Find a Bathroom Fitter you can trust in Shildon.

Regardless of the quality or how perfect the products for your new bathroom are, getting the right bathroom fitter for your bathroom refit is just as important to your project as any other thing you can possibly think of. Hiring a fitter is quite simple, but hiring a fitter who can get the job done to your requirements is another thing entirely. To hire the right bathroom fitter, there’s the need to consider all the features of a bathroom as well as any specialized products you may have selected. For instance, you’re going to need a professional tiler if you have quartz resin tiles. Also, if you wish to fit some luxurious underfloor heating, you’d need the services of a qualified electrician. Here are some of the questions you should ask from your bathroom fitter when having your bathroom fitted.

• Have you got any experience working with this type of product? Each and every bathroom fitting job is unique. Your question should lean more towards whether or not the bathroom fitter possesses any experience working with the type and style of the product your selected rather simply asking the number of bathrooms they’ve fitted.
• Request a portfolio. Ask the bathroom fitter if they have any portfolio you can go through. This will give you a good idea of the quality of their works.
• Ask technical questions. Technical questions will go a long way to help you separate the boys from the men. The trick here is to know the answer beforehand, so when the prospective bathroom fitter provides an answer you’d know how good they are. 

Shower screens are available today in various range of shapes and sizes and also hinged and folding designs. They’re primarily designed for use in straights bathrooms as the prevent water from splashing onto the bathroom floor when having a shower. They’re also able to offer a great alternative to shower curtains which can appear dated over time and are also considered not to be as hygienic as shower screens. If you’re looking to have a shower screen installed, you have two options – do it yourself or call in a professional. The latter which is more advisable as professionals are able to guarantee a clean and top-quality job the first time. In this post, we’re going to take you through the shower screen installation process to enable you make a hassle and error free installation. Let’s take a look!

1. Examine the area for pipework. Firstly, you’d have to turn off the water at the mains before starting the task. Determine whether the wall you’ll be fitting to is solid or plasterboard, then use a multi-purpose detector to discover any pipes near to where you’ll be drilling.
2. Place the u-channel. Position the shower screen u-channel against the wall at 40mm depth from the shower’s edge. The u-channel should sit flush with the shower – use a spirit level to ensure that it’s level.
3. Mark the screw holes’ spots once the u-channel is level.
4. Drill the holes into the tiles where the marks have been made then put in the plugs.
5. Secure the u-channel with a sealant along the back of the u-channel.
6. Further secure the u-channel using screws and fixings. Once done, proceed to seal the channel’s bottom to the shower using a sealant.
7. Put the shower screen into the u-channel after placing the rubber seal along the glass screen’s bottom.
8. Secure the shower screen by drilling holes into the frame and using screws with cover caps to finish it off.
9. Seal the outer edges of the shower screen.

Fitting a new bathroom can be a strenuous and very complicated task which usually comes with serious financial implications. But even more importantly, you’re most likely going to be working tight to a time schedule. So you’d like to know how soon you can have your bathroom space back and ready to use. This mostly either because you’re really impatient to see how your new bathroom will turn out to be or because you do not really fancy using another bathroom for long pending the time your new bathroom is being fitted and we definitely do not blame you. Having your bathroom back new and sparkling can be the best feeling ever and all professionals seek to get the job done as soon as they possibly can.

Overall, one thing that everyone would need to consider is mainly setting realistic expectations. Giving an accurate time it’ll take to complete the installation of your bathroom is almost impossible as there are many factors that can play a huge role in that. These factors include the size of the project as well as the design’s complexities, materials to be used and any other special requirements in the project. As a result, while 5 days is the average number of days it’ll take for the professional installation of a new bathroom, this can vary depending on the size of your bathroom and more. And you would have guessed, a smaller bathroom will require less number days when compared to a bigger bathroom with the same design. Also, designs can go a long way to determine the duration of a bathroom installation project with complex ones requiring more days as compared to simpler designs.

Are you thinking about updating your bathroom? If yes, then you’d probably want to know how to go about it. Well, when it comes to bathroom remodelling, the process always begins with the drawing of a floor plan. If you don’t know how to go about that, then you’ve come to the right place! In this guide, we’re going to take you through the bathroom floor plan drawing process. Let’s take a look!

First and foremost, you can make use of the pencil and paper approach as it happens to be much cheaper than the computer based approach. Plus, you don’t have to be an art genius in school to complete the task satisfactorily.

1. Sketch it out. Create a rough sketch of the space on unlined paper. This should feature all openings like the doors and windows, the spots where the existing plumbing fixtures are located, the location of the electrical lines including outlets, receptacles, heating and cooling pipes and more
2. Add dimensions to the sketch. The next line of action would be to take measurements of the bathroom. With the help of a friend, hold the tape tightly at both ends in order to get the right dimensions. Then, measure the length of the walls, fixtures, windows and mark then roughly on the sketch. Once done, you can go back to double check the recorded measurements for accuracy.
3. Transfer the room dimensions to a sheet of graph paper. At the stage in the process, you should be aware that each 1/4 inch square on the graph paper is equal to 6 inches or half foot. You can start by drawing the bathroom walls and partitions as well as the surrounding areas. Then, add the doors and the direction they swing open and the windows present. Once done, draw the fixtures to complete the floor plan.

