Common Bathroom Remodelling Problems

The bathroom is the second most popular room to remodel, behind a kitchen, as it adds value to your home. Remodelling your bathroom can be highly rewarding, but if you do not address some of the most common issues, can be a real headache. By avoiding these problem areas, you can prevent the time and money that can be created through these costly mistakes.

1. Measure Accurately
It is paramount that all the dimensions that you take in your bathroom are millimetre accurate. Many shower enclosures do have adjustments on them, but these vary by manufacturer, not fitting may be the difference of only a few millimetres. In this case, you would have to pay for plumber’s time, the cost of sending the items back and also the cost of delivery of another item that does fit. Not all walls are true, especially in modern houses, so be sure to take a measurement from various heights of the wall, to find the minimum and maximum gap that you have to work with, thus enabling you to source an item that fits. Most shower doors and enclosures have adjustments around 30mm, but consult technical details of products to be sure.

2. Make a Plan
The everyday person is not a designer, but by putting together a plan of your bathroom, and including existing fittings and pipe work can help you select the type of bathroom items that you require, and the sizes that are likely to fit. The crudest way to do this is to draw a scale plan of your existing bathroom and note the sizes of existing pieces; you can them trial different sizes in different layouts. There are several interior design packages that do this for you, and allow you to view your new bathroom in 3D. Common issues that arrive with planning bathrooms are door openings not being considered. A sliding or bi-fold door overcomes this issue as they do not open in to the bathroom floor area. Most shower doors open outwards, rather than inwards, but can be reversed so that the opening is on either the left or right hand side.

3. Consider your plumbing and heating
The type of shower that you purchase will depend very much on the water pressure and boiler that you have in your house. Power showers can only run off of high pressure. There are different options to overcome different types of water pressures, consult your plumber for the best ones for you.

4. Booking Trades People
It is highly advisable that you do not book trades people, or rip out your old bathroom until your goods have arrived and have been checked to see if they are in good condition. Bathrooms are used everyday, and if, for any reason there is delay in delivery, this will inconvenience you, leave you without bathroom facilities and be costly in terms of plumber’s fees. Also, most bathroom items are delicate in their nature, and although every care is taken to ensure they arrive with customers in one piece, accidents do happen. If an item has to be replaced, this may also delay the fitting of your bathroom. By avoiding these common problems, you can save yourself money, time and headaches.