1930s Semi Refurb - Part 1 of ... (Edition: Bathroom Relocation)

dlockers

dlockers

dlockers

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Hi folks,

Job one of the 1930s semi is on the horizon. It is job one for a couple of reasons:
1. It will instigate some of the major tasks - wiring, plumbing
-- Wiring, I need to figure out the best way to route a "semi re-wire" for each room as the sockets are few and far between.
-- Plumbing, as above - best route, plus I need to relocate the water tank, several rads, hide some pipework and replace the floor mounted potterton boiler.
2. The upstairs toilet is leaking
3. The downstairs toilet seems to use about 12 gallons of water to flush
4. It enables the next major which is creating a rear bedroom out of the existing bathroom.

Now part of the reason in the switch is the house is on a semi busy road so noise is a key concern, and secondly the 2nd bedroom is just too big for my 2y/o. The current bathroom will be much cosier, warmer and away from the busy road/overlooking the garden.

Floor plan for context:
wUq6Sfd.jpg

The inspiration:
rn5PVp7.jpeg

The rough IKEA sketch to my dimensions:
ImBHEON.jpeg

I suppose my questions are around -
1. How to get started:
--- the room is currently plastered and then has lining paper, so I assume the plaster may be shot. Should I go back to brick and line every wall?
--- the ceiling is lathe and plaster and is sagging in one of the rooms. It looks visually "OK" but again may not stand up to bathroom wear and tear?
--- the floor needs lifting and then I'll assess services; the IKEA mock-up has the toilet sitting on the outside wall. Is there any tips on knocking into the existing drain? It'll be about 3 metres from the original waste pipe
2. Technically how to do a curbless shower (is it worth it?)?
3. Any glitches on what I have proposed?
4. Any tips on running a new plumbing system?
--- can the water tank be relocated to the loft?
--- is it worth ripping out the copper system and putting in plastic?
--- how much can do I before I pay a plumber to come in and fit the new boiler/commission the new system?
5. Any tips on wiring up the bathroom? I want a demisting mirror and a shaver/toothbrush charger ideally.

Definitely missed something but keen to hear your thoughts.
 
Ceiling, We used PVC Planks type things in the bathroom looks great :)
Saves plastering it too haha :p

Curbless, ours is a low profile tray, depends on the flooring I believe

Plumbing system... speedfit!
And stick a double isolator valve on the toilet while yer doing it.

And add isolators to the hot and cold feed to your shower too (we forgot lol)

We had gas people do our heating then realised when we pulled up the flooring they'd left a load of old copper in the system capped off lol.
Pulled all the downstairs piping of redid with speedit, lagged it all anyway lol
I believe you could do all the rads n piping yerself and then leave the gas mains and the runs to the boiler for the certified people.
 
Congrats on the new house.

Your daughter will not be able to appreciate the view out of the window for a few years yet and normally once kids are asleep noise doesn't really affect them especially if they are use to it so I would really consider whether it is worth the hassle of relocating all the plumbing for this reason alone. Bedroom 2 maybe to big for her currently but would she likely move into this room when she is a little older?

I think with any house you need to live in it for a while and get a real feel for what you need/want from it, as this may differ from your ideas during the buying process.
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
Ceiling, We used PVC Planks type things in the bathroom looks great :)
Saves plastering it too haha :p

Curbless, ours is a low profile tray, depends on the flooring I believe

Plumbing system... speedfit!
And stick a double isolator valve on the toilet while yer doing it.

And add isolators to the hot and cold feed to your shower too (we forgot lol)

We had gas people do our heating then realised when we pulled up the flooring they'd left a load of old copper in the system capped off lol.
Pulled all the downstairs piping of redid with speedit, lagged it all anyway lol
I believe you could do all the rads n piping yerself and then leave the gas mains and the runs to the boiler for the certified people.
Click to expand...
I would consider the planks however the external roof has an additional slope (the hip?) that makes it not totally flat.

Low profile tray is probably the way I am going to go to be honest - I just waited to bait the curbless enthusiasts!

Thanks - will probably be doing the pipework myself I think. Just need to plan the perfect (or least worst) route!

roccles said:
Congrats on the new house.

Your daughter will not be able to appreciate the view out of the window for a few years yet and normally once kids are asleep noise doesn't really affect them especially if they are use to it so I would really consider whether it is worth the hassle of relocating all the plumbing for this reason alone. Bedroom 2 maybe to big for her currently but would she likely move into this room when she is a little older?

I think with any house you need to live in it for a while and get a real feel for what you need/want from it, as this may differ from your ideas during the buying process.
Click to expand...

Thanks, you are probably right - however as outlined in the main post, the 2nd bedroom is just far too big for her. The room is for sleeping and right now it is like a massive playroom to her. Bedroom 2 is also going to be my master, with Bedroom 1 becoming a guest/office room.

Totally agree on your final point though - that's why I waited to create this thread until we had been in a few days. I am now on hols in France so have some real thinking/anti distraction time!
 
Can't figure out what you're trying to do with the bathroom, where's it being moved to?
The 4" poo pipe would be your biggest hurdle routing through with the right fall so it works.
Shower, avoid the curbless unless you're going to tank the whole bathroom and ditra matt it which is all costly

Seems like a load of cost for nothing more than fiddling with a layout. I'd just renew with good quality products
 
Maccapacca said:
Can't figure out what you're trying to do with the bathroom, where's it being moved to?
The 4" poo pipe would be your biggest hurdle routing through with the right fall so it works.
Shower, avoid the curbless unless you're going to tank the whole bathroom and ditra matt it which is all costly

Seems like a load of cost for nothing more than fiddling with a layout. I'd just renew with good quality products
Click to expand...
Bedroom 3 swaps with Bathroom.
Daughter moves to "new" Bedroom 3.
Master becomes Bedroom 2.
Office/Guest becomes Bedroom 1.

