Apartment renovation

Some_randomer

Hi all,

I'm getting my apartment renovated and I'm debating whether to do as much as I can myself then get different people in for different jobs (mostly tiling), or just hand it over to someone to do the whole lot. Here's what I'm planning to do:

- Re-tile the full bathroom (which is small). The guy that quoted me said he would tile over the existing tiles. Also put in new sink and taps and replace pumped shower with fully electric one.
- Fix holes in doors..3 of them have been damaged from previous tenants
- Paint full apartment...sitting room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, hall
- Replace window boards in each bedroom
- Replace all skirting boards

It's a standard 2 bed apartment, one medium size and one small bedroom with built in wardrobes (neither ensuite), kitchen, small bathroom.

I got a quote of 2.5k for the whole lot - does this seem reasonable? I know this is kind of a "how long is a piece of string" question but if I got some opinions I'd be grateful and hopefully the pics will give some idea of the size and what needs to be done. All opinions appreciated

Jimmy_M

Hi, New here been following DIY forum for a while...

Id say 2.5k is a good price. (I assume you have to provide materials too)
On the shower... I assume you're saying the old one was a unit on the wall that pumped hot water from your cylinder - i.e. it didnt heat the water. Make sure he does it right. Chances are that your old pumped shower used less power than the new shower. Make sure he uses 10 square cable for the new shower - the existing cable is probably not thick enough.

Some_randomer

Hi Jimmy thanks for your answer. The 2.5k quote includes everything...new sink, tiles, and all materials.

Re the shower you're correct...currently I have a pumped shower (Essentials brand) that just pumps hot water from the tank and the water needs to be preheated. What I'm hoping to do is put in a fully electric shower, e.g. Triton T90, and feed it from the cold water tank so that I don't need to preheat the water every night.

I was wondering if it's even possible to replace a pumped shower with a fully electric one? The wiring may not be correct or be in place at all. The guy that quoted the price said he would get a plumber to look at this as he wouldn't do it himself, so hopefully he gets someone that knows about wiring.

punisher5112

6square cable for shower but an electrician will have to wire it under new regs.
Higher square cable depending on distance from mcb board.

Jimmy_M

2500 sounds a good price to me (now i think again - it probably would be a bit steep if it didnt include materials)
The thickness of the cable also depends on what is on the other end - i.e. how much power the shower consumes. My shower is 9.5Kw and the electrician used 10 sq - the run was about 10-15m (3 bed semi - up from the fuseboard in the hallnear the front door, through the bedroom into the attic and back to the other end of the house on same side as fuse board).
As punisher says this should (by law) be carried out by a registered electrician, and you should get a cert at the end .... so as long as you get that you would hope that it has been done properly. There's been some talk on this subject on the electrical forum recently.
So to answer your question - its possible - but he needs an electrician instead of, or as well as, a plumber.

Sleeper12

Can I make a suggestion. Ask them to put in 10 mm cable & not 6mm no matter how short the run. It'll cost an extra €20 or so. Triton now recommend 10mm cable on all their showers. If you change the shower in 7 or 10 years time & you want to go for a higher kW shower, you won't be able to with 6mm.

slimjimmc

Some_randomer wrote: »

Hi all,
- Re-tile the full bathroom (which is small). The guy that quoted me said he would tile over the existing tiles. Also put in new sink and taps and replace pumped shower with fully electric one.

Personally I wouldn't be happy with this approach and if I was doing it in my gaff I would expect the old tiles to be removed.

• it depends on how secure the existing tiles are.
• the cold pipe to the toilet cistern looks close to the wall as it is
• you'd have a tacky looking grout line around the cistern with a gap at the top to allow the lid to come off.
• how would he seal around the bath?

I'd also consider tiling behind the shower, cistern and sink if plumbing permits, it gives a neater appearance imo.

650gs

You should never tile over tiles so to me seems like a chancer and cheap into the bargain then again you get what you pay for and your the one going to be looking at it for the next few years

Wabbit Ears

Tiling over tile is a horrible thing to do, Its pure and unrepentant bodgery BUT its generally done to save on the expense of having a tiler remove all the old tiles, scrape off all the old adhesive and smooth/fill the wall to leave a workable surface. This is several days work but worth it IMO. You can get in a general local Handyman or do it yourself for a lot less then the tiler would charge for this bit.

kfog

Most of this work is easily done if your any good at home diy (with the exception of the shower), but as said do not tile over existing tiles, make sure to remove the old ones. And leave the painting to last..

dodzy

650gs wrote: »

You should never tile over tiles so to me seems like a chancer and cheap into the bargain then again you get what you pay for and your the one going to be looking at it for the next few years

But you can, and in certain situations, it will work out fine. The tile surface is a perfect surface to receive adhesive. Obviously, there are other concerns such as floor height, window surrounds, cistern positioning etc, but far from impossible.

650gs

dodzy wrote: »

But you can, and in certain situations, it will work out fine. The tile surface is a perfect surface to receive adhesive. Obviously, there are other concerns such as floor height, window surrounds, cistern positioning etc, but far from impossible.

You can also go out drink all night and drive home, and in certain situations you will get home no bother.
Still not the right thing to do

Wabbit Ears

There really is no way to defend tile on tile beyond money saving bodgery.

dodzy

650gs wrote: »

You can also go out drink all night and drive home, and in certain situations you will get home no bother.
Still not the right thing to do

all due respect 650gs, but you are not comparing apples with apples

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

There really is no way to defend tile on tile beyond money saving bodgery.

Bodgery. Not. Money saving, most likely. Eitherway, this is a non-argument. Anyway, it is very possible, and definitely not something people on a budget should be concerned about.