Wednesday October 25, 2006

A new bathroom

After having replaced the bathroom when we moved in over ten years ago and doing it on the cheap we decided to give it a second makeover. The separate toilet was also upgraded. Most of the work was done while we were on holiday to save us any inconvenience of not having a shower/bath etc. Here are a few tips/ideas for you. I apologise for the bad picture above I had no idea how hard it was to take a decent picture of one of the snallest rooms in the house!

We really like the floor arrangement tilers call it diamond pattern. It uses a few more tiles and it is more work for your builder. But we think it makes the room look bigger and a nice contrast to the wall tiles.

If you have a towel rail heated by your central heating it will be cold in the summer. So the one we got has its own element in it to heat the rail up. On reflection we think we should have installed a wider rail, we had the room. to do so.

We made the decision on the shower ages ago and plumped for a Aqualisa Quartz which we have used when we stayed in pubs/hotels over the last few months. It really is a very good shower and I like the boost button for that extra burst of water. The shower has a neat feature its on light flashes and then stays on when the water is at the temperature you set it.

The new materials baths can be made out of nowadays are really sturdy and attractive. We went for a white bath made by Bette.

We decided we wanted a clutter free room. Given the small amount of store room the basin and accompanying base would provide we went for a long thin mirror covered cabinet for the other bits. The basin base has a very thick surface which is bonded onto the wood and not just a thin laminate which will peel off after time.

Lighting can make a bathroom , so we went for recessed spot bulbs. As above the bathroom is the loft they were easy to install and hopefully maintain. Do make sure you install smoke hoods over them - if you have an existing installation of these lights they could prevent a nasty fire as they run hot. You must keep the area around them clear of anything else you can have fiery problems...

We had problems with the taps as we had ordered high pressure ones and our water system is not pumped. So do make sure you buy the right type for your water system.

We decided to have the taps at the other end of the bath so they are not under the shower. We found over time that they got a lot of scale on them from dripping shower heads. I also like the idea of lying in the bath looking out of the window which is frosted of course.

We had the whole room tiled. We had been told it would make the room seem smaller but we think the reverse effect has happened. It also will be a lot easier to maintain and keep clean.

Apart from the towel rail size the only thing I would consider now - and its easy to fit now is an extractor fan. So we are very pleased.