DESIGNING YOUR DREAM
BATHROOM
Bathroom builders take the time to sit down with you in your own
home and discuss the best design options for your bathroom. We
can help you choose your fixtures, fittings and tiles, or you
can source your own and shop at your leisure, the choice is
yours.
Today’s bathrooms are a private sanctuary, tailored to suit your
needs and style. A bathroom is just as much about relaxing as it
is for keeping clean.
The size of the room is the determining factor in the design
process of your new bathroom. When designing your bathroom, we
first need to establish what your dream bathroom will have.
Things to consider at this point are – is the room large enough
for a separate shower and bath, or a shower over the bath, can a
toilet be included in the room, what size vanity can be
installed and is there any room for storage.
Once an agreed floor plan is achieved we look at the other
elements that need to be carefully considered to achieve the
perfect result.
CLEAR PASSAGE
Drawing a scaled plan of the bathroom and even laying the
bathroom out on the floor with masking tape and boxes ensures
you will have adequate room to move around in the bathroom
without colliding into doors, vanities, bath, etc.
TILES
Tiles are an extremely important part of a renovation, “tiles
are the paint on the car”. They protect the walls and floors,
consume the trafficable wear, add colour and depth and they look
great.
There are 1000’s of different styles, sizes, colours, textures
and makes of tiles suitable for bathroom renovations
POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING TILES
FOR A BATHROOM ARE:
- Are they porous?
- Are they slippery?
- Will the size of the tile
allow for sufficient drainage to the floor drains?
- Will the style or colour
date?
- Do all of the colours work
together?
- Quality?
- To what height should the
wall tiles be taken?
ELECTRICAL
Lights, exhaust fans, heating and power points are quite often
overlooked, yet they are essential components of a successful
bathroom renovation.
Bathrooms are generally quite a small room with only minimal
natural lighting and ventilation. Being a wet area, natural
light and ventilation are essential to reduce the build up of
moulds on the ceiling and in grout, musty smells and the airing
of towels etc. By correctly sizing and positioning an exhaust
fan and light you dramatically assist the ventilation and
lighting of the bathroom.
Lighting not only changes the mood of the room but is essential
for the day- to-day chores carried out in the bathroom.
SOME USEFUL TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING YOUR
LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS:
Lights placed above the mirror that reflect onto your face, not
onto the top of your head, reduce shadow lines and dark circles
under the eyes. This assists in the correct application of make
up (and makes you look younger!).
Dimmers on the light switch allows you to set the mood of your
bathroom, whether it be to relax and rejuvenate in the bath in a
softly lit room, or to tone the lights for night time trips that
would otherwise leave you wide awake thanks to that blinding
light
Heating can be applied through a number of ways. The most common
is via a combination heat, light and exhaust fan. These are very
effective and quite economical.
Floor heating is another system, involving cables running
through the floor substrate which warm the concrete base and
tiles, keeping the floor area a constant temperature, great for
those chilly winter mornings. Heated towel rails offer a great
means of assisting the drying of wet towels and really feel
great in winter.
DURABILITY
By considering the following points, a well designed and
constructed bathroom will be a breeze to clean and will retain
those sparkling new looks for many years to come.
Semi-frameless or frameless shower screens have fewer tracks for
soaps, oils and dirt to build up in.
Spaces smaller than your hand are hard to reach, most vanity
tops hang past the vanity by 5-10mm, by keeping the side of the
vanity at least 100mm away from a wall or screen allows easy
accessibility for cleaning
Skirted or enclosed toilets have fewer areas that dust will
collect at the back of the pan
Sanitized grouts and silicones should always be used in wet
areas; they have fungal inhibitors in them that reduce the build
up of moulds etc. The smaller the tile, the greater the amount
of grout lines. Mosaics, pebbles and feature tiles look
fantastic but are difficult to clean. Consider placing the
features away from the areas that are constantly wet.
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
- Removal of existing
fixtures, fittings, wall, floor and ceiling linings
- Replace rotten or damaged
timber
- Relocate and replace all
plumbing pipe work
- Re line all walls in 6mm
water resistant cement sheet villa board
- Re line the ceiling and
cornice
- Set the plaster joints
- Water proof wet areas and
floor with quality polyurethane membrane
- Install mortar bed to
floor and fall to floor wastes
- Tile and grout walls and
floor
- Polish tiles
- Silicon seal all wall to
floor corner junctions
- Install toilet, basins, tap
ware, mirrors and accessories
- Clean bathroom and passage
ways
- Removal of all work
related rubbish from site
