Bathroom Renovation Process & Tips

Bathroom Renovation Process/Tips



Is 2020 the year you plan to renovate? Here are some tips on the process of renovating a bathroom from one of DY Plumbers own employees – and it’s in plain English!

Getting the finance is the first battle, then the fun begins.

Having already done our ensuite we knew what we wanted to do and a bit of an idea on colours. But that didn’t stop us having to shop for weeks on end with a 9yr old in tow. Oh the joys!

As the bathroom was going to be a bigger job than previous we decided to splurge on having someone manage the reno for us. Let them organise all the trades to turn up on time and get the job done as quickly as possible.

So off to the tile shops we went. Well who knew there were so many tiles to choose from. Even eliminating the colours we didn’t want still left us with plenty to choose from.Eventually picked the ones we wanted. Ordered. Done. Or so we thought. A week later a phone call to say they had the one colour for the walls but the floor tiles were in different shades and they didn’t have enough. Now, after the ensuite we know all about the "Shade” issue. Under no circumstances leave yourself short and have to order extra tiles, they may be the same tile but the shades are never the same in the next batch.

Knowing another tile shop (the one we got our ensuite tiles from and should have just stuck with them) had the same tiles for the walls we went back and chose floor tiles. Ordered. In stock and delivered all within 2 weeks. Phew.

You are probably wondering who we chose to do the job. Well after 3 quotes we chose the person we were most comfortable with and who actually listened to what we wanted. Was efficient in answering any question we had and came back with a quote similar to another. One thing that is always a must "Check a trade licence”. One of the quotes was very cheap and after wondering why we discovered they had no licence and had issues with fines from not having insurance on previous jobs. No wonder they were so cheap.

Next came the purchasing of the big ticket items. The vanity, bath, toilet, mirrored shaving cabinet. Then the smaller items, tapware, towel racks and loo roll holder. Thankfully the budget also allowed us a couple of luxury items, under floor heating, heated towel rack and an IXL (fan, light & heat light). No point spending all this money without also getting some nice power points and light switches. Let’s hope there is some budget left over for new towels!

Unless you have a decent size storage in your garage or elsewhere on your property it will be a bit trickier to tie in all the deliveries for when you need them, so keep in mind when ordering how long delivery times are and how long the supplier is willing to store the goods for you. Even though tiles are delivered on pallets flat, always store tiles standing up. If they are laying flat on the ground they have more chance of cracking with the pressure of stacking. Advice we got first time round and very grateful for.

Now the date is locked in to start and I’m off to clear out the old bathroom. Now where to store all those containers of shells from our holidays and the mountains of hair bands and scrunchies!? At least we have another bathroom to use – keep this in mind if you have only the one bathroom. Unless you are a camper you will need to hire a port-a-loo.

What happens next –

D Day – demolition – most people use a skip for this so think about location for skip for both ease of access to your property and whether close to neighbours property/access. Take photos before works commence, in particular the hallways near the work site and where trades will be moving through. As much as care is taken there are always knicks taken out of walls and if you only have small scrapes consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

a.Disconnect vanity and cistern.

b.Cap off water and waste in vanity, shower, bath.

c.Remove vanity.

d.Smash out pan.

e.Builder comes in removes tiles etc.

Plumbing/Electrical rough in / wall sheeting – Before walls are sheeted all plumbing and electrical placements are to be confirmed. Think about where and how high/low you want things located. It is also advisable to take photos before sheeting goes up so you know where pipes and electrical wires run. This is handy if you spring a leak in the future and a plumber needs to know which way pipes run (this happened in our ensuite less than 2yrs after completion) or if you are drilling into the walls/tiles after completion. If you are having a niche for the shower or bath they will also be built before sheeting goes up. If you have space to recess shower cabinet this can add space to the room. Have an electric toothbrush? Consider having a power point inside the shaving cabinet so you are always charged and ready to brush. This also frees up bench space.

Water proofing – in preparation for tiling. This can be rather strong smelling so if bathroom is near bedrooms you may want to keep doors closed and bathroom ventilated as much as possible. There will be two coats of water proofing with drying time overnight.

Screeding– tiler will do the screeding (mixture of sand and cement which builds the surface including the waste fall for the flooring). This needs to set before tiling.

Tiling begins – Make sure you confirm with tiler before beginning which way tiles will be running, especially if using rectangle tiles – do you want them vertical or horizontal. They will also ask you which grout colour you would like. Most have a pallet of colour for you to choose from.

Plumbing / electrical fit off – Make sure you are around for this day so you can have all items placed exactly where you want them. Think about who is using the bathroom and who needs to reach the towel rack or hook.

Shower screen installed. Top tip. If you have a sliding door going into the wall cavity behind shower make sure the door isn’t in the cavity where they will be drilling the holes for the shower screen clips. Otherwise, like us, you will have holes to fill in and repaint the door! The shower screen will generally be measured once tiles are in. Screens/panels can take up to 7 days to be made.

Bathroom Shopping Checklist

Tiles *1 for floor / walls / feature wall or niche tile

Tapware *2 – shower / bath / vanity – taps or mixers

Bath spout / shower rose & arm or shower rail

Bath / plug

Vanity – complete unit or separate basin & benchtop / plug

Shaving cabinet / mirror

Towel rails and toilet roll holder

Electrical fittings if you are supplying including any lighting / light switches /power points

Toilet suite – trap type / back to wall / in wall cistern / side or back inlet

Notes

*1Tiles – always make sure you have a box of tiles (floor and wall if using 2 types of tiles) leftover for any repairs in the future. Shades and textures change and whilst they may be similar they may need to replace a tile in an obvious position and will be noticeable if different shade.

*2Tapware comes in all different colours/shades. Be aware that not all fittings will be available depending on colour and supplier. If you require all fittings to be in matching colour research first to make sure you can acquire everything you need in the colour/shade you want. In particular, plug and waste are limited in colour range and toilets generally have chrome buttons. Like tiles, shades can also vary from store to store.

Trades required if you are organising yourself:-

Plumber

Builder / carpenter / gyprocker

Electrician

Water proofer

Tiler

Painter

Note: Some trades may multi task which will cut down on how many people you need to organise.

And don’t forget to check their Licence

https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/check-builder-or-tradesperson-licence

https://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/help-centre/online-tools/home-building-licence-check

Once bathroom completed check everything thoroughly. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and check on progress as the bathroom transforms. Better to catch an error before it is made or goes too far.

Now you can snap away and compare the before and after shots.

Oh and I got the new towels!