Bathroom project - Work in progress

[davemul]

Apologies mods of this needs to go elsewhere.. please feel free to move it or bin it!

Riiiight.. here goes....

We've been in our first house nearly 2 years now. We've (well ... more like I'VE!) done everything else bar the bathroom. It's an old 1800's cottage so the bathroom was in a pretty bad way. Solidly built but nasty and OLD!

I decided a few weeks ago to RIP it out and start from the beginning.

First task was to move the hot water cylinder from in the bathroom to a new cupboard outside the room (thanks to Scruff from ultimatehandyman.co.uk for the advice!)

Now you see it...

Now you dont!

Ive taken quite a lot out..

CARNAGE

Well, I picked up a load of bits today..

Marmox goods and tiles!

New shower pump for the house too

Also have taken delivery of a taptile wireless light switch system Taptile - Ditch the switch one-touch mood lighting and dimming solutions for the bathroom and kitchen

6 astro glass downlights

an airflow icon15 extractor fan

and some Polk RC60i ceiling speakers

and a couple of remote water isolation switches about surestop

More bits arrive tomorrow.. i'll update this thread as I go along... im taking next week off to start the plumbing and install!

 

[macten]

Looking forward to seeing the progress Dave. Nothing like doing it all yourself.
Especially good when it's your own home as all those little problems you come across are treated as a
challenge and satisfying when overcome whereas on a paid job they are just a PITA

 

[Brian the Tile]

looking good

 

[davemul]

Few more bits arrived today, a few boxes from Grohe

concealed cistern

concealed fixed shower head

some taps for the basin

and the most expensive toilet flush ever.. dont ask me WHY! I just thought a flush button with a light ring would be cool!

Oh and the dry deck 20 pump system turned up. Gravity drainage would be a bit of a prob so I thought id get it all pumped away. Kit looks pretty good. Very smart stuff check out the website The New Dry-Deck 20 from Pump Technology

 

[Rich]

Brilliant! Keep us posted, we love threads like these


And of course and questions, just ask :smilewinkgrin:

 

[davemul]

Thanks rich! Got a few q's going in the wet room

 

[davemul]

Woohoo,bath has arrived.

I also did a bit of boxing out in the downstairs cloakroom ready to tile/fit concealed cistern loo/sink

AND.. I decided to tile the kitchen! First ever time tiling a wall... not too bad I hope!

absolute nightmare as no walls were straight! im just about to finish the window surround today, then i'll grout in a few days once fully dry!

 

[Bolter]

Subscribing to this thread..........now! 🙂

 

[davemul]

Few more niggly things done.. kitchen is fully tiled now, no pics as need to grout it all.

 

[PHG Dave]

Hi Davemul,

Nice project, curious as to what shower tray former you are using. Have you put it straight onto joists?

 

[davemul]

Hiya.. Marmox showerstone. Direct to joists but with support tray for the gully hole

 

[PHG Dave]

Good one..
I was slightly concerned when i saw the pic of the underside of the tray with the cut-out for the pipe that it might of been foam cored as per the Showerlay tray and would need full support.
Look forward to seeing the ongoing pics

 

[davemul]

Started to plumb the shower pump and flow sensors for the dry deck today. Better not leak!

did some plumbing for the shower mixer and some electrics also... more pics tomorrow

this bathroom lark is stressful!

 

[One Day]

Have to say I'm impressed with the plumbing!
Do you opt for push fit over soldering for the same reason I do: insurance?!

 

[davemul]

Pushfit for ease in my situation. I'm only using compression where its a last resort and im no plumber so am not going near solder! 🙂

Only problem is copper pushfits are so expensive! I reckon ive spent £800 in fittings and pipe alone so far!

 

[One Day]

I either use a local plumbers merchant for speedfix (plastic) or B&Q trade section if I am out of town for similar prices.
I use speedfix on copper pipe - I'm NO plumber either, but I'm insured and I know what I'm doing - kind of!

(Those copper pushfit are about four times the price of speedfix at a merchants)

 

[davemul]

Riiighty ho.... Today I have been a proper bender!



