Cool new bathroom

We recently had our tatty old bathroom renovated and I have been meaning to put up some photos and details on the blog – mainly to give a bit of exposure to the local chap who did the work as we are really pleased with it.

It is a very small bathroom and we kept the arrangement of the bath, basin and toilet as there was little choice to be honest.  There was an existing big cupboard just inside the door which the previous owners had washing machine and dryer in which we kept and just had painted.

The work was carried out by Paul Morgan who is the husband of a friend of the family.  He trades as Morgan Property Services and his website is www.morgan-property-services.co.uk.  He carries out work in and around the Southend and South East Essex Area.  Email info@morgan-property-services.co.uk and telephone 01702 322447.

Paul gave us a fixed price for the work with only the area of tiling being a rate and he stuck to his price albeit with a couple of extra items we wanted doing.  He did most of the work himself but had assistance from a lad for a few days.  It did take a couple of weeks to do and I think it took longer than he planned as he had to patch the wall considerably behind the tiles and he had to chase the wall out a bit to get the bath in but he stuck to his price.  He was pleasant, tidy and his workmanship was excellent.  I’d have no qualms about recommending him to others.

The bathroom suite items came from B&Q from their fairly basic range.  I have a B&Q trade card which got me 25% off the cost of the suite (only tenuous link to the industry required to get one) plus I can get B&Q gift cards through our work employee ‘thank you’ scheme for 8% off face value so all in all we got the suite (and everything else from there) pretty cheaply.

I wasn’t sure about the keyhole bath to start with but it has grown on me.  It has a bigger surface area than the last one and so takes a lot more water to fill and has a flatter bottom but is actually quite nice to have a bath in.  It is excellent for having a shower in with a large flat area in which to stand.  The shower screen door is also from B&Q – just a basic plain one.

I love the basin shape.  Love it.  The toilet is okay. It is a bit near the wall but that is a function of where the soil pipe came out the back and where the pipe through the wall is.  It flushes effectively but does have a small water hammer ‘clunk’ when it has finished filling.  Might get Paul back to see if he can fix that.  It is a little ‘wobbly’ but that is a function of how it is is secured – just to the floor.  The wall behind the cistern is not at all square (as it is an old 1901 house) and so it was impossible to secure the cistern to the wall (had there been fixings which there weren’t).

Bath and basin taps were again from B&Q standards range and I love them. The quarter turn taps take a little getting used to but are fine.  The flooring is an offcut of vinyl from B&Q too.  All bought with the big discounts.

The tiles were all from Tops Tiles in Southend – bought with Tesco vouchers which was a good saving too.  Plain white ‘wavy’ tiles and blue mosaics.  These we really like and set the room off brilliantly.  Note that a special ashesive and grout was needed for the mosaic tiles.  Paul had a job doing the tiling as the wall was so not flat and needed patching where the old plaster and previous patching came off with the old tiles.  Finished work is excellent though.

We love the big mirror.  That and the cabinet were from IKEA as was the bin and the accessories.  All very good value.

All in all we are very pleased with our new bathroom.

A few pics below.  Loads more in an album on my picasaweb photos sharing website here.

Any questions then post a comment.