Brand new small bathroom - any advice

[kiwilassee]

Hi all,

We're completely redoing our bathroom in a 3brm 1981 wooden framed A Frame (bathroom is downstairs).

Just looking at any advice for new bathrooms. It's a very small room - 182cm x 246cm.

A couple of points...
- hubby really against tiled shower as so many problems with tiles leaking etc. so prefer an enclosed shower
- would really, really like a bath
- the rest of the house isn't that 'modern' so although we do want to modernise it, we don't want to make it too 'trendy' so that it looks ridiculous in the rest of the house (although we are slowly modernising the rest of the house).

Thanks, in anticipation... :-)

[Davo36]

Are those Complete Bathrooms guys any good? They seem to manage the whole process. Advertise a lot but no idea if they are any good. But what you could do is ring them and get them around to see if they have any good ideas.

[td91]

You would probably have to go with a shower over bath option, a small toilet and a small vanity. Paint the walls a neutral colour, put in an extractor fan with heat lamp and either put vinyl or tiles on the floor. Otherwise you could just scrap the bath and put an enclosed shower and do the other things I have suggested above.

Hope this helps.

[jimO]

tiled showers dont leak if they are done properly

[Glizzle]

Jimo is right they only leak when people fail to maintain the tiles/grout. Correctly done membraning would give you far better moisture protection then a shower box.

[Gladdynook]

tiled showers are a right pain to clean. I'd have one in my own home at a push, but never in a rental.

[Glizzle]

never in a rental.

Quoted for truth

[jimO]

tiled showers are a right pain to clean. I'd have one in my own home at a push, but never in a rental.

good quality porcelain tile and epoxy grout, no problermo keeping it clean

[Leftette]

sub-floor needs to be angled towards drainage if tiled. Well doesn't NEED to, but should be.

[kiwilassee]

Thanks Davo36 - hadn't thought about getting folk in to quote... would feel a bit bad as we would have no intention of going with them (Father-in-law is electrician and hubby and FIL are very handy and can do plumbing, would just get tiler in) so would just be 'using' them and wasting their time... will have a think to see if I can stretch my morals to allow it! ;-)

td91 - forgot to mention that the toilet is in a separate room next door. Quite keen to keep them separate as always thought defecating where you cleaned yourself and brushed your teeth was a bit wrong!

Thoughts so far were a Calais corner shower (with sliding doors) and Methven tapware. Rip everything out, new aqauline jib, tile the floor and half way up the wall, paint top half and ceiling (with the special bathroom paint). And yes, one of those heat lamp / extractor fan combos in the ceiling.

Anyone got any thoughts on or experience with the shower domes? Do they look awful? Do they work?

Colour scheme thoughts: charcoal floor tiles, lighter grey wall tiles (half way), white (with hint of grey) wall paint, white ceiling paint. Darker at floor, getting lighter going up. I heard this would make space look bigger.

We were thinking of polished tiles as were told they were 'easy to clean' and 'hygienic' but had a friend say they were a nightmare. Had to buy a steam mop and even then, you could still see streaks from the mop and she felt it never looked clean. Any thoughts on polished tiles v matt tiles?

So Leftette - if we tiled floor, we have to put floor drainage in? Is that what you're saying? I hadn't thought of that...

Thanks everyone?

[Scave]

With regards to getting ideas out of Complete Bathrooms - you could just try their showroom. They otherwise don't give you much unless you pay a deposit.

You may be interested in 'semi-polished' tiles for the floor. They look good, don't show water marks and aren't slippery.

[Glizzle]

sub-floor needs to be angled towards drainage if tiled. Well doesn't NEED to, but should be.

You can actually buy a premade shower pan for tiling, these are angled to the drain and easy to membrane over then tile, very little hassle compared to older methods.

[kiwilassee]

Also, we did our measurements last night and we can have 700mm x 1670mm bath, 460mm x 750mm vanity and 1010mm x 1010mm corner shower and then have 2.4m2 of floor space. Two adults could fit in it, but would have to shuffle around each other.

Is 2.4m2 floor space enough?

[Gladdynook]

i was told the other day by a licensed builder, that if you have a tiled shower, then the floor MUST be tanalised ply (or concrete). He said he'd have to remove the 60 year old tawa tongue and groove, and lay ply in its place. At that point i cancelled my visit to the council..

[Bob Kane]

tiled showers are a right pain to clean. I'd have one in my own home at a push, but never in a rental.

Don't use soap as in a cake of soap.
Use a shower gel/body soap/liquid in a bottle - it doesn't leave a scum like a cake of soap does.