Bathrooms in Ireland vs. Germany?

miezekatze

Hello,

This is probably a bit of a stupid question, but I'd just like to make sure.

We're in the process of buying a house in Dublin and the bathroom will need to be redone. We'd like to replace the bathtub with a decent size shower as well and possibly move it around a little bit. My dad is great at DIY and has done a couple of bathrooms in Germany (tiling & plumbing), and he offered to come over and do ours if we get all the stuff ready for him. I was just wondering if anyone here knows if there are any significant differences between the way an Irish bathroom would be plumbed and the way it's done in Germany, different materials etc.? Is there anything we need to watch out for?

recipio

miezekatze wrote: »

Hello,

This is probably a bit of a stupid question, but I'd just like to make sure.

We're in the process of buying a house in Dublin and the bathroom will need to be redone. We'd like to replace the bathtub with a decent size shower as well and possibly move it around a little bit. My dad is great at DIY and has done a couple of bathrooms in Germany (tiling & plumbing), and he offered to come over and do ours if we get all the stuff ready for him. I was just wondering if anyone here knows if there are any significant differences between the way an Irish bathroom would be plumbed and the way it's done in Germany, different materials etc.? Is there anything we need to watch out for?

I'm no plumber but I know the pipe sizes are different eg 13mm instead of 1/2" However most suppliers are clued in and the correct adapters are available. Best to ask your Dad which units he wants to use. ?

Alun

One thing that might have an impact is water pressure. In Germany (and as far as I know every European country except the UK and Ireland) cold water throughout the house is at mains pressure whereas here, for reasons that I'm not entirely clear about, they only feed the kitchen tap with mains pressure and everywhere else is fed from an attic tank.

BobLeeSwagger

Alun wrote: »

One thing that might have an impact is water pressure. In Germany (and as far as I know every European country except the UK and Ireland) cold water throughout the house is at mains pressure whereas here, for reasons that I'm not entirely clear about, they only feed the kitchen tap with mains pressure and everywhere else is fed from an attic tank.

I don't know how your house is plumbed but any house I've been in has mains water cold feed to all cold taps and dishwashers/washing machines and mains fed showers (T80 etc).

miezekatze

Thanks for your replies - we've since decided to get the bathroom done by a local builder instead as there do seem to be a few differences.

Regarding the water pressure - I have noticed that too in houses here, and our house is like that as well: mains pressure on the kitchen tap and everything else is fed from the attic tank. I don't really get it either.

BenEadir

miezekatze wrote: »

Regarding the water pressure - I have noticed that too in houses here, and our house is like that as well: mains pressure on the kitchen tap and everything else is fed from the attic tank. I don't really get it either.

Hi, my house is the same and its really annoying as the pressure from the attic tank is very low resulting in a very weak flow of water from the bathroom taps and the toilet cisterns take forever to fill.

Is it possible to install some sort of booster pump with an adjustable output so the pressure could be set to something more practicable?

Ben

Mr Jake

miezekatze wrote: »

Hello,

This is probably a bit of a stupid question, but I'd just like to make sure.

We're in the process of buying a house in Dublin and the bathroom will need to be redone. We'd like to replace the bathtub with a decent size shower as well and possibly move it around a little bit. My dad is great at DIY and has done a couple of bathrooms in Germany (tiling & plumbing), and he offered to come over and do ours if we get all the stuff ready for him. I was just wondering if anyone here knows if there are any significant differences between the way an Irish bathroom would be plumbed and the way it's done in Germany, different materials etc.? Is there anything we need to watch out for?

The out pipe for the German jacks is a lot larger due to te heavy meat element of diets in Germany and the results on the poopie doops

miezekatze

BenThere wrote: »

Hi, my house is the same and its really annoying as the pressure from the attic tank is very low resulting in a very weak flow of water from the bathroom taps and the toilet cisterns take forever to fill.

Is it possible to install some sort of booster pump with an adjustable output so the pressure could be set to something more practicable?

Ben

Yeah of course, we will get one of those installed too. They can be quite noisy though.

Alun

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

I don't know how your house is plumbed but any house I've been in has mains water cold feed to all cold taps and dishwashers/washing machines and mains fed showers (T80 etc).

That's odd, because I have exactly the opposite experience both here and in the UK. I thought there was some regulation here about having to have a cold water tank for some bizarre reason.

BobLeeSwagger

Alun wrote: »

That's odd, because I have exactly the opposite experience both here and in the UK. I thought there was some regulation here about having to have a cold water tank for some bizarre reason.

Perhaps its different in every house just in our home house and the one I'm in at the minute they have mains pressure around all the cold taps.

slimjimmc

BobLeeSwagger wrote: »

Perhaps its different in every house just in our home house and the one I'm in at the minute they have mains pressure around all the cold taps.

That would be a fairly rare thing in Ireland imo, gravity fed seems to be the norm in pre-celtic tiger houses anyway.

onedmc

Very rare in Ireland to have mains in all the house usually only in the kitchen. I actually think that may be a mistake.

The local authority don't guarantee a mains pressure in Ireland like they do in most other countries so a water tank is used to provide a consistent pressure.

I figure that this is historical and that a fluctuating pressure resulted in leaks.

onedmc

Back on topic the Europeans use flexipipes to plumb the faucets. These have only arrived in Ireland in the last couple of years. Way easier to plumb different sizes to the uk but interchangers are commonly available.

We of course used to use single taps for hot and cold. But that has changed and we use the combo.

BobLeeSwagger

The flexi pipes are a great idea but the flow is majorly restricted in them by the small bore, even in the 3/4" pipe. really need good pressure in your house but they do make things a whole lot easier.