Bathroom mistakes & non negotiables

[Iceache]

We’re planning our new bathroom and am in the market research phase! Some things I learned doing our last bathroom:

Heated towel rails don’t heat the room

White grout and small tiles looks crisp and clean but you will be in the shower with a toothbrush and bleach for the rest of your days

Teracotta tiles are great for hiding dust & dirt

What would you do differently? Do you love or regret anything? Our bathroom will be a decent size (approximately 3.5 x 2m) but not enormous (plenty of space for a large walk-in shower & bathtub).

@Iceache you can use any outdoor/water safe light as well, not just specific bathroom lights

I have tested my floor tiles on the bathroom floor and ds and I have had great fun splatting them with toothpaste and soap bubbles. I tested them with hair dye as well as I use black dye and I always get it everywhere!

Epoxy grout is amazing. We have it in all our tiled areas.

If you're shower people, don't get a bath just because future buyers would like a bath

I've got an oversized coffin in one corner of the room gathering dust

ETA there's a strip of toilet paper hanging out of the bath from the plug hole, to let the spiders out

Great tips here thanks.
What do people think about bath size? Are 1500mm and 1600mm long too small?
Bath waste not in the middle noted, we had that in a previous bath but I had forgotten how annoying that was! Plus a shower head to rinse bath.

We have found that unless you have a freestanding bath they are just not deep enough. Annoyingly we had our bath replaced 6 months ago and so we are keeping the replaced one but if I could choose again I'd choose a beautiful deep freestanding one. Our fitted one is 36cm to the overflow and it's just not quite deep enough.

Too small. We have an ensuite with a shower over the bath and the bath is pathetic: too short and not deep enough. I'm 5'4" and it's not long enough!

For those saying comfort height, I would not recommend. We accidentally ordered when ordering our bathroom suite and we decided to just go with it instead of ordering another. It's way too high to sit on comfortably, and I am tall! Nightmare also for children, especially boys!

Without doubt the most important thing is the shower controls accessible without getting wet

i absolutely hate moving parts in the shower cubicle- like sliding doors etc, so I always design a walk in with fixed wall/glass panels

heated towel rail that is decoupled from the main heating - we have one that is both electric and connected to the heating, though j love the PP’s idea of connecting to the hot water

check the flush power and cistern capacity - new toilets often perform poorly compared to older ones, I know it’s an environmental thing but having to flush several times defeats the purpose of water saving

allow space for artwork on the walls/shelves and plants

more towel hooks than you think you need

a towel shelf high above the radiator so you can have at least a few spare clean towels to hand

Plan where the.bin will go

make sure you don’t block access to the window as it’s very annoying. It being able to easily open for ventilation

💯 this! Whatever you do, get traditional shaped sinks. We did 2 bathrooms recently and the flat bottomed sinks are the biggest regret.

Make sure you consider where the toilet roll holder will go.

Check the shape of the loo.

Comfort height toilets surely terrible for your pelvic floor?!

Unless you have a squatty potty or similar to go with it?

If you’re getting on a bit, lighting is very important. Bright lights directly above the mirror can be very…unflattering.

Someone mentioned a ‘poo shelf’ in the toilet and not to get one with one but I have no idea what that is 🤣

You want a rimless toilet

We had a hand dryer installed to save the kids using loo roll or refusing to use hand towels because they were wet or someone else had used them.

That was me!

If you look down into your loo, most loos are shaped to have a diagonal slope down into the water. But some have a flat bit and then a steep slope. The flat bit is the poo shelf. Apparently this design is popular in some countries where they like to keep an eye on their bowel movements to help assess health. Unfortunately, also much more likely to leave skid marks.

Oh yes! Lights either side of the mirror for sure. Not above unless you want to scare yourself.

a hose attached to the toilet - it's fine to google, doesn't bring up anything nasty :-)

Wonderful for keeping your toilet clean amongst other things

If you have any ‘flat’ surfaces in the shower like a niche or seat, make sure they actually have a slight tilt to the center of the shower so that any water that collects on them drains off, and doesnt just sit there breeding mould and scum..which it will do if they are perfectly horizontal

Use epoxy grout where grout is needed

Make sure your sink has a angled base all the way into the drain, otherwise you will be forever swilling water around to get rid of toothpaste or beard trimmings

A horizontal towel bar for every person that has a towel and uses the bathroom…you can double stack them and then everyone’s towel will dry…which doesnt happen with towel hooks

Following. We've just bought our first home and I want to redo the bathroom.

The toilet has broken and the way it's been tiled in it will cost £450 to fix!! Feel like we may just need to somehow do it all now, not that we can really afford it! :(

I would spend a bit more money and employ a reputable company to measure up and supply your fittings, even, or especially with a small bathroom .

We purchased individual items online according to DH's measuring up and we have a wall cupboard that's too large and really overhangs the bath, and a bath which has edges far too thin to be able to push you up to get out.

There was also a disagreement between my husband and the first fitter, who walked out, and we were without a bathroom for 4 weeks whilst we found someone else.

A wall hanged toilet can take 35 stone in weight

We have a fabulous plumbing company who did our last bathroom (old house - FANTASTIC job). They have also done our downstairs toilet remodelling work in this house, and got all the waste pipes ready for the bathroom. They’ll do our boiler & radiators too at the same time.

That would be my top tip actually:

You’ll pay more for a really good company, but it’s worth it. Their craftsmanship, the trades they work with (their tiler is an artist and their joiner an angel sent from old house heaven) and the aftercare 👌🏻

Make sure there is proper heating. The shower water should cover you and the fan should not make you cold, but should prevent mould. Very few people are injured because of having sockets in the bathroom and it's totally normal in other countries. Some people (not all, I accept) are perfectly happy with a shower and no bath. Every bathroom needs a lock. Floor tiles should not be a dark colour.

Blue tooth speaker in the shower.

Buy a second toilet seat that goes exactly with your toilet, the porcelain will last years but the seat won’t last as long. Generic ones never fit right

Do not buy from Victorian plumbing under any circumstances
Do have an inbuilt shelf in the shower
Do have a radiator and a towel warmer
Do have a vanity unit with space either side of the sink