Pipe bender that is!

Shower mixer/thermostat hot and colds are fully plumbed from the new pump

Shower head fitting is also plumbed

Tomorrow i'll route the pipework for the bath taps, cap them off and then turn the water on and try and fix all the leaks!

bit concerned with the shower mixer but I used a good few loops of gas ptfe tape on the screw in unions and they went in pretty tight so fingers crossed!

and the mess that is my desk.. where I try to work things for this damn bathroom out! oh and ask questions to you kind folk on here of course!

 

[davemul]

Finally, all the plumbing / re routing is finished. It's all tested too. Shower turns pump on, no leaks anywhere (touches wood)


Pipes done, just sorting some extra wiring / tidying up the old stuff too. Previous installer had it running everywhere and not clipped anywhere!


insulated the hot water pipes too. Have left the cold and shower waste pipes. Had to add a few noggins to support the edges of where the plywood will meet and the perimeter of the marmox wet room tray

Next I layed some insulation in between the joists. Not over any cables now they have been tidied up and clipped to the joists. HOW ITCHY! very itchy!

Started to prime the underside and edges of the WBP ready to lay

WBP now fixed. Every 150 centres. Used a lot of screws!

Most of the electrics now in, apart from some final clipping, I should be ready to test / set up the dry deck once ive fixed the wet room tray/gulley. Added a light in the cupboard aswell that comes on when door opens as it was getting dark in there!

next step.. laying the marmox boards and tanking!

 

[Bolter]

Good work Dave!

 

[davemul]

Now i'm no carpenter and it shows, but I made the concealed cistern frame today

 

[Mike]

nice work, i'd lag that toilet wall with rockwool for sound proofing before boarding it

 

[davemul]

Thanks Mike. Its hard to see but its all insulated behind that one peice of plywood. I have 2 big rolls ready for when I board the walls 🙂

 

[Mike]

all done to the book, nice to see. do it properly, do it once!

 

[davemul]

Time to fit the Marmox showerstone tray..... and tiled gulley for pumped waste

 

[davemul]

Fixed the entrance by replacing knackered boards with 18mm ply.. the fein has been a lifesaver during this project!

Also measured and cut the marmox backer boards. Just need to mark where the pipes/cables are then its adhesive time!

 

[tfs]

No expense spared on this job by the looks of it mate!

Good work

 

[davemul]

Thanks mate

just finished sticking down the boards and screwing... PHEW is all I can say. Went pretty well. Just letting things dry.

Might change career the way i'm going! 🙂

 

[Bathfix Bob]

Hi Dave, nice job mate. I cant wait to see pics when its done, I'm especially looking forward to seeing the glowing toilet flush button.

Grohe gear is top notch but damn expensive, worth the money though.

Is the bath mixer fed from unbalanced feeds? eg cold from mains and gravity hot, if so dont forget the non return valve on the hot to prevent cold entering the hot water system, which it will because of the higher cold pressure. It will push hot water back into the cylinder and back up into the loft tank and then pour out of the overflow. Granted it will only do this when your using hot and cold together, or if it develops an internal fault.

Many a young plumber has been caught out with that one, they keep replacing ballvalve washers but cant understand why the tank keeps filling!

Make sure you use the low pressure flap type or it will restrict the flow. Get them from BES Plumbing.


Plumbing Supplies | BES Gas & Plumbing Fittings Part 7463

 

[davemul]

Hi Bob, thanks mate 🙂

Cold feed to the bath is from the water tank in the loft (which then goes on to feed the pump then on to the shower). Hot water cylinder is also fed from a tank in the loft too mate.

Sound ok?

 

[davemul]

oh and i bet you are all TOTALLY fed up of pictures of the floor, so the last ones for the time being. All stuck down with SPF and screwed with washers as I went along. Also Sealant in between each board. Will tape then paint with mapegum later.

 

[Mike]

are you starting on the walls now? i'd leave the floor now till last to prevent dirtying or damaging it