Complete DIY bathroom renovation

2011

In a moment of madness I decided to completely renovate the main bathroom in my house. The original layout is very poor, with waste pipes run over the floor and very poor workmanship throughout. The plan for the new bathroom:
- Install the largest shower possible
- Make the room a wet room
- Minimalist look, clean lines and easy to clean. All drain pipes under the floor.
- Bright as possible
- Replace window with triple glazed unit
- Nice lighting
- Install fan in the shower cubicle for maximum benefit
- Design and make sink unit with stone counter top and storage underneath.
- With the exception of plastering do all of the work myself

2011

So this is the bathroom as it was:




....and here it is during the demolition phase:

2011

Next take down the plasterboard on all of the walls and first fix the plumbing. This allowed me to install the new plywood floor:




.... followed by the cement board shower tray. This required a bit of trimming to suit the space available. I did not want the shower tray to encroach on the window:




Then it was time to install the new triple glazed window. This cost me €420 and was quite heavy to install on my own. However access was easy so once in place it was simple enough to secure and foam around it:

2011

Requests flooded in from various interested parties. The boss decided that she wanted somewhere to put shampoo and shower bottles so I purchased a 1 piece cement board insert into he stud wall. Unfortunately the wall did not have sufficient depth so it had to be modified. This photo also shows the first fixing of the Hansgrohe shower unit. This was the single most expensive item at just over €800.



The next task was very labour intensive, slabbing. The 8 x 4 sheets of cement board are very heavy. My father despite being in his seventies help me measure, cut and put these in place. The cable at the top of this photo is for the extract fan. For safety reasons this is a 12 volt unit.

smelly sock

Good job. Best of luck with the project.

Dr_Colossus

Big project and not a bad looking bathroom to start with. I'm doing something similar to our ensuite but on a smaller scale which if anything can be more problematic. Had to take everything back to the joists/studs due to terrible workmanship on prior install. Big expensive 800x450 porcelain tiles dot dabbed to walls with leaking grout.

I'm presuming it's a first floor bathroom so what direction are your joists running as may not be possible to have the soil pipe under floor without extracting it directly behind the toilet and redesigning your soil stack completely.
In my case I lowered the waste pipe from previous shower tray under the floor and then reconnected it at a lower junction on the outside.

What kind of a design have you thought of for the shower wet room/drain, one of the shower tray formers with built in drain? I didn't trust them personally so raised the shower area a few cms building the preslope with a pan liner similar to what they do in US/Canada behind a kerb.

For the stone counter top I'd recommend Atelier Stone near the Walkingtown roundabout. I needed three smallish pieces for a shower seat, kerb and window sill and tried most suppliers including places that manufacture fireplaces and Atelier Stone had a better selection of quartz or granite and were a fraction of the cost and were great to deal with. I've recommended them a few times here since.

Good luck with the work and hope you don't run into as much problems as I have.

2011

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Had to take everything back to the joists/studs due to terrible workmanship on prior install.

Exactly the same as me.

Big expensive 800x450 porcelain tiles dot dabbed to walls with leaking grout.

I tanked the entire room. All joints are fixings to the cement board were first sealed with a Marmox sealing compound, then a water proof Marmox tape was applied, then tanking kit was painted over it. Photos of this later.

I'm presuming it's a first floor bathroom

Yes.

so what direction are your joists running as may not be possible to have the soil pipe under floor without extracting it directly behind the toilet and redesigning your soil stack completely.

Correct. I installed the toilet on the outside wall under the window. This allowed the soil pipe to go straight out.

In my case I lowered the waste pipe from previous shower tray under the floor and then reconnected it at a lower junction on the outside.

Exactly what I did.

What kind of a design have you thought of for the shower wet room/drain, one of the shower tray formers with built in drain?

The shower tray and drain are one piece. Made by Marmox, see link:

For the stone counter top I'd recommend Atelier Stone near the Walkingtown roundabout. I needed three smallish pieces for a shower seat, kerb and window sill and tried most suppliers including places that manufacture fireplaces and Atelier Stone had a better selection of quartz or granite and were a fraction of the cost and were great to deal with. I've recommended them a few times here since.

Done already, will post a picture later. I went for quartz in the end as it is nonporous so will not be susceptible to staining from shower gel etc...

Good luck with the work and hope you don't run into as much problems as I have.

Thanks!

Zebrano

Cool. Fair play.

Where did you buy the cement board and shower tray.
Thanks

Truthvader

Here' s a useful suggestion when tiling the shower leave a space for a mirror (or stick one over waterproof panelling)

Shave in the shower in warm comfort while saving time

blindside88

My bathroom is very similar, toilet and sink the opposite way around. My wife wants to do something like you’re doing so very interested. Best of luck OP, looking forward to seeing the end result

Great thread. Thanks for sharing. I’ve been thinking of gutting my bathroom and you’ve given me great ideas.

smelly sock

Truthvader wrote: »

Here' s a useful suggestion when tiling the shower leave a space for a mirror (or stick one over waterproof panelling)

Shave in the shower in warm comfort while saving time

But it'll fog up though?

