Downstairs loo. Don’t care about the horizontal pipe (didn’t have the money or the room to box it in), but I would like to hide the ones under the sink.

Any ideas please?

Excuse the dirt and mess, still decorating after the build!

Easiest/cheapest way to hide these pipes? (photo)
OP posts:
Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:10

Mespher · 28/12/2023 22:05

It's similar to our downstairs loo, DH did make a small cupboard at first but it got an tatty over the years so that was removed and I bought a sink skirt from eBay for about a fiver, I decided I didn't like that so now we have just painted the pipes and stood a box that contains the bleach in front of it. Our house is a 30s house and the room not really what you would call cloakroom more a basic loo at the back end of the house

That’s what this loo is really, tagged onto the utility at the back of the garage. Ds calls it a glorified outhouse 🤣 It is handy though, I am glad we kept it and didn’t just turn it into a storage cupboard.

OP posts:
LaurieStrode · 28/12/2023 22:11

PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 20:45

It’s a very small sink - all the cupboards are too big!

And yes, in an ideal world all the pipes would be boxed in but it was a small space - you wouldn’t have been able to sit on the loo if the horizontal one was boxed in! The original loo had no sink in the room and was just the brick wall with no plasterboard, so we didn’t realise until the builders showed us the problem that the room would be much narrower with plasterboard.

Sink skirt could work! It’s curved though.

You can attach the skirt with the velcro that has peel / stick properties.

Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:13

My friend just suggested some nice fabric on one of those stretchy net curtain wires attached to each side of wall under the sink as it might look a bit neater than a skirt.

OP posts:
LaurieStrode · 28/12/2023 22:13

TizerorFizz · 28/12/2023 22:07

I still would have left it until I had funds and project managed it.

Well, no one gives a shit about that. The OP is troubleshooting, not asking opinions about who would build what.

Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:16

I do have actual big worries in life at the moment, by the way. This sink is a distraction incase anyone is wondering why I am thinking about it so much.

OP posts:
whoknows1230 · 28/12/2023 22:16

Would something like this work? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pilot-Imports-Chrome-Bathroom-Storage/dp/B076N3VSTZ

mamma65432 · 28/12/2023 22:17

How cheap do you need it to be and how handy are you? if you wanted super cheap and aren't handy then some plastic curtain wire with fabric draped over it, for a little bit more money you could make a triangular shaped cabinet.

But the horizontal pipe does concern me, i didn't think waste pipes were meant to be horizontal?

Mespher · 28/12/2023 22:19

I would probably try with a skirt or fabric on a wire as it is a very cheap option and easy to remove if you don't like it,

PiggieWig · 28/12/2023 22:20

A pedestal? I’d put a few tiles behind the basin to make it look a bit smarter too. I bet someone on Facebook has a couple left over they wouldn’t mind parting with. You’d only need two or three.

Catsknowbest · 28/12/2023 22:22

LaurieStrode · 28/12/2023 22:13

Well, no one gives a shit about that. The OP is troubleshooting, not asking opinions about who would build what.

Show quote history

Project managed it...? It's a handy extra toilet and OP already explained about budget etc etc.

Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:25

PiggieWig · 28/12/2023 22:20

A pedestal? I’d put a few tiles behind the basin to make it look a bit smarter too. I bet someone on Facebook has a couple left over they wouldn’t mind parting with. You’d only need two or three.

Oh yes, there will be tiles! There’s just the floor tiles down at the mo that continue from the utility and there is only the most coat on the walls.

Tiling around the sink will be done when all the utility and kitchen tiles are done next month. We’ve had a few weeks break for Christmas before that’s done as the last job. Dh is finishing off all the painting this weekend.

OP posts:
Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:25

*mist coat, even.

