Bathroom Rework

[PanBiker]

Been out shopping for bathroom accessories, new loo brush, toilet roll holder, waste bin and a chrome shower tidy. They have made good progress with the cladding. Window wall is done just the window frame and sill to do on there. Back of toilet panel is on and they are working back towards the door frame where I know there is a small issue in that there is a very small return next to the architrave and with that in place it makes it difficult to get the tongued and grooved boards in. I think John is cutting all the boards and dry fitting so the last one which will be a narrower panel can be snook in. I think it will be easier if that side architrave comes off. No problem to me as when refitted the architrave and the door will be a sanding and painting job, the only bits that will need painting in the project, I will do that in my own time. The door is solid heavy pine and is varnished at the moment. It needs some shaving off the bottom as the floor is now higher with the ply topping.

[PanBiker]

Well, lots of progress made today. Vinyl laid and the rest of the wall panels fitted. Here is the washbasin corner and the front wall round to the window. Braced until the fillers, glues and sealants cure properly.



Following round the front wall.



Final fix for the toilet now the floor covering and the walls are finished. The vinyl looks like it has a join in here but it hasn't, that's an off cut in front of the toilet.



Along the wall where the radiator will be and showing the small return at the side of the architrave. John managed to get the two panels in without having to take the Architrave off. Both panels were fitted at the same time, engaging the tongue and groove in the middle and then pushing the join down which spread the pre cut panels into place at each end. Worked out well, the small gap has been filled with a bead of grey silicone. The vinyl has been laid with the pattern striations running parallel to the slightly shorter wall.



Last image is the left side of the door. The slight gap here will be finished with grey silicone.



John is confident that providing the washbasin cabinet is delivered tomorrow that they will finish on time.

Jobs left to do, washbasin and stand, shower enclosure, fixing and wiring the extractor fan, fitting cowl to outside wall. All that remains then will be any silicone runs required. John says he will fit the stuff from our shopping expedition today, a new chrome toilet roll holder and a corner shower tidy. Both these will need drilling plugging and fixing through the new cladding. There is a knack to this to avoid damaging the finish. You have to drill a small pilot through the honeycomb then enlarge that to the size of the fixing, then swap to the masonry drill. He has plenty of experience with this so discretion is the better part of valour with these two jobs. It would be a shame to bugger it up for the sake of four screws.

#wellsuited.

[Stanley]

Very impressive.....

[PanBiker]

Last day today and the lads tipped up at 9.20 after loading up with the final bits for today, all except the base cabinet for the washbasin.

We had a minor leak overnight as there was water around the base of the toilet. I didn't notice it last night and it wasnt a deluge but clearly needed attention. I mentioned it to John and he had it sorted in less than two minutes. It was the back waste push fit seal that had not seated properly and only needed a minor adjustment to get it to seal properly.

Next to be installed was the new towel warmer radiator.



Mirror cabinet was next this has two internal shelves.



Extraction fan was fixed and wired in.



They then made a start on the corner shower enclosure. By lunch time they had the side rails mounted and the end panels fitted. I noticed on the packaging that this unit weighs 39Kg when fully assembled.



That was the close of play up to their lunch break. When they came back they said they finally had delivery of the base cabinet for the washbasin. Sally wanted new towels for the bathroom so we went on to Boundary Mill this afternoon. While we were away the lads obviously cracked on and completed the job. I just saw their van backing down Ash grove as we got back onto Bessie Street and parked up so we missed the end of the job and the opportunity to thank them for their fantastic work. I rang Jane who is the boss but got the answering machine. I expressed our gratitude for an exemplary job. Here are the photo's of what we found on returning home.

Washbasin and base unit which has two drawers the top one is split to allow for the hidden pipe run channel. The washbasin has a single mono block cascade tap, the waste is spring operated so does not need a chain.



Completed window and toilet roll holder fitted.



Toilet and radiator which has now got chrome shrouds on the pipework.



Door rehung, looks well out of place now, it had to be shortened at the bottom to allow for the extra ply layer on the floor. This is the only bit that will need painting. We will loose the towel rail on there.



Completed corner shower enclosure. Corner shower tidy installed.



Shower tray and waste.



We are very pleased with the workmanship and the final result. The landing and stairs were left tidy and vacuumed from top to bottom. House was locked up and the key posted through the door.

We will be leaving a positive review on the company website which was Wilkin Heating and Plumbing.

