15 tips for those planning a bathroom renovation

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to reduce the risk of leaks, choose materials and extend the life of your finishes.

Renovating a bathroom is more expensive than finishing other areas of the apartment. There is a lot of complicated and dirty work here: piping, laying tiles, installing equipment. And the consequences of mistakes can be severe - from flying tiles to flooding of neighbors from below. Such troubles can be avoided if you follow the recommendations of experts.

1. Think about the situation in advance

The bathroom contains plumbing fixtures, a washing machine, a water heater, cabinets, cabinets and racks. Think over their location in advance and mark them on the plan. This is how the masters will orientate themselves where to make exits under the water and sewage system.

2. Install the water heater

Or at least prepare leads and an outlet for it.

Sooner or later, summer weeks without hot water will force you to buy a water heater. To install it, you need access to wiring and pipes: if you don't take care of this beforehand, you will have to break the tiles, and then redo the repairs. It is better to withdraw communications from the very beginning - then all that remains is to buy and connect the device.

3. Take care of waterproofing

Waterproofing is a mandatory step in bathroom renovation. If you skip it, when leaking, water will penetrate through the cracks in the tile joints. The result is mold, mildew, or a bill for repairing the ceiling from the neighbors below.

To protect the rooms located below from flooding, roll, coating and impregnating materials are used. In bathrooms, most often they make a coating waterproofing or combine it with a roll one. The floor and walls need processing. The ceiling does not need to be protected: the waterproofing in the apartment from above should prevent leakage.

4. Don't skimp on pipes

They usually try to save money on pipes in three ways: they buy cheaper, order a simpler circuit and ignore optional details. But sometimes this kind of frugality can have negative consequences.

• Polypropylene pipes for water supply are cheaper. But they do not bend, so they have to be cut and connected with fittings. As a result, the joints become weak in places, leaks occur in them. I recommend XLPE pipes: they are more expensive, but the material itself is more reliable. And it is also easier to work with such elements, because they are flexible and do not require additional connections, which eliminates installation errors.
• The pipes are connected in a serial or parallel (collector) way. The first option is cheap, but inconvenient: if the mixer in the bathroom breaks down, the water will have to be turned off in the kitchen as well. With collector wiring, each device functions separately, so if something goes wrong, the rest of the plumbing can be used.
• A coarse filter must be installed on the water supply pipes, which catches large impurities like grains of sand. A fine filter is sometimes added to it - it copes with smaller particles. Thanks to it, sanitary ware, faucets, fittings and pipes last longer, and softer and cleaner water flows from the tap.
• Sometimes in the pipes of hot and cold water supply there are different pressures, which is why the heated stream goes back through the pipes with the cold one: it turns out that the hot water is overrun by the meter. To prevent this, you can install a check valve: it prevents the hot flow from entering the cold water supply pipes.

Saving on pipes leads to leaks, unnecessary costs or inconvenience in everyday life. It is better to reduce spending on tiles or expensive accessories than on communications.

5. Make sure the pipes have been pressure tested

The pipes in the bathroom are partially sewn into the walls. If they are not checked after installation, they can leak at the most inopportune moment. To find the problem, you have to take the wall apart, and then rebuild and decorate it.

To check the pipes in advance, pressure testing is carried out - testing the system with water or air under pressure. This helps to find weaknesses in the water supply system and eliminate them. This check is carried out by the same craftsmen who install the pipeline.

6. Leave access to pipes

Even if you use high-quality pipes and check them in advance, you will not be able to completely get rid of the risk of leakage: there may be a problem with common building communications or the connection may leak. So that in the event of an accident it is not necessary to disassemble the surrounding area and redo the repairs, it is impossible to sew pipes tightly into the wall.

Access is provided through plumbing hatches. In order not to sacrifice aesthetics, they can be covered with invisible doors or roller shutters, disguised as a cabinet by installing a furniture door. All this is made to order according to the size of the opening.

