Bathroom renovation - on going with pics

[Bebs]

I've had a lot of input from you fellow PHers of late re. various subjects so I thought I'd make an effort and post a running thread with pics.

I'm having our en-suite bathroom completely redone and made into a wet room i.e. bathtub out and replaced with a tiled shower enclosure, in fact the whole room is being tiled.

Here's the room before work commenced:

[Bebs]

Unfortunately I was away for a few days and did not manage to get pics of the room being cleared. But my columbian builder is getting on with the job (despite turning up late every morning latino style) so here's what I've managed to photo so far. Digging out a hole for the gully into the concrete turned out to be a far bigger job than anticipated and I had to get a plumber mate in with some heavy duty tools to do the job properly.
Apologies for not doing the work myself - I did tile the shower in our other bathroom but didn't really want to tackle such a huge job myself given my limited skills. We had to have all new mains electrics run from the fuse box along a hall and through a ceiling into the bathroom in order to support floor heating, shower unit and elec towel rail.
I will however be doing the audio install myself once its finished
One thing I've realised is how difficult it is to plan timing for sparky, plumber, tiler etc.. specially when half of them don't turn up/ finish the job on time.
This is how far we were as of this morning:

[monthefish]

The end result had better be pretty special, as it didn't look too bad before...

[Bebs]

monthefish said:

The end result had better be pretty special, as it didn't look too bad before...

it should be.. wireless remote control Grohe shower unit, Bang & Olufsen stereo.. etc

[911motorsport]

exactly what I was thinking. The before picture looks better than my 'after' one!

[Bebs]

Tiling started yesterday - here's the beginning:

Edited by Bebs on Friday 5th March 13:10

[Simpo Two]

I like the natural plaster look, you've obviously gone for the 'Mexican pueblo' theme.




And you can st in the garden, just like Mexicans

[Bebs]

Simpo Two said:

And you can st in the garden, just like Mexicans

No need, I have a second bathroom

The columbians seem to be doing a good job though - even if they have no concept of timing..

[Dupont666]

Bebs said:

Simpo Two said:

And you can st in the garden, just like Mexicans

No need, I have a second bathroom

The columbians seem to be doing a good job though - even if they have no concept of timing..

Seems better than the efforts on my renovation, to date the damage is:

one hole in the hallway ceiling of the flat below
one larger hole in the bathroom ceiling of the flat below
one smashed panel of glass in the window.
One section of windows sill (2ft by 6 inches) smashed when the hit it with a ladder (I have no idea what they were doing)

luckily the person that did the above has left the job site and is not coming back.

[Bebs]

sorry to hear that Dupont.. that'll teach you to use cheap labour from Poland

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare.. I had a feeling mine would be but the Columbian builder just finished renovating a rental house for me as well, and they did a tremendous job, so I decided to use them for my own flat. Once they finish the bathroom there are plenty other small jobs in the flat for them to get on with

[Soovy]

You expecting a visit from Bobby Sands?

[Dupont666]

Bebs said:

sorry to hear that Dupont.. that'll teach you to use cheap labour from Poland

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare.. I had a feeling mine would be but the Columbian builder just finished renovating a rental house for me as well, and they did a tremendous job, so I decided to use them for my own flat. Once they finish the bathroom there are plenty other small jobs in the flat for them to get on with

Tis ok they are replacing everything... but have been warned that the things like the tiles and basin are from Italy, so if they fk it up with these bits they are having to personally buy another sq meter of the stuff or a brand new basin... none of which can be sourced from UK for reasonable prices (£100+ a sq meter and £250+ a square meter for the tiles in UK) so shipping would take another 2-3 weeks. They have 10% to play with so their rep is on the line and the basin is the wrong end of £400 if you can find it in the UK and they need to drill a hole in that for something or other... not looking forward to that phone call.

[Bebs]

Dupont666 said:

[.. none of which can be sourced from UK for reasonable prices (£100+ a sq meter and £250+ a square meter for the tiles in UK) so shipping would take another 2-3 weeks. They have 10% to play with so their rep is on the line and the basin is the wrong end of £400 if you can find it in the UK and they need to drill a hole in that for something or other... not looking forward to that phone call.

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

[monthefish]

Bebs said:

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

£3k on a sink???




..and what's the issue with cutting s hole bigger?

[Dupont666]

What sink costs £3k, I have to see that one.

Mine is this one:

http://www.blmarmi.com/blm_listino.pdf

second page in the pdf just a different colour, its on the site too but I cant see flash at work.

[Dupont666]

monthefish said:

Bebs said:

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

£3k on a sink???




..and what's the issue with cutting s hole bigger?

Well if they mess up the hole, how do you get a replacement basin so they can finish if its 2-3 weeks ordering time for delivery. You dont, you have to wait and they try again!!

[Bebs]

monthefish said:

Bebs said:

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

£3k on a sink??? I know.. but 'she' liked it...






..and what's the issue with cutting s hole bigger?

the sink is made of Corian (man made material - used for kitchen worktops as well) its a square block if you like and it has a plate on the back with a small hole for the plumbing.. builder wants to fit the actual shower mixer unit in there to hide it away - and that means cutting into the Corian..

[monthefish]

Dupont666 said:

monthefish said:

Bebs said:

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

£3k on a sink???




..and what's the issue with cutting s hole bigger?

Well if they mess up the hole, how do you get a replacement basin so they can finish if its 2-3 weeks ordering time for delivery. You dont, you have to wait and they try again!!

Ahhh, they're planning to enlarge the hole in the sink itself?? For £3k you'd think someone would've specc'ed the right size fixtures.

[Dupont666]

Bebs said:

monthefish said:

Bebs said:

I hear you - we splashed out £3K on our sink and it looks like they'll have to cut the plumbing hole at the back slightly larger in order to fit the remote shower unit there - I'll hold my breath for that one..

£3k on a sink??? I know.. but 'she' liked it...






..and what's the issue with cutting s hole bigger?

the sink is made of Corian (man made material - used for kitchen worktops as well) its a square block if you like and it has a plate on the back with a small hole for the plumbing.. builder wants to fit the actual shower mixer unit in there to hide it away - and that means cutting into the Corian..

Hmmm... corian... Lets hope the drill doesnt make too much heat as they are prone to crack under extreme temperature, hence a reason I decided not to use it when I do the kitchen next as a hot pan oudl damage it and I dont trust the OH enough not to do it.

[Bebs]

Monte, it is ready for normal plumbing - but we want to fit a remote shower unit in the back of it in order to hide it - hence the cutting..