ON SITE
Choosing the Bathrooms
The bathroom design will have been considered at the design stage to know where to locate the waste pipes. However specific sanitaryware, floor and wall finishes will have to be picked out, along with an overarching design style. Moving waste pipes would probably involve extending the waste pipe, and best avoided.
As with the kitchen visit at least three bathroom showrooms, and get three quotes for your finished design. As with kitchens you will get different advice and information from each supplier as well as a range of products to choose from. That said, as with everything there are trends in bathroom design so you may find very similar products.
If looking for something very unusual or bespoke there may be a need to look to mainland UK or further afield. There are many gadgets available here, including the popular Bluetooth mirrors, and shopping around should result in savings.
Buying from the same place may also yield discounts; end of line products and sales should also make a difference to the budget. Buying the taps and basic sanitaryware from a plumber’s merchant, as opposed to a bathroom company, may also reduce the cost but they will have no design expertise.
A thriftier approach will usually take longer to get the products you want but do make sure you do get what you do want. Buying products with a view to replacing them in a few years’ time will mean having to live with them every day, to your annoyance.
And because life happens, these are items you are unlikely to change until they are on their last legs. Bathrooms are notoriously messy to renovate.
Wall hung basins or toilets, whilst more expensive, are very practical from the point of view of cleaning underneath but these will require some forward planning. The waste pipe needs to be correctly located and provisions for the bracket, which the sanitaryware will be bolted onto, will need to be boxed in, probably by a joiner.
Tilers will often charge different rates for different tile sizes as large format tend to require more work. Always check with the tiler what materials you need to source (this will usually be the tiles, grout and adhesive but there may be others, although the tiles should have their own tools including mixing equipment) and what the rate is for the tiles you plan to install. Check with them before buying the tiles as they will have tips and advice for each type. The least cutting as possible is ideal; this is where wall hung sanitaryware also helps.
For a renovation project, check who will be dealing with demolition and removal of waste, and any preparatory work that needs to happen before the installation can start.
Read, Watch & Listen
Building the tin house
Choosing your sanitaryware
Bathroom Trends in 2022, Irene Quirke, SONAS Bathrooms
Bathroom tiles: design, cost and alternatives
Bathroom costs and sequence of works
Basic comforts
Plumbing your bathroom
How to waterproof your bathroom
Bathroom layouts and clearances
Choosing the style of your new bathroom
How much will your bathroom cost?
Bathroom – Paul O’Neill, SONAS Bathrooms
Planning your Perfect Bathroom – Richard Sloan, SONAS Bathrooms
Ep 27 – Bathroom Design