OP posts:
Mespher · 28/12/2023 22:27

If you paint them they will be a lot less obvious, we have the hot and cold pipes and DH fitted an outside tap off the cold pipe so that is there as well, painting them does make a difference

TizerorFizz · 28/12/2023 22:27

Budget has nothing to do with the waste pipe fitted like that. It’s purely poor project management. Or saying “no” to the builder! Why don’t people have standards? No one should accept this.

Catsknowbest · 28/12/2023 22:28

TizerorFizz · 28/12/2023 22:27

Budget has nothing to do with the waste pipe fitted like that. It’s purely poor project management. Or saying “no” to the builder! Why don’t people have standards? No one should accept this.

Omg are you serious?!

Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:28

mamma65432 · 28/12/2023 22:17

How cheap do you need it to be and how handy are you? if you wanted super cheap and aren't handy then some plastic curtain wire with fabric draped over it, for a little bit more money you could make a triangular shaped cabinet.

But the horizontal pipe does concern me, i didn't think waste pipes were meant to be horizontal?

The angle I took the photo at is deceptive (awkward spaxe). It’s not flat, it’s on a gradient.

OP posts:
cantsleepinbed · 28/12/2023 22:41

I don't think fabric or a skirt would look good tbh.

I'd paint the pipes White and then put something decorative in front, wicker basket, potted plant, etc.

christmaspawpaws · 28/12/2023 22:54

PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:16

I do have actual big worries in life at the moment, by the way. This sink is a distraction incase anyone is wondering why I am thinking about it so much.

I do that. Was worrying about makeup for my mums funeral and it was the only thing I could focus on Flowers

WhistPie · 28/12/2023 23:12

I wouldn't look at a house without a downstairs loo - devalued it my arse!

Once you've tidied up the sealant around the sink, painted the pipework white and put a skirt or a towel rail below the sink (I'd go for a curved towel rail, fix to the walls at either end) the pipes won't be noticeable.

Original poster
PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 23:18

WhistPie · 28/12/2023 23:12

I wouldn't look at a house without a downstairs loo - devalued it my arse!

Once you've tidied up the sealant around the sink, painted the pipework white and put a skirt or a towel rail below the sink (I'd go for a curved towel rail, fix to the walls at either end) the pipes won't be noticeable.

Yea, it’s all got to be decorated and the sink will
have a tiled splash back. It’s just the mist coat over the plaster at the mo so it looks more awful than it should in there at the moment.

That’s why we kept it in the end. There’s a new family bathroom and an en suite upstairs but it is handy having that loo off the utility too. Might not be the prettiest with the pipes but it’s a handy 3rd loo tucked away at the back of the house.

OP posts:
Ariela · 28/12/2023 23:20

Are you tiling the wall behind the horizontal pipe?

I've no picture, but my friend has tiles similar to these:
https://boutiquestone.co.uk/product/eccitare-terrazzo-porcelain-white her arty teenage daughter (gets brilliant marks in art) has painted the pipe with acrylic paint to match the background then added chips in grey, so from a distance it just blends in.
I'd pop a sheet of board at an angle across the other pipes, and paint in to match tiles.

schloss · 28/12/2023 23:30

Buy an offcut of flexible mdf which can be curved around the sink - paint it the same colour as the walls (using bathroom paint so it has some water protection). What would make it look very nice is to rout lines into it so it looks like grooved panelling?

PickAChew · 28/12/2023 23:34

PhillMichellsbrother · 28/12/2023 22:13

My friend just suggested some nice fabric on one of those stretchy net curtain wires attached to each side of wall under the sink as it might look a bit neater than a skirt.

That would get grubby so quickly.

Th cheapest and neatest option is just to prime the pipes and paint them to match the wall behind.

Twotooto · 28/12/2023 23:35

You could try and fashion some sort of curved box in for under the sink using very thin plywood (the kind you get for the back of ikea books shelves) or some kind of corrugated plastic. and fix it to the wall with some thin bits of wood. I would then paint that and the rest of the room a very dark colour and also paint the waste pipe to blend in with the walls and hide any other flaws.