New bathroom must dos and don’ts- ideas please!

[AnotherDeadSparrow]

We are about to convert a small bedroom into a shower room with toilet, sink and shower. There’s no plumbing etc there so it’s a blank canvas. Would primarily be for a teen girl but also any guests.

Any things you wish you had or hadn’t done in your bathroom?

Teen would like a decent rain shower (they all fight over our en-suite), and for it not to be too cold. We are thinking of maybe LVT for the floor as warmer underfoot, and plumber has suggested shower panels rather than tiles.

I’m rubbish at interior design and Pinterest etc so thought I’d ask mumsnet instead! Thanks in advance 😊

Do you just have them behind the shower, or whole room? Is the rest of the room painted?

So sorry to hear that! Must be heartbreaking to have spent all that money and effort, and not be happy with it.
I’m just as grateful for the “don'ts” as the dos!

Great idea about the bleach height!
Was going to get her a big lit mirror, with heating also a good call

Ah yes but her majesty has about 100 different potions on the go at once 😂

Some more brilliant suggestions, thank you. Making sure we have heaps of storage is a very good call.
Wall panels seem to be universally loved!

Make sure the builder fully and properly wipe down the grout after it's set for 24 hrs. Then give it an inspect and go over yourself.

The people who owned our home didnt do this so we have a very fancy expensive bathroom covered in 5 yr old crusted on grout that i am sat WAITING to rip out 😑😑😑

Get the whole room tanked. Go for a shower cubicle big enough but not so big that it’s cold. Niche for toiletries in the shower. Add underfloor heating and a large heated towel rail. Have towel rail plumbed into both central heating and electric for more control in the summer months.

We've just renovated a derelict house and had 2 bathrooms, 2 en-suites and 1 cloak room to completely do. I'm far from an expert, but here are my tips:

-We went to B&Q, Wikes, topps tiles etc and found a local, independent bathroom/tile shop far more helpful.
-I'm not familiar with whatever panels you are referring to, but larger tiles make a bathroom look larger. I avoided any metro type, tiny tiles which make it look busy and means a lot more grout to clean!
-We have rimless, comfort height, back to wall toilets throughout. Easy to clean both inside the bowl and on the floor (you can just mop underneath) plus the few cm's of height make a world of difference to my knees! They don't look like a disable toilet either.
-Instead of a cabinet under the sink- get drawers! I only did this in 1 bathroom and it was a mistake. I hate bending down to forage through the back of the cupboard the find things. The drawers are 100x better!
-Ideally get a water softener. My previous property didn't have one, and the plugs seized up and needed replacing with a year. I was also forever trying to clean the glass screens and it was never clean. I spent £££ on vikakal and vinegar every year. This property, we got a softener and its a game changer. I think I've cleaned the screens twice a year now! Toilet bowls and sink outlets aren't furred up and I spend 1% of my time cleaning the bathroom now.
-Our sinks are RAK brand and the taps/showers Grohne. I have no idea if these are good/bad, but so far, are great.

Have a look at digital showers. All the pipework is in the loft so no worries about leaks behind panels or tiles

Get a high quality shower system like AquaLisa. They have great thermostats so the water is pumped at the right temperature and it doesn't alter even if someone goes in one of the other showers or puts a tap on.

Get a water softener first.

If you’re building out walls to hide pipework consider using the space that you create behind the wall to inset a mirrored cabinet and shower niche (or two!) into the wall. We have a very small bathroom and have created so much fuss free storage space this way.

If space allows it, have the shower controls outside the range of the shower head so you can turn on the shower and let the water heat up without being hit by the water.

Also I agree with others who have suggested a water softener.

No they’re not squidgy. They’re made of stone! Very thin. Not toe-stubable (not a real word but should be!)

OP, my lovely new bathroom is 3 years old. I still looks lovely (wall panels, all white, rain forest and microphone power shower, backlit mirror, heated towel rail), BUT it's a battle with the hard water (I asked about this upthread).

We squeeje the shower door glass and wall panels, and wipe down the chrome.
I also use Viakal on the wall panels and chrome, BUT the shower door rollers/runners are a mess. It's nearly impossible to keep these limescale free.
I am getting a water softener this year which will hopefully clear the existing build up as well as stop it getting it worse. A hinged door wouldn't have been so problematic.

Underfloor heating if an option! If not, one of those big towel radiators.

