Fitting oak doors in the bathroom and bedroom

With only 9 days until Christmas we really should be thinking about turkey dinners and wrapping presents but right now the DIY continues late into each night. Tonight we have added two new internal doors upstairs, these are on the newly created bedroom and the bathroom. Although we currently don't have the door handles or lock on the bathroom door we are hoping that these will arrive any day and we can get these fitted before the big day!

We both know that the house won't be finished by Christmas but it will be really close and the only thing stopping us from getting it finished is a simple case of money. In the new year we will save up and go through the final big spend and hire a plasterer and order some carpet. Once these two big jobs are completed it will be time to decorate the upstairs and the house will be finished! 

I know it will never be 'finished' as we will then start on the outside and start renovating the currently untouched garden and patio, and then the driveway and front of the house will get a makeover not to forget the man cave that is the garage which I know will get a lot of love to make the perfect get away for James. When all this is done hopefully it will be time to enjoy the house that we have put so much time effort and money into building and I can enjoy baking during the weekends and James can enjoy tinkering in his garage. But right now we have 5 days until the family arrive so we must get on getting as many jobs finished before Christmas as possible!

Moving the bathroom door

When we first moved into the house we very quickly did not like the upstairs layout of the house, the extremely steep and dangerous stairs that went straight up and into the bathroom. The bathroom that was a step lower than landing floor. The upstairs didn't feel very well planned and the bathroom extension was simply that, it was a bolted on bathroom extension with no thought to fit it in with the rest of the house. 

We had already decided to remove the stairs and fit a new stair case going up the opposite way as well as having a quarter turn at the bottom meaning that the stairs were not as steep as before and therefore a lot safer. Which is particularly good for people as clumsy as myself who was always tripping up the old staircase. But with the stairs now coming up the other way this left the bathroom door to the wrong side of the bathroom. You would have to squeeze around a very narrow landing around the corner and through the door. So we decided that we would move the door from the right hand side to the left hand side. Although that sounds relatively simple it was a massive job that involved moving bedroom walls to make the landing big enough to except the new bathroom door. Removing the concrete wall where the new door will go and cutting into the ceiling to increase the height so that a full height door will fit in.

Here the concrete wall on the left has been removed and an acrow prop is held in place where the old door once was. This is just a temporary measure to keep the house safe whilst the new structural timber wall is built in it's place. 

The frame starts to go in and the shape of where the new door will go sits in place, we decided to build the frame out slightly further from where the original door sat and utilise the small bit of space that made the top of the old landing. Utilising this section of dead space means that firstly the space is not wasted, but secondly the bathroom is slightly bigger and we now have the space to include an inbuilt bathroom cupboard for towels.

The plasterboard is fitted to the new frame work.

With the new frame in place it is now time to remove the old lintel and bring the bathroom ceiling height up further to fit in with the rest of the bathroom. We won't go up as high as we would like as this would involve structural work to the roofing beams so although we will be gaining height in the bathroom it won't be flush with the rest of the bathroom ceiling. But it will be safe and not to mention cheaper doing it this way and we know that it will look so much better than it does now so we are more than happy. 

Where the existing concrete wall has been removed the floor was slightly uneven so a little cement has helped us to level this out.

The old section above the door is removed and the new section slightly higher starts to take shape.

The section starts getting boxed in and looks so much better than it did previously, the door now opens up onto the new wide landing and really was worth all the extra work to make the new doors position perfect.

Quick and Easy Bathroom Makeovers

Quick and Easy Bathroom Makeovers

We can sometimes be put off at the thought of redesigning our bathroom suite, knowing full well that it is a development that once started, must be finished in an appropriate time scale as it is an essential part of the home.

Once we make the commitment to remodelling our bathroom we must finish it, so making the decision to start it in the first place involves a lot of planning and sometimes money from the get go.

There are of course several bathroom makeovers that are quick, easy and cheap, breathing new life into your bathroom suite without embarking on the sometimes long and stressful journey that bathroom design can evoke.

With a few simple touches here and there, your bathroom can be transformed from a dull suite to a personal escape that can be enjoyed whether you’re having a quick shower in the morning or a deep soak at night.

Add a Focal Point

Considering your bath, basin and toilet are all matching, the “wow” factor is often spread across those three features, all defined by the same qualities such as there colour and style.

