Bathroom project

[JP_]

Next project started today. Turning a box room (2.36m square) into a bathroom.
1930s bungalow, solid 9 inch external brick walls, internal brick walls, suspended wood floor.

Started lifting floorboards and removed some skirting. Usual: rotten joists, rotten skirting boards, blocked air bricks, radiator pipes with no insulation, and about an inch of dirt. Need to replace 2 joists nearest the external wall, and some of the sleeper wall timbers (looks like they have been replaced once before!). There is no air brick in this room (totally covered externally) so I will have 2 new added when the drainage is done.

Plan is to move the radiator to the wall on the right, next to the door. Brick up the lower part of the window, replace top with new frosted window. Toilet on left wall next to external wall, basin below the window, shower in the left corner.

Ideally, the toilet will go right above where the 2nd joist and mains water pipe is, but I guess it will have to go a left between the joists. There is a WC in the room behind this wall (which will be removed) so hoping I can attach the drainage. But, got a shower waste dilemma - want a low level shower tray... thinking of cutting the ends of the joists and using large ply sheets for flooring, so the shower waste can run along the edge to the external wall.

This is the rough plan....

The radiator pipes are in the perfect place to be cut and have a new rad fitted to the right. There is also only one electric socket, which is spurred from the back of the socket in the hall, so I can remove this.

For extractor, there is an old air brick cavity in the top left, so thinking of putting a wall mounted extractor there - is that a good idea, or is ceiling always best?

The external wall will be insulated with 50-70cm of Kingspan. I want a shaver point by the basin. Shower will be from the boiler. I have a couple of spare slots on the consumer unit so could get an electrician to run a new circuit for shaver and extractor, and leave the light as it is.

Also plan to replaster the whole room (new ceiling boards) then just have a tiled (or wall boards) shower area. Or even a cabin - although these cost too much really.

Not sure on flooring - is plywood the best option, or a good chipboard OK? Will just have a single sheet of vinyl on top, so should be watertight. The plumbing will come down from the ceiling, so all that will be buried under the floor (which I will be insulating with 50mm kingspan with 50mm rockwall on top) will be the radiator pipes and shower / toilet drainage.

Tomorrow I'll mostly be clearing all that dust and dirt out, and pulling out nails.

Feedback and suggestions welcome.

 

[blup]

Why not retain the full window aperture to maximise natural light - and natural ventilation.

Blup

 

[JP_]

Neighbour's front door is right opposite, even with frosted glass they'd get an eye full when i shower!

 

[JP_]

Well, I found the air brick. Almost completely buried from the outside, just the very top visible. Have requested a quote to get that concrete path removed ... the other air bricks are still visible, path seems to rise at this point. Pretty sure it is not needed? So getting it removed and then just have gravel over it.

 

[JP_]

oh, and cleared out the floor, 3 buckets of dust....

 

[funinacup]

oh, and cleared out the floor, 3 buckets of dust....

View attachment 169588

How's this going?

 

[JP_]

Moving along. Had my plumber over the other day to decide where to put the drainage. Coming back to look at the WC in the next room that we're removing.

The WC in the next room (which was partitioned from a bedroom - I'll be removing that stud wall next)

So plan is to remove the toilet and cut the drainage back to floor (or near) and add new pipe and run it down this room. Then toilet and shower will go straight out of room into it (with a 45 degrees bend I guess). I've cleaned that floor out too, amazing how much dust on those floors - another bucket for the wc. Lots of bad rot on the joist running along the outside wall. But very dry in general and the bits of wood laying on the ground were rot free, so only rot was on external walls.

Oh, and had the concrete outside smashed up. Need to remove more (doing a few buckets at a time). This air brick was completely covered. I'll dig down a bit, weed membrane and shingle / gravel the whole path.

 

[securespark]

It's nuts what some people do to air bricks. I must have seen hundreds of them blocked up in various ways, usually with silicone sealant.

Can you resite that telecomms JB? Just looks unsightly there.

Be interested to follow your exploits. I have an ensuite shower that has been leaking for who knows how many years (rotted floor, joists and studding) and a bathroom (refitted 5 years ago but done very badly) where the tray is leaking L, R & C.

 

[securespark]

I ripped out my shower in the en-suite to find a socket behind the tiles!!!!

What's the pipe that cuts a diagonal under the floor?

EDIT: We have blackout blinds in our bathrooms, which are great to block out embarrassing outlines!

 

[JP_]

I have socket right where the shower will go! Easy to remove though.

Pipe is mains water.

Change of plan - drainage will now go straight into new bathroom. Might be putting a resin stone tray straight onto the joists too. Idea is to ensure easier access to drainage should anything need changing in future, and will have easier access point for dealing with blockages.

Plumber might be ready to start next week!

 

[JP_]

Update

Last night I stuck kingspan on the underside of the flooring that the shower will sit on. If I had planned this better I would probably have put the noggins and floor in lower and put the kingspan onto it, then mortar straight over that.

Would it be sensible / normal to ask the plumber to put a damp membrane over the shower tray area before mortaring in the tray? If there is ever a leak, more chance it will find its way to concrete subfloor and evaporate than soak into the wood?

 

[JP_]

Any tips on the best way to box in plumbing while maintaining access. Plan is to box in like this:

I'll leave a gap in front of the pipes as a vanity unit will go in front, so access through that. But one thought is to have access above the stack in case drain flushing is required.
I was thinking of just getting a 2.2m windowsill and putting it on top, wedged in place but so it can be lifted easily. Will also shove more insulation into the boxing. The wall will be covered in kingspan which is why the wooden block is currently behind the stack. Any suggestions though? Window is being removed and smaller higher one added end of month, so plenty of time to work out what I'm doing.

 

[jjpearce05]

Hi, I’m not a plumber, but I would replace the 90 degree bend on the waste pipe from the sink with one of these https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-bends-92-5-white-32mm-5-pack/67525 or two of these https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-bends-135-white-32mm-5-pack/83056 to reduce the chances of the bend blocking under the floor

 

[JP_]

Think I will live with that...

This is the look I am going for. What is the best practice for maintaining access to the plumbing? Just have a removable panel at the back of the vanity unit?
Might carry the boxing all the way along the wall like in the below. The basin is very similar to the one I will probably get - looking at this one: https://www.tapsuk.com/nuie-mayford-gloss-white-floor-standing-1050mm-cabinet-basin-1-vty1050-p9411 - the big doors on the left side should give nice access to the plumbing behind. Any tips for access? Maybe just cut out a square and make an access cover on a hinge? Or do these units come without backs?

 

[JP_]

Update: Floor down, new window in, insulation on wall (almost finished), boxing in of plumbing started.....