Small bathroom re-fit suggestions please

[Padraig Clarke]

Need some help on this project - what to do next. So far all the old 70s tiles are stripped off and the old shower doors are gone. Some people have said go wet room as it’s small. Would that be best option?

I am hesitant to remove the old shower tray, basically as I am a novice, and it is solid and water tight already. Would I be crazy to leave this tray in? Is it an easy job to line up a new tray into that outlet, or is that a professional job?

Then there’s the floor tiles. Was thinking of just tiling on top. Is that a bad idea? Partly a labour and cost thing.

Walls are external so need insulated (I believe as it is an old cottage). Was looking at studs and hardieboard, then re-tiling. Is this something you would bother with, or would you go straight into the walls with new tiles? (Skip this insulation in other words).

Any help around these topics appreciated as I get my head round this job. If you visited the house what would you tell me to do!

 

[terryplumb]

I would say ,what's that square thing above the sink Padraig ? Then I would say leave the tray ,unless you want to give yourself a load more work, put a good size radiator in here ,tile new floor tiles on if these are not to your liking and the existing ones are solidly fixed ,tile the walls, fit new shower enclosure ,and basin and wc if you want. Then I'd say ,fancy a Guinness padraig now we've sorted this out !!
P.s you may need to do some prep on the walls before tiling ,maybe board them

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You can get small baths, a lack of a bath may put off future buyers.

 

[Padraig Clarke]

Thanks terryplumb! Every time I look at this room I need a Guinness! Lol! Above the sink is a mirror, glued to the wall!

I think keeping this simple is the best way, and leave the tray alone. Do a new enclosure (glass doors) and re-tile the floor just on top of the old.

For the walls, would hardieboard be a good option? Do they need to be put up with stubs and a gap? Or with a VCL? Or can the board screw straight into the current wall?

(Freddie - no room for a bath sadly, but this is an old cottage holiday home)

 

[terryplumb]

If you are tiling walls ,floor to ceiling ,all walls ,I would dot and dab plasterboard to walls.but in the area of the shower tray that will reduce the visible size of your tray by around 25 mm or more ,on length and width.so you may struggle to get an enclosure to fit. Same if you fit battens and board. So you may have to fit tiles directly onto the two walls that shower jutts up to ,like it was originally.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

There was a tiny bathroom about 1.6 X 1.7m posted in the projects section a while back, with a bath.

 

[John D v2.0]

There was a tiny bathroom about 1.6 X 1.7m posted in the projects section a while back, with a bath.

Brings a whole new meaning to the word "bath"room!
I looked at a house one time where they had converted one bedroom into a room with a huge round sunken bath filing most of the room, maybe it was a nice idea back in the 80s, but imagine trying to change that suite DIY.

 

[Padraig Clarke]

Thanks. Yeah good point about the tile in the shower. I may need to just clean up that wall to get back to a flat surface.

Is insulating the other walls a good idea in general? It’s an extension to an old cottage.

And if so, I assume I’d have to use moisture control plasterboard, like the hardieboard stuff? I know this will then give an ultra smooth finish to tile on.

And finally, considering this is an old cottage, prone to higher condensation levels (a lot of cold stone walls) - is there a preference between ‘dot and dab’ or ‘batons with insulation and then plasterboard’?

 

[cdbe]

Here's my tiny bathroom, with full size bath. I set the sink and concealed cistern into the wall, before that it had an old close coupled WC that stuck out so far the door nearly touched it. It went from being pokey to feeling quite spacious. And despite being up North there have never been any freezing issues with the plumbing in the wall.

If you do just stick with a shower the one in there looks small, personally I would try my best to get something bigger in, which will also give you the opportunity to evaluate the 20? year old plumbing under it.

 

[Nige F]

I like the recessed basin but I would change the bottom window pane for a "sandblasted" d/g glass one - totally obscure and looks good IMHO I had them in my new bathroom window (bungalow) you can't see a thing through from outside.