A great way to transform your suite in a quick and easy fashion is to replace one of your bathroom’s features with something unique that still remains within the overall style of your suite.

By replacing your uninspired basin and pedestal with a stylish vanity unit or replacing the bath with a freestanding bath can give your bathroom a completely new feel.

Replacing one item rather than an entire bathroom suite is a cheaper alternative to get a new look but choosing the right furniture is key.

If your suite is predominantly white and a versatile design, it’s easy to find a stylish vanity unit that oozes the same appeal as the other features in your bathroom; try looking at wooden designs with a countertop basin as they sit well with most bathroom styles and stand as a focal point.

Have a Clear Out

If you have a large family, the bathroom can become a dumping ground for empty shampoo bottles, over used toothbrushes and the odd book or magazine.

By clearing out all the clutter in our bathrooms, including spare toilet rolls etc (they can be stored elsewhere) your bathroom can be transformed into a much more peaceful escape.

Add a Shower

Invigorating your body at the start of the day and washing away stress at the end, adding a shower to your installation is a fantastic way to make your bathroom all the more functional.

Available in a wealth of styles to suit your current bathroom’s design, transforming your bath into a bath shower is made easy with plenty of top brands offering modern and traditionally styled shower installations.

Just having a bath in your suite can make life difficult, especially if you have a big family all in need of a wash in the morning or at night, adding unwanted stress to your daily routine, so complimenting your suite with a shower is a great investment in the long term.

Transforming your bathroom doesn’t mean removing your old bathroom suite and beginning the long journey of choosing a suite and getting it installed; you can easily brighten up your bathroom with a quick and easy solution.

Guest author: Izzy Evans, 20 year old student, blogger and interior design enthusiast from Staffordshire. Izzy now works on her latest project, a brand new blog for Bathroom City. 

Living with no water in your bathroom for a month!

After a month with no bathroom at all not only do we have a bathroom suite in place but we also have a water supply connected to the room. It was quite a trial and error process with several leaks that needed fixing but finally we can turn the taps and get running water. 

However it wasn't as plain sailing as I described and we had a slight issue with the water pressure being up rather high and with the style of taps that we had chosen with the flowing waterfall effect. When the tap was turned the water came shooting out of the tap at such a speed that it completely cleared the bath and poured a fountain onto the floor. 

With a slight adjustment to the water pressure we now have the facilities to have a bath and use the sink in the bathroom. Next step connecting up the shower!

Fitting the bathroom tiles transforms the room.

With the plaster board fitted in the bathroom we can start tiling. We have chosen ceramic tiles for the walls with mosaic tiles to add a little detail to the room. As for the floor we are still really undecided so we are going to get the walls done and then go back to the shops and start bringing home a few floor tile samples and see what we want at a later date. Fingers crossed there is something that we both agree on that goes with what we have already fitted. 

I know this all sounds a little trial and error but this is still our first home and neither of us have renovated before and don't want to rush in and buy something that we don't like. At the same time we want to create some parts of the house that take on our own personality and are funky and not at all like any of the rented houses that we have previously lived in. 

Again I have never done any tiling let along seen a room get tiled! OK so that's a pretty crazy thing to say but my parents had the same tiles for ever in their home and everywhere else I've lived has been rented accommodation. James assures me that this is another skill that he has and will do the tiling in the bathroom himself. 

Ignore the window that is seemingly lower in it's frame, We are planning to replace this window with a double glazed window and move it up at the same time. A job for another day.

We are making quite a random bathroom, partly due to money limitations but also because we have never been conventional people and like to try new things. Here we have four kitchen units wrapped in the same bath panel material that's been used to wrap the L shaped bath. With the square sink in place and plumbed in all we need to do now is grout the tiles and fit a mirror above the sink.

We moved the old toilet off the left hand wall and plumbed the new toilet into it's final home which now looks much better than where it used to be in the old bathroom. We still have a fair amount of work to do in the bathroom including the rest of the tiling, the grouting, and finding and fitting the floor but it is so much better than what we had and can't wait to get it finished.

The new bathroom suite arrives

After several weeks without a working bathroom and having to use the office showers and our kitchen for washing and cleaning teeth it's really exciting when our new bathroom suite arrives. I couldn't resist testing out the bath straight away... Ok so it need's some work before I can really test it out but it won't be long now until we have a gorgeous bathroom and can relax in our new home rather than work on it every night. 

