Bathroom Refurb

Hello Everyone,

I hope you will take a look at my bathroom pictures and help with some questions . We plan on keeping the existing suite, but wish to tile the floor and walls. We also have a bath panel and new taps.

A new combi (Biasi Riva Advance 32KW) and rads and pipework were installed in Summer 2008. Other than the towel rail, the bathroom hasn't been touched since we moved in in 1994! And it shows! The dimensions of the floor area where you can walk (i.e. to be tiled) are 6' 6" X 3' 9".

1) The close coupled WC has the cistern 35mm from the wall and has a strip of wood that it butts up against

I'd like to move the toilet back 35mm so the cistern is touching the wall. Here's the pan connector - not very pretty - like the rest of the bathroom...

However I can't push the toilet back more than 20 or 25mm without the pan hitting the point where the pan connector enters the waste. I've had a look here:

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=964218#964218

but I don't know how to make the connection . What connector/fittings do I need to attach the WC to the waste under the floorboards and at the same time ensure the cistern is against the wall? I want to remove that terrible strip of wood behind the cistern!

2) The existing floorboards are 18mm deep.

There is a lot of flexing where the CORGI replaced the shoddy floorboards with ply down the middle of the bathroom. Given the small floor area, would it be best to remove the ply and boards and refloor? What rigid sheet material would you use to give a sturdy floor base for tiling? Or would it be fine to overboard the existing floor (with WBP 12mm ply)?

I am able to bend and solder pipe and I'm happy to repipe the hot and cold to the basin and cold to the WC, but need help/advice with floor prep and WC connection! It will be my first tiling attempt.

Sadly, we have only one bathroom and I'm a little put off doing the work for that reason. I'm tempted to get someone in - I'm in the Wigan area.

Ta for reading (and replying!)

Martin.

 

The soil stack looks as though it is cast iron and you will have trouble moving it, you will propably need to replace it with plastic to be able to move the w/c back, other than that make a box behind the w/c and tile it.

 

The pipework under the bath looks a bit of a mess: be tempted to rip a lot of it out and start again.

You might get away with a swan neck pan connector, which would take the pan back about 35mm ish: if the toilet pan doesnt hit the waste pipe first. The 'white tape' on the soil pipes looks like it is a botch and I would replace it personally.

The floor looks pretty firm. Before tiling cover the floor in 6mm ply, fixed securely at 150mm intervals (without screwing through any pipes!).

Cold feed to WC could be run under the floor to behind WC: looks neater.

As a general rule I remove pushfit waste pipe and fittings and replace with solvent weld.

 

Swan neck pan connector:

 

Hi all!

The soil stack is plastic.

I agree that the waste pipework under the bath ain't too clever. I may replace it. I will definitely run the cold feed to the WC under the floor. In fact the cold (& hot) to the kitchen runs right behind the WC waste under the floor. I'll branch off that.

Happy to solvent weld. As for the 6mm ply, is there a particular variety? I ask as the 18mm ply that you see from the pics doesn't half flex when you stand on it. Need the floor to be rigid for ceramic tiles...

I'll get over to screwfix or some such and take a look at the swan neck. Might just do it. My waste appears to be the standard 110mm and it is plastic. I assume that the spigot end of the swan neck will slot into the socket on the waste? The waste socket is rather nasty with all that "bandaging".

Martin.

 

You will be using 'flexible' floor tile adhesive... it is degigned to have a very small amount of give in it. The ply just gives you a firm flat surface to tile onto. Make sure that all the floor boards are secure first.

Personally I would never tile an upstairs floor in my own home: too much hassle should it ever need to come up again. Part of my job is tiling so done plenty of upstairs floors, and only ever had to take one up: NOT my fault either!

Swan neck 'should' fir onto 110mm at one end and your loo at the other... IF the pan doesn't hit the waste pipe first!

 

ChrisR, leakydave & LeedsPlumber

Thanks very much for taking the time. Would prefer carpet from a no-hassle point of view, but the "boss" wants it tiled!

Okay, good of you chaps to post up.

All the best,

Martin.

 

Hi there,

IMHO I would rip up the floor and relay with 25mm ply. There would no flex at all in the floor then.

Rico

 

Rico99,

That would be my preferred option - especially given the small size of the floor area. But I'm put off for a couple of reasons.

If you look at the picture of the entrance to the bathroom, the floorboard on the far right under the towel rail is nailed to a joist where I can't get access due to the wall of the adjoining bedroom.

You can also see regular 18mm ply in the pic that the CORGI put down the replace the old boards. This flexes like fu!*. Going to 25mm I can't help wandering that it too would flex between the joist 400mm centres. I guess I'd have to support with noggins - ?

Going with the 25mm would reduce the floor hight for sure.

Due to the raised height of the WC after tiling, is it possible to get an adjustable height swan neck? Or do I measure the height and just call into my local CHP plumbers' merchant in Wigan?

TIA

Martin.

 

I'll post this up for when people are doing a search and come across this thread in future. Useful guide for fitting WCs:

http://www.homebase.co.uk/wcsstore/homebase/assets/ht_replace_wc.pdf

Martin.

 

Martin,

1. Is the floorboard under the towel rail full width or just a small section.
As it is in a position that will not get walked on, you could probably
find a work around by leaving that floorboard in and put a thinner
piece fo ply on top.

2. Always fit nogins to support board edges in gaps between joists.
You shouldn't get any flex out of 25mm ply anyway. Are you sure its
current ply that flexing and not the joists themselves.

3. The swan neck connectors by McAlpine Plumbing are listed as being
adjustable, in theory this just means not pushing it into the soil pipe
as much.

Hope this helps

Rico

 

Hi Rico,

The floorboard under the towel rail is full width. It doesn't get walked on as it's right against the wall and the towel rail blocks walking on it. You could walk on it if you pressed up against the wall at the bathroom entrance...

I see what you mean - leave the board in place, fix 7mm to it and replace the rest of the floor with 25mm. I sure hope this stuff is rigid. Come to think of it, if the existing 18mm ply had nogin support, along their lengths (at the edges) I'm quite sure they wouldn't flex.

Without doubt it's the ply that flexes not the joists. The landing and back bedroom also have this run of ply where the CORGI installer ran the heating and gas pipes. The whole bloody lot flexes a lot. I have to say that back in June '08 when it was done, it didn't flex. A few weeks later it started to flex. I put loads of screws in to firm it up. Didn't help...

Thanks for the heads up on the McAlpine. Your post has helped .

Ta Rico

Martin.

 

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