2011

Zebrano wrote: »

Cool. Fair play.

Where did you buy the cement board and shower tray.

Shower tray and cement board insert was bought in Davies in Sallynoggin.

The cement boards for everything else was bought in Chadwicks.

martinr5232

2011 wrote:

Shower tray and cement board insert was bought in Davies in Sallynoggin.

Does that insert sit into the stud wall ??

2011

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Big project and not a bad looking bathroom to start with.

Maybe the photos don't show it but the bathroom was pretty horrible to start with. I did not like the tiles, especially the floor which were impossible to clean. The shower / bath combination just did not work and always resulted in water everywhere. Workmanship was very poor especially the boxing in of all waste pipes. Also the door opened into the bathroom resulting in less usable space. I decided to change it to opening out onto the large landing.







This is where the bath was:

2011

I had to replace all of the the leaking push fit connections for proper compression type fittings:



I had to lift a lot of the T & G flooring to first fix the piping. I could not lift all of the original flooring as the partition walls are supported by this flooring.



I had to rent a big Hilti drill to core out for the new waste pipes. This only cost €20 for the day:

Dr_Colossus

Well done, you know your onions and done the research. Are you in that kind of work earning a crust.

I never took pics of my starting point, regrettably this is the only one I have of it.

I was careful demolishing as thought initially I might be able to re-use most of the tiles as once I cut the grout I was able to lift a lot of them down off the walls. They were since dumped as couldn't source additions but I sold on the shower tray and enclosure.

2011

martinr5232 wrote: »

Does that insert sit into the stud wall ??

Exactly. As it is A factory made one piece unit there is no leak risk.

martinr5232

2011 wrote:

Exactly. As it is A factory made one piece unit there is no leak risk.

Thats grand ill be stsrting a project like yours shortly. Im just after ripping out the ensuite yesterday but its only a retile. Yours looks excellant fair play.

GolfNut33

Great work. I'm currently midway through my own bathroom project and you've given me an idea to start my own thread as I have tons of pictures. Thanks.

2011

GolfNut33 wrote: »

Great work.

Thanks!

So here we can see the slabbing started. Also the door is now hung on the other side and opens out. This required a new door frame but the same door was reused:



Slabbing looking in the other direction. As can be seen I have allowed for a recess on the right hand side for glass shelving:



.... and so the plastering begins. My other half’s brother is a plasterer. What a stroke of luck!

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Are you in that kind of work earning a crust.

No, I am a complete amateur. The only formal trade type training I have is that I am a time served electrician. Any other practical experience I have is self taught or asking others.

2011

As can be seen above the flooring was still plywood which is not good enough for a wet room. I had to fix cement board to the plywood with tile adhesive and weigh it down as it set. All joints are sealed with white Marmox sealant.



Next Marmox waterproof tape is applied.

2011

Next the bathroom is tanked. I had to apply a primer and then 3 coats of grey waterproof tanking paint. The shower tray has a 2% fall which I was assured is sufficient, however as this fall is so slight I was concerned so I elevated the floor slightly around the shower tray. I then ramped the sides with white coloured tile adhesive as can be seen.




In the above photo you can also see a sample of the tiles I selected for the shower tray and the glass shelving installed in the recess on the right hand side.

2011

Tiling of bathroom floor completed and ready for grouting:



Adhesive and temporary support installed for large mirror over sink:

2011

Wall tiling started. This was a slow process. Wall tiles cost €350 and the floor tiling cost €200. Adhesive, grout and trim was another €120.

On the right hand side you can see the new toilet. This "fully shrouded rimless" Roca toilet was on special offer in Davies for €420. I seemed to learn new terminology as I went.



I should have said earlier all piping was "made live" and tested before the floor was installed or slabbing commenced. I installed isolation valves on everything. This made life much easier.

As can be seen here my €15 lights (from eBay) are installed as well as the mirror. All lighting is automated thanks to Philips Hue (see discrete wireless presence detector over window).



I copied the black ceiling from Davies showroom.

maxamillius

Love it, fair play to you!

GolfNut33

Looking great, keep the pics coming.

Truthvader

smelly sock wrote: »

But it'll fog up though?

A bit but still well worth it. A quick spray with the shower clears the fog

2011

Tiling around the insert was very time consuming as many of the tiles had to be cut with a 4" grinder with a diamond tipped blade:



The trim was difficult to get right too but once the white grout was applied it looked really good.