Once you have your new bathroom installed, or perhaps you’re only replacing the old downlights, you’d probably want to know how to go about fitting your new bathroom downlights. If yes, then you’re not alone! This is a very common question amongst several homeowners and we wish to guide you through once and for all. However, it must be said that if you are not a competent DIYer or probably lack the confidence or skills to pull this off, then it’s advisable to hire a professional to get the best results and also save yourself some money and time.

Here are the list of the tools you’ll need to fit your bathroom downlights: Tape measure, chalk line or laser, pencil, pad saw, hand drill, hole saw and screw drivers.

✓ Measure the bathroom ceiling and mark out the central point of the light which will be where the downlights will be placed. Drill a small pilot hole here.

✓ Check above the ceiling to ensure that there’s no pipes, joists or wires in the way. It’s always a good practice to make sure that there’s sufficient room around where the downlight is to be installed in order to avoid placing it too close to a joist or any other obstacle. You should try as much as possible to maintain a 6 inch gap around the spot where the downlight is placed to make sure the fitting does not overheat.

✓ Use a hole saw or a plasterboard saw to make the cut out for the downlight. Check the downlight’s box for instruction on the size.

✓ Once you’ve been able to make a clean cut ceiling hole, pull through the wiring through the hole so that the downlight can be wired. Once done, then you can fit the downlight into the hole by holding the two springs back against the sides of the downlighter and push up into the hole.

If you’re about to fit a new bathroom in your home, then you’d probably be wondering how much would be the labour cost of getting it done. Unfortunately, a single accurate answer can not be provided to this question as there are many influencing factors that can determine the labour cost to fit a new bathroom. In this guide, we’ll give you a good insight on the labour cost of installing a new bathroom.

While you can obtain a good evaluation when planning the work on your bathroom, the final cost can largely vary. For small jobs such as fitting a pedestal basin with taps, professional installers can charge within the range of £170 to £250. Meanwhile, bigger projects such as tiling an entire bathroom can cost an average fee of about £70 to £90 per square metre. Generally, the overall average cost of fitting a new bathroom is about £6,500 in the UK. But in an event whereby you’ll be switching to a bathroom suite that’s exactly like the old one which wouldn’t require extra flooring as well as tiling, there’s a high chance you may be able to complete the project for a significantly lesser price.

The main reason why the labour costs vary is due to the fact that each individual job will have to be priced based on its own particular requirements and circumstances. Other influencing factors that’ll affect how easy a job is to complete, how much material will be incorporated and the duration of the project includes the size of the bathroom in question as well as the shape. However, there can be unforeseen complications like damaged piping which will also raise the price of the project and more.

Asides from the cost of adding a new bathroom to your property, one other essential factor you’ll need to consider before moving forward is whether or not a planning permission is required to complete the project. This is a very important step as failure to obtain a planning permission when its actually needed can lead to a severe penalties from the authorities. If you’re also wondering if you proposed bathroom addition project will also require a planning permission, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post, we’re going to let you know if you’d really require a permission to add a new bathroom or otherwise. Let’s take a look!

Generally, bathroom extensions are normally classified as permitted development which allows you to carry out your project without any interruptions from the law or your local authority. In other words, if your extension is meets up with the guidelines of the permitted development rights, you won’t have to apply for a planning permission. However if otherwise, you’ll have to apply for a planning permission to your local council and may require additional reports. What’s more? If you plan on adding the bathroom to a listed building, you must obtain a planning permission as you’d be altering the internal fabric of the building.

And regardless of your position, you’ll always need building regulations approval before you can carry out any bathroom extension project. It may also be required that you’ll have to issue a part wall notice if you’re to build on or close to the boundary with a neighbour.

First and foremost, it must be stated that replacing an existing electric shower is much easier than fitting one from new. This is primarily due to the fact that the main components required which includes the water pipes as well as electrical connections will have already been established. In this post, we’re going to assume that all these are already in place which means you’re replacing an existing electric shower with a new one. It’ll also be an advantage if the preferred electric shower features cable and pipe entry points at the top and bottom as well as the rear and side so as to allow for more flexibility when it gets to routing cables and pipes. If you’re not confident enough to pull off this task, then it’s strong advisable to call in a professional who can guarantee the best results the first time. Here are the steps you can follow to fit your electric shower:

• Disconnect the power supply as you probably know water and electricity aren’t particularly the best of friends. Once done, you’ll also need to turn off the water supply
• Remove the shower unit. Many shower units are secured with four screws which makes the removal rather straightforward.
• Examine the shower connection points to determine if they’re in the same place on the new unit as they were on the old one.
• Install the new shower unit. First, you’ll have to mark the position of the new units on the wall using a pencil. If the new units don’t possess the same silhouette as the old one, you’ll have to drill new ones preferably using a masonry drill bit.
• Check your installation at both the electrical and water supply to ensure the connection is made correctly.
• Test your new electric shower by turning the power and water supplies back on.