Irish Independent Property Doctor column 16/03/2007
Luxury is a roomy bath in the corner
Simple solutions for corner baths and complex tiling
Q: I AM thinking of redesigning our existing bathroom and, in particular, putting in a new corner bath so that my young children can enjoy baths together. The problem is that the room is relatively small and I'm not sure if a corner bath will fit correctly. All the brochures from the shops are just confusing me as I'm not sure what will work - can you please help?
Michelle O'Brien, Dublin.
A: WHEN looking at the possibilities of re-designing any room the following tip can give you a good idea of what will fit and the best place for your furniture and appliances within it:
1. Measure the dimensions of the room and the existing furniture / appliances
2. Draw out the room to scale on a piece of paper using a ruler (graph paper is ideal)
3. Now, on a separate page, draw out the shape of the furniture / appliances to the same scale
4. Cut out the shapes and place them onto the sketch of the room. This will give you a great sense of the room and you can move the appliances/furniture around to your hearts content - without drilling any holes or spending any money!
Now you can simply take the dimensions of baths that you like from brochures or the shops and create a shape to represent them.
Do take into account all plumbing, electricity and access considerations prior to settling on your new layout.
Q: I HAVE recently moved into a new house in need of major refurbishment. While I am getting contractors to assist with the bulk of the work I am planning to tile the upstairs bathroom floor surface myself. I have a small bit of experience in tiling, having helped out a family member with his house in the past. The bathroom floor is concrete. Do you have any advice on what to look out for or tips to make it easier?
Stephen, Tuam.
A: FIRST things first - while it is great to get stuck in and have a go, it's also important to be aware of the pitfalls in doing a job like this as an inexperienced tiler. So make sure you weigh up the pros and cons before proceeding with this job.
In the event of it going wrong, what are the potential costs for you? Will you be able to re-use the tiles or will you have to re-invest in new ones? How much would it cost for a professional to undertake this job for you in the first place?
The key to any good tiling job is in the planning. Before you do anything measure your room's dimensions and then the dimensions of your tiles. Draw a scale model of the room on a sheet of paper and draw in individual tiles in the design that you require - starting in the middle of the room and working your way out, keeping as much to scale as you can.
In doing this you create a loose floor plan of the surface to be tiled.
The floor plan that you will have created will show that the edges of your room will require tiles to be cut in order to fit flush to your walls. Do not undertake any cutting yet - your plan will assume that the room is perfectly square, however in most homes this is not the case. Avoid any cutting until you absolutely need to. Draw a straight chalk line from each corner to the opposite wall where you can in order to get a view of how 'off straight' your walls are.
You can then start laying out the tiles onto the floor based on your floor plan pattern. Do not use any adhesive at this point - just lay the tiles out flat. This is the acid test and will tell you whether or not your floor plan is going to work in this room. Experiment until you get the fit right and remember to allow for any spacing between tiles that you want in your design!
For the concrete floor you should ensure that they are free from any dust or loose materials. If your surface is not 100% flat, with bumps and depressions, and you are laying vinyl, or other soft tiles, you will need to apply a self-levelling floor screed. This is bought in bags from builder's merchants and DIY stores.