Day 6: Time for the electra

Because the previous day the pipes where temporary connected to the old ones I disconnected them today again to solder them in their final position. First I replaced the 12 mm pipe in the wall with a 15 mm one. The solution to connect everything in the batroom was harder to make then it seems and costed me a few hours. (It's obvious that I don't do this for a living :-)

After that I started with the electra. We had a pull switch for the light first but we also wanted halogen spots above the mirror. New electra pipes had to be cut out the wall. For safety I also replaced some of the old wiring. As a result we now have double switches and a socket in the bathroom.



Day 7: Walls and floor preparation

After all that cutting and grinding I could finally start with building up. There where big gaping holes in the floor and wall where the tub once stood that had to be leveled first. For the wall I glued greenboard straight onto the bricks, which filled that gap nicely. While drying the greenboard was fixated with steel nails.

After that I impregnated the floor for optimal fastening of the cement later. It was a special cement that had to be poored in. The result was a nice smooth little floor that could be walked upon only a few hours later. With plastic and ducktape a provisional curtain was produced for a warm shower at the end of the day once again.



Day 8: Walls and floor preparation part 2

After fixating the (old) faucet and the pipes, the walls and floor where almost ready for tiling. A few roughnesses had to be cut away or filled up. After cleaning up everything turned out to be flat and level enough for the new tiles.

Just a few more things needed to be done. Because space would be limited later i decided to mount the new radiator at it's new location allready.

Then I made a big hole in the floor for the wastepipe of the new toilet. I have done this by drilling a series of smaller holes in a circle, and then by making those holes bigger with the largest drill I own. After that I cut away the heart with a chisel



Day 9: Bath & Toilet waiste pipes

After making this hole in the bathroom floor a small ravage was left in the toilet on the first floor. This picture of the toilet ceiling shows clearly how the old bathroom toilet was connected to the sewerage.

After this I put the tub at it's new place and set it up horizontally. I also made new waistepipes with PVC. Because the old toilet waistepipe isn't needed anymore I cut the pipe off just below the floor. This way I don't have to make a new hole in the floor for the waiste of the tub. This last picture shows how everything is connected now.



Day 10: The framework

With the hole for the waiste in place, the toilet-unit was set up quickly. The contraption came pre assembled and needed only to be adjusted in height and depth. After this I made the frame for the tub out of wood. It will not have to carry the bath tub but it will be strong enough to hold a person sitting on the edge of it. After that I also made the frame for the toilet unit.

You can clearly see that the water pipes to and from the attic will be out of sight later. To make sure the water in the tub will stay comfortably warm, I filledall free space under and around the tub with insulation material.

With the material left over I also insulated the pipes and mechanism of the toilet unit. Not for the temperature this time but to ensure a silent operation.



Day 12-13: The shape is getting pretty visible

Now the framework defined its final shape it was time to close everything up. I used greenboard for this again, with special srews. Greanboard consist of plaster between two layers of cartboard that is highly water resistant. It is ideal for moist spaces.

Unfortunately it became clear that there where a few things left to do first before i could tile. The ceiling was cracked and in a bad condition and needed to be restaurated comletely first. I also forgot to fill up some holes and also the window needed to be sanded an painted again before I could continue with the tiles.



Day 13-18: Tiling at last

Finaly ! I had been looking forward to this moment. I allready tiled a floor in a shed once, but this was not quite the same so I started with the floor tiles. These tiles are thicker than those for the walls and I had to lay them diagonally. It was a very good exercise. Just a few tiles din't need cutting! Luckily everything went smooth.

With this little ego boost I started with the walls. I didn't start on the floor directly but used a straight piece of wood for the first row on the wall because floors are never 100% flat or even horizontally. This way I could cut the last row exactly for size later.

Most of the work turned out to be the calculating. The clearances between the tiles needed to "match" and also the wall should look nice. A 1 cm strip of tiles at 1 side of the wall is not goodlooking!

There's also a strip of smaller tiles running at shoulderheight around the room and it would be nice if it ends at the same height as it started. This tiling job costed me eventually 6 days of approx. 10 hours each, but the results do show for it !

After this all clearances had to be filled up. This time I started with the walls and ended with the floor. The joints of bath and wall, wall with wall and wall with floor where filled with silicon based kit because they have to stay somewhat elastic.


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