Planning your new bathroom is crucial as once it is fitted it is too late to have second thoughts. There are no hard and fast rules as to what is right and what is wrong as everyone is different but we will try to give you some tips from our vast knowledge of planning bathrooms. If you would like us to do a free no obligation bathroom plan please visit our free room planning section.
Getting Started
Fitting a new bathroom is a chance to review what you want from the room. Think about who uses the room and how it is used:
- Do you prefer to bath or shower
- If you like to bath would you like a whirlpool bath?
- Is a shower bath a good idea or would like a separate bath and shower?
- Would you like bathroom storage to hide all the toiletries?
- Would you need anything special for children or the elderly?
It is very important to think about all these things in the planning stage.
Plan you bathroom
Use a tape measure to accurately measure your bathroom. You must mark where all the windows, doors, ceiling heights etc are and very importantly where the services are. A toilet is normally in a fixed position and cannot be easily moved. The same applies but not as crucial for the hot and cold feeds and for the radiator.
Draw the room onto a scaled piece of paper or download our bathroom brochure here and you will find one at the back. You can now start to put your ideas into practice.
You must be aware of:
- Where the door is and which way it is hinged and opens
- Where the window(s) are and which way they open
- The height of the windows and how far off the ground they are
- What type of hot water system you have (low or high pressure)
- Heating and ventilation – consider an extractor if your bathroom is small or has no windows
- Whether you require storage in your bathroom and whether it is practical with your plumbing
- Safety – you may want to consider handrails and non-slip surfaces if you have elderly family members
Cut out pieces of paper the same scaled size as your plan of toilets, baths, shower enclosures etc. and play around with moving them around your plan. Download your free shapes and planner by clicking on the image left.
Making the best of your space
Whether you have a large or small bathroom you need to think very carefully about the best use of the space.
Consider theses tips to help make the best use of the space:
- Move the door slightly or hang it the opposite way.
- Do you have an airing cupboard that could be turned into part of your bathroom?
- Remove your radiator and have underfloor heating installed.
- Perhaps turn part of a bedroom into an en-suite so you have 2 bathrooms or turn part of a large bathroom into a small shower room.
There are lots of bathroom products available that make the best use out of small spaces or awkward areas. Contact us if you need help with this.
Making the right choice of suite
The look you are trying to achieve with your new bathroom will influence the style of suite you choose. Are you looking for a modern or traditional style bathroom? Don’t forget that suites vary in size a lot so bear this in mind when choosing.
Toilets come in 4 different styles:
- Back to wall for fitting against furniture or a false wall
- Close coupled where the cistern sits on top of the pan
- Low level that has a small visible flush pipe between the pan and cistern
- High level which is the very traditional style of the cistern being at eye level
Basins come in various sizes from the small cloakroom style at 300mm to the very large 650mm traditional style. You may even want to think about having 2 basins in your bathroom if you have the room. This is known as ‘Jack and Jill’ style.
Baths start at 1200mm for the very smallest of bathrooms up to 2000mm which you can fit 2 people into if that is your thing! There are also shower baths that incorporate a shower enclosure into a bath and corner baths which suit some bathrooms more than others.
Shower enclosures start at 700mm x 700mm but these days you can almost get any size you want up to the 1700mm x 900mm walk in versions. These are only for the very biggest of bathrooms.
Bathroom storage
These days it is more common than not to incorporate some sort of storage into your bathroom. Whether it is just to hide a few bottles or to give the bathroom some definition. Work out how much storage you would need as it may spoil the look of your bathroom if you add little bits on at a later date. We have a large range of bathroom storage solutions for you to choose from if you decide to go down this route.
The finishing touches
The final part is the most enjoyable. You need the colour choice of the walls, tiles and flooring to complement your bathroom. Try out o a few different colours first before you settle on anything.