The stone mats make me think there must be all kinds of nasties growing in there - I prefer to be able to machine wash my bath mat.

IANAP but isn't this also to do with how you get your hot water? We have a conventional boiler so the hot water feeding the shower isn't impacted by someone running the taps.

Shelves,
hooks,
wall mounted mirrored cupboard,
radiator towel rail,
decent extractor fan that turns itself off after 5 mins
replaceable water softener packs that screw between the shower hose and shower box,
Shaver / toothbrush charging point
Wall hanging toilet and sink
Heated mirror

Is an extractor fan important if you have a window?

Definitely inserted niche in shower for shampoo etc, maybe 2 , his/hers
never get wet room style floor, always get a shower tray, speak from experience of leaks and every plumber we spoke to (and there were many!) said they would never have one at home. Can get lovely big shower trays and can sink them to be level
have access panels, previous bathroom (which leaked) was fully tiled, had to claim on insurance to retile whole bathroom to investigate. We now have bath panel where can get to shower and have got a loo that’s not built in. It is tempting to be slick but not worth it.
get biggest capacity extractor fan you can afford

A vanity toilet and sink unit. The surface space on the top is great for make up and hair stuff. Plus a light up mirror! We wanted it above the sink but couldn't move the window or the toilet plumbing so side ways had to do 😅

When we had the ground floor extension, we had installed a shower room and downstairs bedroom, with a view to living downstairs when we get too infirm for the stairs. We chose for the shower room:

1. An Aqualisa shower (and we already had a new boiler and a pressure vent system, so the water gushes out of the taps)
2. The controls for the shower are within reach, before we get in the shower, so we don’t have to stand under cold water to turn it on
3. A rain shower and hand held attachment
4. Underfloor heating
5. A dual fuel towel radiator, so we can turn on the electric in the summer
6. A non-slip shower tray, because the thought of slipping over bothers both of us, as we get older
7. A niche for the shampoos,etc
8. A heated backlit mirror
9. Two grab rails in the shower
10. A comfort toilet
11. Two drawers under the sink rather than a cupboard - much easier to access
12. Massive wall tiles with grey grout - we didn’t realise, actually they are floor tiles. So, very little grout to clean

The one thing I regret, is the plumber suggested a water softener and we said no! I was thinking in terms of drinking soft water, instead of limescale in the bathrooms!

You don't need an extractor fan if you have a window.
We had large tiles installed so that less grouting was used. I dry the tile and sealant area with a towel after every shower so even after six years the grouting still looks all right. It's a pain, but well worth it.
I wouldn't get a glass panel as it means yet more regular cleaning and the sealant area is prone to becoming mouldy. Use a plastic shower curtain (not a fabric one) and it's easy to either replace cheaply or put through your washing machine. Saves on lots of cleaning products.

Gosh too many to thank individually, but thank you all, some brilliant points!

water softener seems to be a recurring theme. I’d never really thought of one (we had one in a previous house years ago that was a bit of a pain with salt etc), but we do have awful limescale in all the toilets now you mention it- I have to citric acid them regularly as even Harpic doesn’t do the trick. And several shower/ bath mixer cartridges have totally seized up.

is a water softener a big job?

love the idea of shower wall niches, we have one in our en-suite, but don’t think it’ll be feasible in this room alas.

• If you’re getting a rainfall shower, ensure that you also have a height adjustable / angled shower so that you can still shower without getting your hair wet - a removable head also makes it easier to clean
• Underfloor heating and towel rail
• Plenty storage - drawers rather than cabinets
• Don't get black fittings as they don’t age well
• Be careful of gold / brass fittings as it is harder to get all the fixtures and accessories to match the colour
• If you can, have a walk in shower with a fixed screen and a low profile non slip shower base
• Large mirror with lights and demister panel included
• Don’t tile the whole room, just round the sink / shower using larger tiles
• Don’t use the plastic wet wall / shower panels - although easy to clean, they look cheap and will not stand the test of time
• Have the taps / controls / thermostat for the shower positioned opposite where the water comes out so that you don’t get wet / cold when turning shower on
• Have a recessed shelf built in the shower to fit products - ensure it is tall enough to fit large bottles and as wide as possible for all the products
• Try to get designs and quotes from several different companies before going ahead

Definitely an enclosed cubicle, we have one that is open at one end and it gets so cold and draughty at times, I struggle to see the logic.