DIY ensuite bathroom replacement - build log
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Soldato
Had an interesting one this morning - no (or only luke warm) hot water coming through the taps from the combi. Heating was fine.
After a bit of troubleshooting, I realised that I'd not put the rubber stops back into the Grohe rough-in box which was allowing hot to mix in the box when house taps were opened. I'd have thought the isolating valve (full bore) would have prevented that but I guess not.
All sorted now, but I thought our boiler had lunched itself and that it was my fault (which it was I guess). Wife was giving me grief.
After a bit of troubleshooting, I realised that I'd not put the rubber stops back into the Grohe rough-in box which was allowing hot to mix in the box when house taps were opened. I'd have thought the isolating valve (full bore) would have prevented that but I guess not.
All sorted now, but I thought our boiler had lunched itself and that it was my fault (which it was I guess). Wife was giving me grief.
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I can show you pictures of what happens when the wrong board is used and bodged in typical installer fashion. Our downstairs shower room was done with no regard to the proper materials and water has gradually made it's way behind the shower mixer pipes, other holes and failed grout. The result is a wall of soggy plasterboard behind the tiles which I will soon be ripping out.
Soldato
I can see that happening at my mates as i can see gaps in the grout, tiles not fitted snugly to tray either.
Even tiling around the door is bad as they just started from one corner, tiled across the wall instead of using the door frame as the starting point. It looks odd and unsymmetrical!
Cant tell my mate as he doesnt care!
He'll care in a few years when the dampness has crept to where he notices it and has to have it done all over again. He could do what the previous owners of our house did and just paint over it and sell it!
Two walls boarded then I ran out of washers, which Mr. Amazon is delivering two more boxes of tomorrow.
Finally getting somewhere.
Tomorrow I'm going to prime the brick wall and floor and hopefully either finishing the wall boarding, or finally fit the shower tray (which I'm ******** myself about).
Finally getting somewhere.
Tomorrow I'm going to prime the brick wall and floor and hopefully either finishing the wall boarding, or finally fit the shower tray (which I'm ******** myself about).
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I've got an "Abacus No More Leaks" sitting in the garage. I had a discussion with someone earlier in this thread about this vs. classiseal. Do you reckon the Abacus one is OK? It looks like it sits on top of the shower tray where the classiseal goes behind it, which I can't see why that's better.
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The Abacus stuff just looks like a roll of weteoom tape to me. The classiseal is definitely different and creates a proper tileable lip, not used the Abacus type stuff on shower tray so can't comment on which is better.
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They both do the same job in a slightly different way. I used the no more leaks kit, it is slightly more than a wetroom tape, and I preferred the fact it created the lip on the tray. Both will do the same thing if installed properly, so its more personal preference.
Finally installed the shower tray and finished (nearly) the wall boarding today.
Didn't really enjoy the shower tray part - I was worried about level / shower water running to waste, build up height of tray vs. tiled floor (tray high enough to be level or above finished floor), consistency of tile adhesive, alignment of waste, made a right mess of the sides, etc. All was well in the end though. I used S2 tile adhesive at a depth of about 15mm in the end.
Tomorrow is boarding the final bits of the wall around the window (with scraps, as I've nearly run out of boards) and hopefully getting the floor down with some SLC.
Didn't really enjoy the shower tray part - I was worried about level / shower water running to waste, build up height of tray vs. tiled floor (tray high enough to be level or above finished floor), consistency of tile adhesive, alignment of waste, made a right mess of the sides, etc. All was well in the end though. I used S2 tile adhesive at a depth of about 15mm in the end.
Tomorrow is boarding the final bits of the wall around the window (with scraps, as I've nearly run out of boards) and hopefully getting the floor down with some SLC.
Finally fully boarded. Floor is glued and screwed with S2 and about £100 of Wedi washers!
Next is some waterproof sealant (Mega Strength STS) between the rest of the boards, ufh mat and self-levelling compound, and it's ready to tile.
I have £1k of tiles and a Montolit Masterpiuma 63P5 in the garage ready to go.
