The Great Bathroom Adventure - episode 2

There is absolutely no point in showing here a picture of the en-suite shower room which is now missing from our bedroom, obviously, because there is nothing to show any more! In fact all there is left is a pile of broken plasterboard pieces and a collection of nail studded timber pieces and I refuse to photograph these. The final part of this project was to relocate a power point, which is fed  from beneath the house, and this gave me the opportunity to correct a couple of other wiring issues too. Perhaps this is not the time to dwell on the confused state of our house's electrical wiring but if we move to the plumbing, this is interesting, to say the least. Our house has had at least one earlier central heating system and the pipes for this still lie beneath our floors, empty of water and gathering dust but causing confusion when it comes to trying to work out what is what. Rather more annoyingly, some of these redundant pipes still rise up through holes in the floorboards and have been chopped off just beneath our interior carpets. The pipe-less holes in the floor whistle when the wind blows hard outside, cold air rushing up into the house from below so plugging these holes when I come across them has become routine now. Gradually we are sealing up the house from the outside elements. We are also accumulating a considerable quantity of copper pipe as I remove more and more of the old redundant bits.

But I digress.

Returning to our (now missing) bathroom, we are accumulating materials, new wall cladding panels and tiles, ready to go full steam ahead as soon as our plumber returns. However there is a sequence that must be followed. The tiles that will surround our new, enlarged shower cannot by fitted until the shower tray is in. Wall panels must precede the toilet and sink fitting and we have temporarily removed the bathroom radiator ready for its replacement with a heated towel rail but deciding where this fits in the project timeline is less clear. 

Finally the big day arrives. A white van draws up outside and soon our plumber is carrying boxes into the house, assorted pieces of our new bathroom. The 'before' picture above is what confronted him although it hardly does justice to what is happening beyond the window where our first snow of the season is settling on the ground. The forecast is for cold weather, a good excuse to stay inside and move forward with the tiling which will surround our newly fitted shower tray.

But hold on. These are big tiles; more like great rectangular ceramic tea trays. Which begs the question... which way round do they go, horizontal or vertical? And how do we match up the joints - all in line or offset, like house bricks. Important decisions have to be made but eventually we make a start and soon discover that once the first few are done, larger tiles means quicker tiling. Who'd have thought it.

We have an intriguing mix of wall coverings to install in what is quite a small space but the end result will give us a bathroom which is uniquely ours, in contrast to the rest of the house which still reflects the previous owner's taste. As each wall disappears behind a new colour, one we have chosen to give us a smooth modern look, our vision becomes reality. When we have finished, the room will be ready for the return of our plumber, the man who will give us back a working bathroom.