We temporarily put the kitchen units in place that we are using in the bathroom and balance the sink in place to get an idea of how it will look. If you ignore all the boxes, the bare concrete walls and the open kitchen units you can kind of visualize our spangly new bathroom... 

James get's straight to work fitting the bath in place and connecting up the water supply and waste pipes. As soon as the bath is fitted I can not wait to jump in and have a bath at home again rather than showering at the office. 

Uncovering real vintage wallpaper

I think the best thing about renovating the house is all the treasures that we have uncovered. In the garden we found buried glass bottles, toy cars and even a bike that had been under a pile of soil for what must have been years, as the rust had eaten quite a lot of it away. Behind the garage we found an entire pond and several car tyres. In the house it's not so bad, we did find some grotty 80's porn in the loft which was quite eye opening and also a stack of newspapers from the 1950's which were really cool. I think we are utilising skip number 5 at the house so removing all the rubbish is costing us a fortune but we are getting through it slowly.

In the bathroom when the tiles were removed and the old rotten plasterboard removed we uncovered this wonderful wallpaper! I'm not sure if this room has always been a bathroom as this would have been a later extension to the house and the house does have an original outside toilet.

Whether this was a bathroom or a bedroom the vintage fish wallpaper is really rather funky, sadly it is not staying in our classy new bathroom!

Could you imagine a whole room wrapped like the inside of a fish tank! I quite like retro, but this retro wallpaper is being removed.

The toilet is replaced temporarily

With a lot of work to do it really is important to get our toilet back up and running as a priority. The toilet is reconnected in it's old position using the existing waste pipe etc whilst the rest of the work is completed.

The walls start to go up around the bathroom and it starts to look a lot tidier, it's going to take a while to get the shower and bath connected and ready to use so for the time being we are back in the house but using work to shower each morning. It's not ideal and a pain driving to work in your pajamas's but will all be worth it in the end when the bathroom is complete.

Bathroom Plumbing.

With the new floor in place it's time to start running all the pipework and plumbing for the new bathroom suite. James is actually doing this himself so it's taking quite a bit of time and a lot of trial and error to get completed as he is not a qualified plumber. With the floor marked out for what unit goes where the pipes are all in place ready to receive the suite and hope it is all plumbed in correctly. 

The plumbing in place for the new sink.

plumbing for the shower and bath in place.

And lastly the plumbing in place for the toilet.

Homebase bathroom

We have thought about the bathroom a lot lately, mainly because we don't have a bathroom and the sooner we think about what we want, the sooner we can buy it and the sooner we get a working bathroom back in the house.

We book an appointment at our local homebase, which is Free! to have a consultation with one of their bathroom designers. After a short walk around the bathroom showroom, with already firm ideas in our heads about what we want. We sit down with a designer armed with catalogs full of their bathroom suites and plan what we wanted for our bathroom.

This is where after being with James for 5 years I realize that we don't actually have that similar tastes and I certainly didn't agree with his bathroom choices.

I wanted our 1920's house to keep with a 1920's theme and have a luxurious roll top bath. James on the other hand wanted an ultra modern wet room, walk in shower. Although we agreed on a separate bath and shower we both had such different ideas of what we wanted, and this was just the bathroom suite and hadn't even vaguely decided on flooring or the walls.

Once the designer had crafted together both our ideas and shown us the 3D diagram I hated it! James at first was excited to see his thoughts materialize but once I had explained why I hated it and why I thought it didn't work he soon agreed with me and we were back to square one.

After several hours and a completely different bathroom design and the Homebase store wishing to shut for the evening, we left with our design in our hands to mull over for a few days before placing the order. We ended up with a design that incorporated a shower over bath, a walnut bath panel and white gloss cupboards! Seriously if you had suggested this all to me I would have turned my nose up with disgust. It's not every day that you get to plan your very own dream bathroom and given the opportunity to create your bathroom exactly as you want it. However the reality of space and money and being sensible soon come into play and your left with whats practical and affordable and not whats in your crazy wonderful dreams.