Rows Grower

2011 wrote: »

Wall tiling started. This was a slow process. Wall tiles cost €350 and the floor tiling cost €200. Adhesive, grout and trim was another €120.

On the right hand side you can see the new toilet. This "fully shrouded rimless" Roca toilet was on special offer in Davies for €420. I seemed to learn new terminology as I went.



I should have said earlier all piping was "made live" and tested before the floor was installed or slabbing commenced. I installed isolation valves on everything. This made life much easier.

As can be seen here my €15 lights (from eBay) are installed as well as the mirror. All lighting is automated thanks to Philips Hue (see discrete wireless presence detector over window).



I copied the black ceiling from Davies showroom.

Loving your work and ideas, very tasty.

Klopp

Brilliant work, it looks fantastic. Great idea installing isolation valves on everything.

2011

The Hansgrohe shower unit concerned me as there were so many parts and no hard copy of the instructions! However I need not have worried, there was a QR code on the box and once I scanned this there was an excellent animation on youtube that provided very helpful instructions. The example below is very similar to the one I used, but not exactly the same.

A few tips for the "plumbers" from Durkan Residential that plumbed my house from a complete amateur that seems to have "out plumped" you:

1) Tighten all compression fittings fully with proper fitting spanners. These cost less than €25 for a descent set.
2) How about having a fall on waste pipes? This will help sinks drain! The long horizontal runs you installed in my home did not work very well.
3) When possible hide pipes within stud walls and under floors, it looks so much better.
4) Why not use a measuring tape and spirit level?
5) Install isolation valves on all taps.
6) Fix toilets securely!
7) Coordinate your work with the other trades. It is best to fit basin pedestals on top of the floor tiles.

2011

Installing the silky smooth mixer, I am very happy with this:





Ceiling mount shower head made from very solid stainless steel rather than chromed mild steel, a very high quality piece of kit:

2011

Glass wall installed, this was a 2 man job! Very easy to break as you can imagine:



Shower area almost completed!

Next bug task is the sink unit, it will go here:

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2011

Step 1, make basic cupboard unit. The holes are for the tap and the waste. In this picture you can see Tec7 on top as I am just about to fix the quartz counter top:

2011

Step 2, quartz (top and side), sink and tap fitted.

2011

Step 3, make and fit doors and shelves. Then paint.

Fantastic.

Dr_Colossus

Those porcelain mosaics for the shower floor sure are expensive, they looks to be the same as what I went with. Great workmanship throughout.

What type/make of grout did you use on floor and walls and did you give any consideration to epoxy grout especially when going with white colour.

listermint

Might be late now. But a heated mirror may attached to the back of that mirror will absolutely be excellent.

I put one on ours a few months ago. And it's night and day. No more wiping it if steam gets on it it's always clear when showering.


eBay heated mirror pads, all sorts of sizes.

garv123

Great job,

My upstairs ensuite is awful. Tiles are sticking out 3-4mm in places.

Id love to redo the lot and swap the door and shower position around, and use a much better room as the master bedroom. (no idea why they didn't do it originally)

Does making it a wet room make it much more expensive? our shower already leaked (upstairs) so I'd be worried about that happening if it was a wet room layout.

2011

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Those porcelain mosaics for the shower floor sure are expensive, they looks to be the same as what I went with. Great workmanship throughout.

Not that expensive. 1 m sq. was €100 at project.ie
They have a very impressive setup, everything is in stock so no waiting for an order. Also they sell all of the tools, provide great advice and you can negotiate on price.

They were not that hard to do. The blue tiles on the walls were far more difficult to work with. This was mainly because not of the the tiles were the same dimensions and many of them had a slight curve. Also I never imagined that cutting around the wall insert would be so time consuming.

What type/make of grout did you use on floor and walls and did you give any consideration to epoxy grout especially when going with white colour.

Flexible grout, can’t remember the make but I got it in project.ie

I don’t think the white grout was epoxy but it is anti-mould. So far more than 6 months on only very slight discoloration at low level in the shower.

2011

garv123 wrote: »

Does making it a wet room make it much more expensive?

If done properly it will cost more but it is a much better job in my opinion.

our shower already leaked (upstairs) so I'd be worried about that happening if it was a wet room layout.

Again if done properly you won’t have an issue.
Properly means:
- Use cement board on all of the floor, all of the shower walls and well beyond.
- Minimize penetrations through cement board. My advice:Seal every penetration will correct sealant, waterproof take and tanking kit. I managed to stick the cement board to the plywood on the floor with adhesive so no penetrations at all.
- Minimize the amount of joins in the cement board and seal all as described above. Larger 8 x 4 sheets can help with this.
- Support cement board really well. This can be achieved with additional battens and plywood.
- Ensure that the shower drain lint is the lowest point the the room. Consider having the entire room self draining to that point.