[Big Kev]

Grand job. Looks good.

[Wendyf]

Very smart.

[chinatyke]

They did a great job without any mess, the sign of good workmen. I love the sink unit, you ended up with a good deal there.

Thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

[Stanley]

Very swish job. Trouble is it makes me realise how old fashioned I am.....

[PanBiker]

Thanks everyone, my layout design executed by skilled blokes, very happy with the result.

Waiting until teatime before I test the shower, let the silicone sealant cure off properly.

[PanBiker]

I ordered a roller blind for the window over the weekend we should have it early October. It's a no screw fix variety and has stick on plates for each side of the window opening. The blind then slots in and locks, a bit like a fluorescent tube fixing. I have ordered it as a reverse roll so the blind clears the top window catches and a simple chain drive so there are no springs to bust etc.

Made a start on the door, removed the hangar and the towel rail from the back and filled the holes. Needs a coarse sanding as its varnished and will need the key for the paint. Can't get that yet as I don't have enough fuel in the car to go and get what we need.

[PanBiker]

We found some fuel a while ago and got the paint for the door. I have been applying myself to that for a few days. Two coats both sides and it has come up quite good I reckon.



Bathroom accessories, a new towel holder by the basin for the hand towel.



Inside of the door new chrome handles, latch and a replacement chrome rail, handy for the bath mat.



Our made to measure blind turned up yesterday and I fitted the end plates which are stick on types but can also be nailed or screwed if required. I put the blind up this morning, good news, I got the plates right and it is level and parallel to the window.



Simple chain mechanism to raise and lower.



We just need a nice chrome hook now for the back of the door but essentially it's finished.

[chinatyke]

Nice job.

[PanBiker]

The two drawer bathroom washbasin cabinet has soft close drawers but the bottom one failed! Not overloaded or anything like that it just gave up auto closing. Similar construction to my kitchen cabinets but different drawer runners. The cabinets also came fully assembled.

In my kitchen units it is an easy matter to reset the closing mechanism. You just un-clip the small side retaining plates, pull off the drawer front, pull the runners out to full extent, lift the drawer of the runners, push those fully back in, which resets the mechanism, re-attach the drawer, pop the drawer front back on and the side plates job done. two minutes of a job.

Attempted same on the bathroom cabinet but I cant for the life in me see how to get the drawer front or the drawer itself off the runners!

I emailed Jane at Wilkins who supplied and fitted the cabinet. They have not had the problem before so they contacted the manufacturer who said they would send some replacement runners out. It was March when Jane contacted them and they have just sent them out to her! I know she has chased on more than one occasion.

I hope they have sent some instructions.

[Big Kev]

hope they have sent some instructions

Nowt on Google?

[PanBiker]

I have been on the manufacturers website and there is nothing there. Not tried a straight Google search. Will wait until I get them, it may be obvious once I can see the rabbit.

[Big Kev]

[PanBiker]

My plumbers dropped of the parts the supplier sent but unfortunately they were about as much use as a chocolate teapot! Two LH drawer sides that have no bearing on the soft close mechanism and only one closing mechanism but for the RH side!

Still couldn't see how to get the drawer out so I chased the suppliers website on the padded bag the bits came in. Couldn't find the parts though so I ventured further. I found a similar vanity unit on Victorian Plumbing, (probably identical actually). Fortunately, drilling down I found downloadable instructions which showed me how to get the drawer out.

Once out I could see the problem, the left side pneumatic had stopped working. However, pulling out the runner to it's full extent which you have to do to refit the drawer resets the mechanism. I refitted the drawer but had to alter the drawer front alignment slightly. Once done it is back to working perfectly.

All this really just for want of the specific cabinet instructions. I have emailed Jane to tell her the parts are incorrect and no longer required. They should have been supplied under warranty so there shouldn't really be a problem.

They are considerably more complicated than my kitchen unit drawers which are dead easy to reset. Main difference is that you have to remove the clip on drawer fronts to reset them but it's only a minute of a job, even on the 800mm wide pan drawers in the island. I have only ever had to reset one of the 500 drawers though. Vanity unit is over engineered I would say.

[Big Kev]

Once out I could see the problem, the left side pneumatic had stopped working. However, pulling out the runner to it's full extent which you have to do to refit the drawer resets the mechanism. I refitted the drawer but had to alter the drawer front alignment slightly. Once done it is back to working perfectly.

Infuriating but at least it's sorted now