Next is some waterproof sealant (Mega Strength STS) between the rest of the boards, ufh mat and self-levelling compound, and it's ready to tile.
I have £1k of tiles and a Montolit Masterpiuma 63P5 in the garage ready to go.
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Fully sealed and tanked and finally ready for tiling
I love the STS Mega Strength adhesive, which is 100% (sea)water proof and has been used between every board joint that can feasibly get wet. Between this, the acrylic primer, the tanking and the XPS boards (as well as the tiles / grout and SLC), if it leaks then I give up!
I love the STS Mega Strength adhesive, which is 100% (sea)water proof and has been used between every board joint that can feasibly get wet. Between this, the acrylic primer, the tanking and the XPS boards (as well as the tiles / grout and SLC), if it leaks then I give up!
If you have a leak I'd suspect Noah is already on his way! Having had a leaky bathroom in the past I think I'd want the same assurance.
I did on the shower wall area, but this (as well as the tanking membrane) was unnecessary as per the manufacturer's instructions, because this product replaces tape being 100% waterproof and foaming slightly to fill gaps.
Just to follow up on the above...Below is a picture of my waste arrangement as it leaves the bathroom into the garage below.
I've come across some knowledge on the internet that has made me think I've not done this correctly, specifically with respect to the 90 degree street elbows you can see.
On the bottom left is the 32mm basin waste...I think this will be ok as it's horizontal into vertical?
But on the right and above are two 40mm 90 degree street elbows for the shower waste. Will I get problems with the flow or future blocking susceptibility with this arrangement?
I've got ply down but nothing else yet, so could cut some away and reconfigure, but it would probably take me several hours so would rather avoid unless it's necessary. I've tested everything of course and flow is perfect (at the moment without soap and hair buildup!).
That said I'd rather do it right than worry down the line, so should I replace the street elbows with swept elbows just to be safe?
I could access the whole thing through the garage ceiling below, so could theoretically carry on as is then fix from below if I ever had flow issues. What would you do?
As I was fitting the shower tray, I realised that I'd forgotten to solvent weld one of the joints in the pipes shown above. I was waggling the pipes around and one of the joints just separated entirely
.Obviously I'm very glad that I found this before installing the tray and I took the opportunity to replace the street elbow with a swept 90 bend instead. Much better.
Today I primed the floor backer boards with Ultra Tilefix (Instarmac) Pro Primer, after a call with their technical support line, when they confirmed that I will need to:
- Prime the backer boards with neat primer as the boards are non porous
- Prime the ufh mat with neat primer again to ensure the tape doesn't cause any issues
- Prime the SLC with a 3:1 water: primer mix
- Prime the SLC again with a 1:1 water: primer mix
Beginning to see why pros never follow the full process...they'll simply never be able to compete on time and cost.
The next 'complication' anyway is that I've laid the ufh mat and completely ignored the rules on minimum distances between cables and between cable and wall. This is because my 4 sqm mat was somehow way too big for my 5.7 sqm (incl 1200 x 800 tray) bathroom.
I cbf to change it, so I'm gonna send it and keep the temperature at modest levels.
There are warnings everywhere about 50mm minimum gaps, but I can't find information about what will actually happen if the gap is less than this in some places. We're about to find out lol.
- Prime the backer boards with neat primer as the boards are non porous
- Prime the ufh mat with neat primer again to ensure the tape doesn't cause any issues
- Prime the SLC with a 3:1 water: primer mix
- Prime the SLC again with a 1:1 water: primer mix
Beginning to see why pros never follow the full process...they'll simply never be able to compete on time and cost.
The next 'complication' anyway is that I've laid the ufh mat and completely ignored the rules on minimum distances between cables and between cable and wall. This is because my 4 sqm mat was somehow way too big for my 5.7 sqm (incl 1200 x 800 tray) bathroom.
I cbf to change it, so I'm gonna send it and keep the temperature at modest levels.
There are warnings everywhere about 50mm minimum gaps, but I can't find information about what will actually happen if the gap is less than this in some places. We're about to find out lol.
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