7. Install the anti-leakage system

This is an optional but useful device that costs from 8,000 rubles and will prevent a flood if a leak appears. The protection system consists of three components: a control module, automatic valves and sensors. Automatic taps are installed in the water supply channel, and the sensors are installed on the floor, in places where water is likely to accumulate in the event of a leak.

When liquid hits the sensor, it sends a signal to the control module. The module sends a command to the automatic tap, which turns off the water. This will prevent flooding in the home.

8. Align the walls and floor

If you are going to lay tiles in the bathroom - prepare the floor and walls correctly. You should not rely on tile adhesive: it cannot be applied in a thick layer, so it will not correct any differences on the surface. If you tile curved walls or floors, the tiles will wedge at the corners.

The walls in the bathroom are aligned with the lighthouses - so the surface will be as flat as possible. A liquid self-leveling screed is poured onto the floor.

9. Do not use gypsum mixes

Gypsum absorbs water, so formulations based on it are not used in the bathroom. If liquid gets into the tile joint, the plaster will absorb it and swell, and the tile will fly off.

It is recommended to use cement-sand mixtures in the bathroom - they are not afraid of water. Sometimes the frames of sanitary cabinets and ventilation ducts are assembled from drywall, but always moisture resistant. It is painted or tiled.

10. Choose non-slip floor tiles

Glossy tiles on the bathroom floor threaten the health of residents: such a surface is slippery in itself, and if it is also wet … sooner or later it can lead to injuries. Therefore, it is better to choose rough tiles or porcelain stoneware. And if you still took the gloss, treat the material with a special anti-slip compound - these are sold in hardware stores.

11. Match the grout under the tiles

There are two types of grout in retail outlets: cement grout and epoxy grout. The cement option is used for ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware. This grout is easy to apply, but over time it cracks and begins to leak water. Usually it serves from 10 years, but it may become unusable earlier: it depends on the shrinkage of the house, the temperature and humidity in the room.

Epoxy grout is used in tandem with glass mosaic. The application is more complicated, but such a material does not allow water to pass through and remains in its original form much longer than the cement version. However, you should not use epoxy grout for ordinary ceramics: the composition will clog into pores and irregularities and will not be washed off the surface. And the cement grout will ruin the look of the glass mosaic - the finish will tarnish.

12. Use a mosaic tile for the shower tray

Homemade shower trays are usually tiled or mosaic tiled. I recommend the second option. The pallet is assembled at a slope towards the drain, because of this, the tiles for facing are cut at an angle and the result, even with careful execution, is not very aesthetic. And the mosaic does not need to be cut - it is small, so it fits easily on surfaces of complex shapes.

Another bonus of this material is the epoxy grout, which provides additional waterproofing to the pallet.

13. Install the bath correctly

The bathtub is mounted so that its upper edges are located strictly horizontally: they are guided by this line when they put tiles on the walls. There is no need to tilt the bowl in the direction of the drain, because its bottom is already cast at an angle.

The place of contact of the bath with the wall is sealed with a sealant. An important point: before starting work, you should fill the bath with water. Then drain when the material hardens. So the sealant layer is elastic and does not move away from the edge of the bath when it sags under the weight of the water.

14. Connect the hood

The air in the bathroom is humid, and if the general ventilation of the house does not do well, mold will appear in the room. To avoid this, install a hood - it will normalize humidity and get rid of odors.

15. Choose protected sockets

Conventional bathroom options are not suitable: if water gets on them, a short circuit is possible. Therefore, it is necessary to install waterproof sockets with covers. However, remember that even they should not be placed close to faucets or the floor, otherwise, in the event of a leak, the electric points may flood.

In conclusion - a short checklist with the most important rules for bathroom renovation:

1. Plan your environment for future additions and potential accidents.
2. Do not skimp on communications - pipes and electrics.
3. Take care of protection against leaks and their consequences.
4. Do not skip important stages of finishing work.
5. Choose materials wisely based on the situation and your needs.
6. Don't forget about safety and comfort.