A few things to consider:
1) Cement board has a high U value so provides great insulation.
2) Anywhere cement board is not used moisture proof (colored green) plasterboard should be used. An example would be the ceiling.
3) The wet room is 100% waterproof before the tiles are applied if done correctly.
4) Your ladder will damage a cement board floor so take precautions such as spread the load with plywood.

Dr_Colossus

2011 wrote: »

Not that expensive. 1 m sq. was €100 at project.ie
They have a very impressive setup, everything is in stock so no waiting for an order. Also they sell all of the tools, provide great advice and you can negotiate on price.

They were not that hard to do. The blue tiles on the walls were far more difficult to work with. This was mainly because not of the the tiles were the same dimensions and many of them had a slight curve. Also I never imagined that cutting around the wall insert would be so time consuming.




Flexible grout, can’t remember the make but I got it in project.ie

I don’t think the white grout was epoxy but it is anti-mould. So far more than 6 months on only very slight discoloration at low level in the shower.

Ah yes, was into them a while back as they were recommended by a few other suppliers and they were stockists of Ardex adhesives and grouts. They also stock Dunlop. They've a lovely establishment and good customer service.

In my case I was looking to use epoxy grout especially on the floor given previous experience but it's remarkably difficult regardless of make to source in Ireland. Project Tile didn't have the Ardex EG8 epoxy in stock but were able to order it at an eye watering €143 per 4kg tub. Other Irish suppliers were even more expensive. I spoke to a number of suppliers and tilers and no one uses it here as it's apparently a lot more difficult to work with and cost/wastage is a major concern.

Ush1

Looks great, fair play.

I'm getting a bathroom renovation done myself and the plumber was fairly opposed to an open-side on the shower like you have. Now we are using a shower tray so that could be the difference but his issue was that water will be splashing on the tiles all over beyond the shower area and cause issues.

In the end we got a glass enclosure with a door instead of the open style.

2011

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Project Tile didn't have the Ardex EG8 epoxy in stock but were able to order it at an eye watering €143 per 4kg tub.

From memory I paid €30ish for enough to do all of the white grout with plenty left over.

I spoke to a number of suppliers and tilers and no one uses it here as it's apparently a lot more difficult to work with and cost/wastage is a major concern.

The grout I used like the adhesive is the flexible type and is very easy to use.

2011

Ush1 wrote: »

I'm getting a bathroom renovation done myself and the plumber was fairly opposed to an open-side on the shower like you have.

In my experience sooner or later doors break, always!

Now we are using a shower tray so that could be the difference but his issue was that water will be splashing on the tiles all over beyond the shower area and cause issues.

I put a mat on the ground. It soaks up splashes which are not that many due to the size of the shower and the fact that the water comes straight down from the ceiling mounted head rather than from a wall mounted shower head.

Anyway the idea of the wet room was that it could cope with water everywhere

thomas anderson.

You've done a savage job in fairness

My ONLY gripe is the white plastic extractor cover. I was in a local hardware shop last weekend and they had these cool flat chrome ones, that just looked like a plate, the vents were hidden around the back of it.

Other than that ......

2011

thomas anderson. wrote: »

My ONLY gripe is the white plastic extractor cover.

Yes, I see your point.
However there are a few things I have not got around to saying in this thread....Like total cost and issues I had (more of that later).

Regarding cost:
Labor cost was exactly €0, so far so good.
Materials cost me around €6,500 :eek:

This included:
Shower unit about €850
Toilet €420
Large mirror & 2 toughened glass shelves €160
Quartz counter top & side €350
Triple glazed window €420
Tap €120
Sink €80
Cement board shower tray €180
+ lots and lots of other things.....

I also had to redo all of the waste pipes outside for this bathroom and the en suite. So 2 toilet wastes, 2 sink wastes and one shower waste.

So when it came to the fan I reused one from the en suite which I am doing up at present (for another thread). This is a high quality (admittedly ugly) 12V Vortice unit that is specially designed to be safely installed in a shower cubicle (due to the voltage rating). They cost around €120 for the fan unit and the transformer. I had run out of money! Eventually I intend to replace it with something more aesthetically pleasing.

I was in a local hardware shop last weekend and they had these cool flat chrome ones, that just looked like a plate, the vents were hidden around the back of it.

This sounds nice, but it is most likely mains voltage, as such not suitable for use in the shower cubicle. Although I am not a qualified plumber, tiler or builder I am a qualified electrician and electrical engineer, so it is the only area I have some formal training in Anyway I accept your point, the fan looks cr@p.

listermint

That's extremely pricey. Are you sure it's come to that money ?

I redid ours last year full tear out. Cost around 2.5k labour free.

2011

listermint wrote: »

That's extremely pricey. Are you sure it's come to that money ?

Not completely sure to be honest. But even from the prices above you can see how it is adding up. What I listed there around your €2,500