Luckily the wall the toilet is depicted against is an outside wall anyway and I have about 2.3m of space/access to drains.

One of the perks of doing a totally new bathroom is I don't need to worry too much about keeping the thing liveable. I'll be doing the renovation in my spare time and it is a pain in the arse when the little one needs a bath at 18:30 and I need to down tools/make it good.

Edit: biggest single advantage is also having a proper guest bedroom -- the current bedroom 3 isn't big enough for guest bedroom and office without significant compromises.
 
dLockers said:
Bedroom 3 swaps with Bathroom.
Daughter moves to "new" Bedroom 3.
Master becomes Bedroom 2.
Office/Guest becomes Bedroom 1.

Luckily the wall the toilet is depicted against is an outside wall anyway and I have about 2.3m of space/access to drains.

One of the perks of doing a totally new bathroom is I don't need to worry too much about keeping the thing liveable. I'll be doing the renovation in my spare time and it is a pain in the arse when the little one needs a bath at 18:30 and I need to down tools/make it good.
Click to expand...

You can say that again, or clean yourself after a long day.

I'm currently doing a bathroom renovation in a 1900 build, single washing facilities, not fun :D
 
My first house purchase had an almost identical footprint upstairs except the box room and the bog were reversed (Zone 4 South London, 1930s build). Moving any plumbing in that house was a nightmare because of the drop needed for waste (as said above). You could use a mascerator pump (?) but yeah, don't.

Like you I only needed 2 bedrooms (1 for Junior) and used the box room for an "office". Tight but doable.
 
CapitalOne said:
My first house purchase had an almost identical footprint upstairs except the box room and the bog were reversed (Zone 4 South London, 1930s build). Moving any plumbing in that house was a nightmare because of the drop needed for waste (as said above). You could use a mascerator pump (?) but yeah, don't.

Like you I only needed 2 bedrooms (1 for Junior) and used the box room for an "office". Tight but doable.
Click to expand...
I'm fortunate that the place is midway up a hill so even the downstairs has a proper drop into the sewer! I'll get pics on the outside when I'm back.
 
dLockers said:
I'm fortunate that the place is midway up a hill so even the downstairs has a proper drop into the sewer! I'll get pics on the outside when I'm back.
Click to expand...

Sure but I meant the water waste from the sink (under the floorboards) connecting to the main "water out pipe" needed a pump (this was from moving the kitchen to the front sitting room though so maybe different)!
 
CapitalOne said:
Sure but I meant the water waste from the sink (under the floorboards) connecting to the main "water out pipe" needed a pump (this was from moving the kitchen to the front sitting room though so maybe different)!
Click to expand...
Ah gotcha! Yeah that could be an issue. I'll soon tell from digging up the boards though.
 
I don’t get why the daughter doesn’t have bedroom 3 and just redo the bathroom. Seems a waste of money to move it?

Probably cost the same to get the pros in to fix what you have than you shifting it to a different place by yourself.

But I like the inspiration! My bathroom is very small and trying to think of ways to improve it so I’ll follow this thread with interest (whatever route you pick!)
 
Ahleckz said:
I don’t get why the daughter doesn’t have bedroom 3 and just redo the bathroom. Seems a waste of money to move it?
Click to expand...
Bedroom 3 is small enough that it isn't sufficient for neither daughter's room or office/guest room.

Existing bathroom is perfect size for daughters bedroom.

Existing bathroom needs replacing anyway and I CBA refurbing whilst it's in full use.

Current bedroom 3 is also on a fairly busy road so windows open is a no-no for sleeping.

I think I'd agree if current bathroom didn't need tearing out anyway, but it's proper 80s vibe with carpet.

Edit: and the whole plumbing system needs an overhaul anyway. So same expense, but different location.
 
Have you checked which way the joists run?

If you plan to swap bed 3 with bathroom, the main issue will be moving the soil pipe (4" /100mm can't go thru the joists)

Fyi all electrical elements in a bathroom need signed off by a sparky
 
~Divine~Wind~ said:
@dLockers

aye our bathroom slopes with the eaves.
we ran the planks the other way so they're paneled horizontally up the slope then across the ceiling.

I'll grab a pic later


edit - sent you an convo mate
Click to expand...
Top man, just had a look, big inspiration overall. Thanks!

Buffman said:
Have you checked which way the joists run?

If you plan to swap bed 3 with bathroom, the main issue will be moving the soil pipe (4" /100mm can't go thru the joists)

Fyi all electrical elements in a bathroom need signed off by a sparky
Click to expand...
Luckily the waste for the toilet can go straight out of the wall. I assume it will run the same as the existing bathroom for the sink but worst case I can get creative...

I will put that on my list as one of the first jobs tho!

What's the crack for getting water pipes through joists? Is there a trick?
 
Also, if by "curb less shower" you mean a wetroom, personally I wouldn't bother as it's a lot more effort, requires a lot more skill and to be honest the differential to a 40mm shower tray can be very low. See my example below:

Set both the tray onto chipboard (or other sheet floor)
Then 6mm cement boards (tile adhesive to underside)
Then tile adhesive
Then tiles
Brings you up nearish to level

PU3bFMi.jpeg
 
Buffman said:
Also, if by "curb less shower" you mean a wetroom, personally I wouldn't bother as it's a lot more effort, requires a lot more skill and to be honest the differential to a 40mm shower tray can be very low. See my example below:

Set both the tray onto chipboard (or other sheet floor)
Then 6mm cement boards (tile adhesive to underside)
Then tile adhesive
Then tiles
Brings you up nearish to level

PU3bFMi.jpeg
Click to expand...
Yeah that looks spot on. Guess I'll pick up most of what I need from your thread!
 
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