Now we just need to wait for the bathroom suite to be delivered and we can get it all fitted, Finally things are coming together and we are rebuilding the house how we want it rather than demolishing it and making it look worse and worse. Now the exciting stuff happens :@)

DIY: Laying a new bathroom floor

With the beams in place it's now time to start laying the new floor boards. With a specially treated wood designed to be water resistant specially for wet areas James gets to work on getting the first board in place and making the room usable to walk in once again. 

Board by board slowly the floor is made and the two rooms are separated once again with the bathroom returning up stairs and the kitchen forming downstairs. 

The floor now fully in place and we start to plan were to put the bathroom suite in the newly created room. Partly I want to imaging that the room is actually complete and dream of having a hot bubble bath in a clean brand new bathroom, the reality is that we need to plan where the bathroom goes for James to run all the plumbing and pipework first. I think we will have to stay with the in-laws a little bit longer until the bathroom is slightly more back up and running!

How to replace rotten bathroom flooring

From my last post you would have seen the complete removal of the bathroom floor upstairs leaving us with a double height area in our house without both a bathroom and a kitchen meaning it highly important to get a floor back in as soon as possible.

Here, the first of the supporting beams are inserted around the edges of the walls. Next it's the job to insert equally spaced joist hangers around the edge to take the beams horizontally across the room. 

With the beams in place and the joist hangers all fastened up, James shows me how strong they are by walking around the 'new' bathroom floor. Next to fit a solid floor and we can start thinking about getting a bathroom suite back in. 

How to remove a bathroom suite

To move the ceiling height up downstairs, we have had to take everything out of the bathroom and move the floor up upstairs. First to be disconnected and removed is the toilet. Notice that the shower doors are already gone and the bath is next to go!

More wasted space behind the toilet where the wall was built across the corner, this is removed opening our bathroom back out into a rectangle bathroom.

A hole is then cut in the bathroom floor enabling us to pass items straight from the bathroom down to the kitchen where us ladies were frantically collecting debris and getting it out to the skip. 

Eventually whole walls were removed and passed down to us and the room was beginning to empty. 

Shockingly when we removed the mirror it was glued straight onto the plasterboard and the tiles behind it were missing. I'm really pleased to say that we won't be cutting any corners and the whole room will be tiled first and then a mirror added. This way if we do decide to change the mirror at a later date we won't be forced to keep it because we didn't tile the room correctly. 

It doesn't take long before all the bathroom suite is removed, now for the job of removing the floor. This will certainly be for another day and we are off to stay with friends whilst there is no bathroom in our house!

Bathroom floor no more! Shocking pictures!

After several hours of removing pipework and completely clearing the bathroom it's time to start removing the old floor. Fortunately or unfortunately for us the floor was completely rotten and several of the beams were barely touching the wall let alone securely and safely fastened into the wall. This was great for getting the old floor out but did get me thinking and slightly worried that the floor was not at all safe an I had been having big bath tubs full of heavy water up there and could have been quite the accident.

With the floor slipping away from us it highlights the reasons why we are doing the job fully and glad we didn't put a brand new bathroom into a room that potentially would have come crashing to the ground.

with the floor removed it's quite a weird feeling standing in what used to be a kitchen looking up at what used to be a bathroom. Suddenly these feels like an epic task and had no idea this would be involved when we bought the house. I guess buying my first home I was extremely naive but luckily James isn't scared of hard work and has promised me that this is an 'easy fix'

Standing in the doorway of the old bathroom looking down into the old kitchen and suddenly we see the severity of the project. Seeing the house like this is quite shocking and probably the worst state the house has been in. On-wards and upwards I guess lets hope the worst of the demolition is over and from here on in we start putting our house back together rather than pulling it apart.

Working into the night... with no bathroom roof.

Planning to completely remove the bathroom roof and replace it in one weekend is a tall order for anyone. Yet asking my boyfriend and his dad alone to do this job is an even bigger ask, which meant starting work early and finishing late to try and get as much done in one weekend before going back to their day jobs.

Trying to renovate a complete house in evening and weekends is certainly hard work and very hard on relationships and family to but luckily we have a very strong relationship and a brilliant family of support making the build a lot easier.

Although using the bathroom tonight with just a tarpaulin and felt roof was a little chilly and not the highlight of my day! BRRRR

The boys working into the night to get the room at least a little watertight!