A Journey in Taps and Tiles

The saga of a new bathroom 

Roughly two years ago the decision was made to update our bathroom. There was no rush, nothing was broken, apart from a bit of the shower  but that didn't cause any problems. As a result, the idea was in place but nothing much happened, except for some browsing through bathroom articles in home style magazines.

We have quite a large bathroom, so one idea was that it would be split into an en-suite and a bathroom.  This would mean that fitted wardrobes that we had installed would have to be removed and the resulting two rooms would become a bit small.  Decision - No.

The old bathroom was quite grand in design, with a large Jacuzzi bath placed on a plinth.  This was not very practical.  To use the jets the water level must be above the top of the jets.  To fill the bath to this level took so much water that it was running cold before the bath was full enough!  Also, if you just wanted to relax in the bath, without bubbles, there wasn't anywhere to lie that didn't mean having an uncomfortable jet jutting into your back. We took to showering most of the time.

Large Jacuzzi bath

January 2016 came along and the intention was that THE job for the year would be the new bathroom. Bathroom showrooms were visited and a vast quantity of brochures collected.  A number of the bathroom companies kindly offered to provide designs and quotes. These varied wildly in price, one ended up over £20,000...

Built-in cupboards were designed, bath / shower/ basin / toilet were displayed in lots of different combinations. One company wanted us to position the bath directly in front of the window.  So anyone walking by would be able to see us! No.

Eventually we were recommended a company in Macclesfield who didn't try to force odd designs on us and simply gave sound advice.  We decided to go ahead with them and use their recommended plumber.  Now, the problem with a good plumber is getting a date from them to start the work.  We had decided on the design and products in November but couldn't get a date for the work until the middle of February 2017!  The estimate was that it would take a week to ten days to complete the work.  

As it is my birthday on 14th February I decided to take the week off so I could be involved in the work and be on site for any decisions that would be needed.

The first problem became apparent when we asked the company providing the flooring to deliver it for mid February.  The design we had selected would not be available in time so we could either delay the work or choose another floor.

We decided to choose another design, similar but a different shade, however this would not go as well with the tiles we had selected.  Another selection was made for the tiles.

I started my week off, but the plumber ran over on a previous job so didn't turn up on the first day.  On the second day (my birthday) he turned up with his mate and started smashing the place to bits! The following day he had a problem with his van so had to sort that out. By the end of that week not much had been achieved apart from a lot of dust and we were having to wash in the kitchen or the very small basin in the utility room. Luckily we had another toilet!

The bathroom on my birthday!

The bulk of the preparation work (floor, walls) was done when I was back at work.  One interesting find was that the original outside wall of the property (it dates from the 1800s) was uncovered behind a stud wall.

Original outside wall from the 1800s

I had a call from my husband to say that the plumber needed to go and buy more tiles because there weren't enough.  This seemed odd, but when I returned home that evening the reason was clear.  The design had been for a half tiled wall behind the bath with a large mirror above it.  When I walked in the bathroom the first thing I saw was a fully tiled wall where the bath would be! However, we decided it could stay because it did look good.

Fully tiled wall

When the bath arrived we were told that the taps we had selected had a manufacturing problem so we had to choose some others.  These wouldn't match the basin taps... Oh, well, never mind.

Shower being installed

The next problem was when the flooring man called to say he wouldn't be coming to do the work the following day, in fact he wouldn't be coming at all! He was too busy.  At this point the plumber had quite a job on his hands trying to get someone else who could do the work at short notice.  

A week later we had a visit from someone who could put the floor down, but he couldn't start until the following week, plus - he recommended we remove the bath and toilet that had been installed so he could put the floor under them - so the plumber had to come back and take out these items - leaving the toilet in the middle of my son's bedroom! (luckily he wasn't at home).

Finally all the work was done.  Simon, the plumber, did a great job. In total the work took four weeks.  I'm very pleased with the result and have learnt a valuable lesson - not to expect too much, not to get frustrated by delays and not to be too precious with my choices.  After all it is only a bathroom...

Finished bathroom

The company we used was Kitchen and Bath Roomers Ltd in Macclefield and their web address is:

http://kitchenandbathroomers.co.uk/

We used Vitra sanitaryware and a BC Designs bath. The floor is by Polyflor and the shower is by Ideal Standard.

Links:
http://vitraglobal.com/
www.bcdesigns.co.uk
http://www.polyflor.com/jh/web.nsf/home
http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk/home.html