DIY bathroom renovation

P&L

Hello folks,
I need to fix up a knackered old bathroom (terraced house, ex-county council built estate - standard stuff)

Can anyone recommend a place (Meath / Dublin is OK) to buy all the bits and pieces, as a suite... anywhere doing good deals at the moment? or even better - someone with good reputation for quality at good prices and doesn't do 'half-price' sales every 3 months...

Whole thing won't be fancy finished, just low maintainance and easy to keep clean.

As for the DIY bit itself, this is a quick list of what I'm looking at... anyone with experience and knowledge in doing a little job like this before can give me a few tips and or advice on potential pitfalls / problems?

Need to replace all the furniture, fittings and piping.
Getting rid of the electric shower (I hate them)
New floor (old one has taken a lot of leaks and is fairly warped)
Possibly an extra layer of high-density plasterboard on one wall (for ...er extra sound insulation)
Mostly a tiled finish, not sure about the floor yet though.
New shower will just be a folding screen on the bath edge.

Thanks a million in advance

Fredser

Hi P&L,

Hope the following is of some use to you:

P&L wrote:

Hello folks,
Can anyone recommend a place (Meath / Dublin is OK) to buy all the bits and pieces, as a suite...

To buy as a suite B&Q have some half decent stuff at half-decent prices to take away.

You might consider what I have done in the past for rental properties. I have bought standard white good quality basins,pedestals,wc and cisterns from building suppliers/DIY sheds. These are keenly priced. I have then bought my standard white baths from the buy and sell!!

P&L wrote:

experience and knowledge in doing a little job like this

Emm :rolleyes: if this is your first time DIYing a bathroom refit I'm afraid you might NOT feel it so "little" once you get started!!

Anyway the rough plan of attack should be initially (I've DIY'ed about 10 of these)
1) Study the existing setup regarding hot/cold water pipes etc
2) Study the existing setup regarding waste pipes
3) Plan where your new suite will sit in the new setup
4) Make a list of the materials required, pipes,fittings etc (include blanks/stopcocks for the pipe-end so you can turn the water back on!!)
5) CAREFULLY and relatively gently remove the old suite
6) Examine the floor for stability and refloor/ply if required
7) Route your pipes
8) Tile the floor if its to be tiled at this stage
9) Go forth and fit!

This is a SUMMARISED sequence of events and might be missing a few bits but hopefully will give you an idea of what to do.

Have fun and lets know how it goes

Fredser

P&L

Thanks for the detailed reply Fredser, I should say that about 5 years ago I done year working on the buildings in Germany, basically renovating old buildings from bare walls and usually no floors or ceilings to ready-to-rent. I got some good experience of DIY from that, but only 'so much' of it can be applied to Irish techniques, materials, products etc etc.

B&Q really? I have to admit I've never looked inside because I imagined their prices are a little bit 'High-Street', only similar type shop I've ever looked in is Atlantic, and I honestly thought they were taking the pi$$ with their prices.

I was hoping for recommendation of builder supplier (I prefer giving my business to the smaller guys anyway), who tolerates the odd DIY'er, somewhere also that I'd likely get all in one stop, but I'm not averse to running around 4 or 5 places if it means good prices and good quality