Diary Of A Diy Bathroom Fitter

Phase 1 Assessing the job

When I was quoted the ridiculous price for taking out my old bathroom suite and putting a new one in I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I finally awoke and picked myself up off the floor and decided that there was no other option than to fit the bathroom myself. The question is; could a complete novice handle such a big job?

I am a complete novice when it comes to DIY; and being brutally honest the thought of doing it made me feel physically sick. The first thing we had to do was choose a new bathroom from the plethora of bathroom suites that are available online. I have quite a small bathroom so was looking for something that would look great but maximise on the space I have available. In the end I went for a corner suite. Reasonably priced and most importantly I wouldn't have to do any major plumbing work.

I don't think I would have attempted this project if I had to start moving any plumbing. Lucky enough for me the suite I chose would fit quite nicely and because of its space saving corner bath would actually give me more room to move around.

With most projects I undertake I usually just get stuck in, but this time I decided that it would probably be best to formulate some sort of plan. After careful thought my plan was as follows:

Rip old bathroom outPut bath inPut sink and toilet inTile the wallsTile the floorAdd a radiatorPaint the wallsAdd in all the extras It sounds easy doesn't it? Let's see how I got on.

Phase 2 The Big Rip Out

I have a family of four including myself and two of those family members are under six. What this means is that speed is a must and having no bathroom for even a short period of time is not an option.

I set to work smashing the walls and bathroom appliances and all seemed to be going well. This was easy, until I came across the stubborn wall of tiles. Those of you who have tried to remove wall tiles will fully sympathise. The adhesive that was helping the tiles cling had gotten stronger over time, and they weren't being removed without putting up a fight.

All I could do was role up my sleeves and continue to bash away. Eventually I had smashed everything in sight, surprisingly I hadn't caused too much damage. The one thing my dad always advised me to do when DIY'ing was: keep your working area tidy. Taking that advice I started to take all of the rubble out of the bathroom and placed it nicely in the skip.

Again I realise that the last three paragraphs may have made the job seem simple but let me now list my top tips for this small jobs that I wish I would have had prior to starting the job:

Remember to turn the water off before beginning to wreak havoc in your bathroom.Organise a skip.Purchase quick fit cap ends for your exposed piping.Leave the toilet in until you are ready to actually replace it

Phase 3 Floor Rip Up

When I started the project I had planned to lay tiles over the top of the current flooring. Logically, it seemed easier. However, I soon discovered there had previously been floor tiles laid and remainders of super-strong adhesive made it ridiculously difficult to get up. Trying to tile over that would have been more trouble than it was worth.

This is a decision that I am so glad I made. I set about pulling up the old ply board that still had chunks of adhesive stuck to it that I (like an idiot) was going to try and tile over. Once this was finished the real work could begin. I must say at this point I was feeling quite pleased with myself.

Phase 4 Bath Installation

For some reason, don't ask me why, I thought this job was going to be the easiest. It was probably because all the plumbing was already in place and it would just be a case of slamming the new bath up against the wall and screwing the new pipes on.

What I didn't take into account is that the bath didn't come with any tap holes. Armed with my drill, I set about making the necessary cuts. There is probably an easier way to do this; but I basically drilled a whole in the centre of where I wanted to put my bathroom taps, which was a bath filler tap, and then I used my jigsaw to saw out as far as I needed. I then turned the blade to make a nice circular hole large enough to fit my bath filler tap fixtures through.

Taps fitted; I then pushed the bath up against the wall and got the old spirit level out to make sure it was level. I successfully pinned it to the wall and all was secure. Fitting the waste pipe was a bit tricky but once I had discovered which parts went where it was fine.

All that was left for the bath installation was hooking up the tap to the old water pipes. I can't recommend them enough and I strongly suggest, to anybody fitting their own bathroom, to buy everything with speed fit connections. All I had to do was literally push one end on and then screw the other end in. Job done - I had a working bath.

Phase 5 Tiling the walls

OK, so I didn't do everything myself. I see tiling as a skilled job, but yet again funds prevented me calling a professional. So I called in the cavalry (My dad). He is no tiler either, but he is good at is being patient and methodical. Between the two of us we skilfully (if I do say so myself managed to tile two of the main walls all by our little selves.

Phase 6 Basin and furniture run installation

At this stage everything was starting to take shape; spurred by my success I decided to fit the basin and furniture run.

As I had measured everything perfectly, the furniture run was spot on. If you do measure incorrectly it's easy to exchange for a different size. Fitting the furniture run was simple; just literally screw the furniture run to the wall.

It was now time to sit the basin unit on top. Luckily basin units already have drilled tap holes (or else I would have threw it out of the window). Fitting the Monobloc tap was just as simple as the bath tap; thanks to the beauty of the speed fit push on connectors.

Phase 7 Almost there and completion

I was looking forward to the final stage. This phase consisted of tiling the floor, fitting the shower, completing the grouting and finally, painting the room.

I was ready to put the time in today as I wanted it finished. I spent the whole day working my backside off, on what can only be described as the most boring jobs in the world: grouting and painting.

Fitting the shower was fun, especially when messing with electricity and water. I wouldn't recommend doing this yourself as it is just too dangerous if you get it wrong. It is quite a simple process if you already had a shower where you are putting your new one and literally only involves unscrewing the old one and screwing the new one in. The electrical connections are the same as if you are wiring a plug so not rocket science at all. If you are not 100% sure though get some help.

I could taste the success as the end was in sight. I worked 12 hours that day before I finally finished. All that remained outstanding were accessories and a designer radiator.

These got added the next day and all I can say is that I am very proud of myself for taking this project on and winning. Instead of paying a fortune for a bathroom fitter I could now stand back say to myself: "I did that".