Bathroom renovation tips please...

[royboy]

I'm getting ready to pull apart my downstairs bathroom (only small 1800 x 2200) to fit a new bath (Spa), vanity and put in bigger windows. I have a couple of concerns and hope some one can point me in the right direction.

New Bath - I'm happy with the majority of the installation of the new bath, however I'm a little unsure about how to line up the drain plug with the pipe in the existing position.

New window. The missus wants a bigger window. We have a double storey weather board home and the existing window is on a load bearing wall.

Any advice welcomed....
Cheers,

[Theva]

Royboy,

Pipes - no idea

Windows:

A bit messy and risky; recommend getting it done by a licensed builder of sorts. The basic sequence is

1) Support the top wall plate with screw props, remove the window & lintel.

2) Install new studs / jab studs, appropriate new lintel and then install new window.

As a starting point, one book I can recommend on general information is The Australian Home Renovators Guide by Alan S, available at Bunnies and other places.

Hope this is of some use.

Regards,
Theva

[Zed]

Hi,

we did our 2 bathrooms including one bath not so long ago - I recommend getting a good plumber and helping him out doing the slave labour. this keeps the cost down, gets a professional finish and teaches you too.

by the way you'll have to case manage a bath install as you need to get the plumber and the tiler talking so that they can work around eachother (if your tiling the bath in). in my case the tiler did the seating of the bath.

we ended up with a great job too (wanna buy a house?)

[Little Festo]

Check with you building board re regulations. I did all of the "hard labour' when renovating/replacing my bathroom. I assisted the plumber by cutting new channels for relocating pipes, put up new walls ready for the tiler who had to seal the floor and walls before tiling. Do you need to seal the floors and walls for wet areas, here in the NT we do. There are also regulations re electrical wiring.

I fitted the spa bath in with a bit of advice from the the plumber. It was a lot of hard work but turned out rather well and was worth the effort.

All the best and happy spaing when you have it all completed.

Peter

[iro]

Hi, I put in a new corner spa. The damm plug lined up with a under floor support beam. What could I do? Well I went off to my local plumbing super market and got a swivelling moveable drain. It is basically 2 plates about 6in in diameter. you can move the top and bottom plates to suit the opening for the bath and drain. I cann't remember the name of the product, but it was made in england and cost about $28. The best time saver ever! The only problem wih it is, it takes a little longer to drain the spa then with a straight through drain.

[Stu22]

Royboy,

With regards to the plumbing - you'll have to just add pipe sections in to make the waste meet the drain (soil pipe?). Not sure what you have there, but here (England) waste pipe is 1 1/4" plastic pipe - you can get various angles and inserts that hand tighten onto the existing pipe - they're quite cheap. If its copper, i'd use compression fittings, as they only need two spanners to tighten up - no flames, no charred joists....
Copper is good as you can bend it (with a spring) to meet the drain.

Not too sure on the window part - something to do with lintels and Akro props - i'd ask a builder like the other guys said.

Good luck with it all.

Stu.