Home Improvement – DIY – Bathrooms

Bathroom furniture has always been a popular choice when looking to solve problems with storage whether it’s a bathroom cupboard or a complete bespoke bathroom furniture design you can easily find something to suit your needs.
With all the new designs with different materials bathroom furniture can be found in plastic, wood or even metal so whatever style your bathroom you can find a material that will blend or contrast your existing bathroom interior.

When choosing your bathroom furniture don’t be tempted to skimp as cheap bathroom furniture is not likely to last long. If you are restricted by budget consider metal as this far more durable than cheap plastic or wooden bathroom furniture. Metal design bathroom furniture will blend well with any bathroom décor style; there is a vast range of metal bathroom furniture available online at websites such as Heat and Plumb.
If you are looking for some specific advice on your bathroom furniture just drop them an email they’ll be happy to respond.

Does your bathroom require a makeover; is it looking shabby and tired but you don’t have the cash to splash out on a new one? If so why not consider adding some bathroom mirrors. Bathroom mirrors can bring new life to an old bathroom and they don’t have to cost the Earth.

If you have a very small bathroom then bathroom mirrors are an excellent way to create the illusion of space. Adding bathroom mirrors above the bath tub will give the illusion of twice the space, we all know that it is just an illusion but it still feels like more space.

We all know that lighting is an important factor in creating mood and ambiance in a room so why not consider adding some bathroom mirrors with lighting too. These will help to set a relaxing mood in your bathroom, with the advantage of dimmer lighting you can lower the tone for those long hot baths.

Bathroom mirrors are a necessity in any bathroom so when you are choosing your bathroom mirrors be sure to make a statement, whether large or small, lighted or not get some bathroom mirrors that add something special to your bathroom.

Any bathroom can be made to look classy through the use of bathroom mirrors so don’t let your bathroom down. The bigger the better when it comes to bathroom mirrors, we’ve all had experience of using badly lit bathrooms with small dirty mirrors don’t let your bathroom suffer the same fate.

Once you have chosen your bathroom suite you will need to install it, this is a fairly simple job for a diy professional. First turn off the water mains, next secure the ball valve in the header tank and drain all the hot water, now you are ready to remove the old bathroom suite. To remove bathroom suites you will need to have a good adjustable spanner as all the pipes are fixed to the taps via nuts. To install new bathroom suites you should allow at least 1 day, this is based on no additional pipe work being required.  Once the old bathroom suite has been removed just fix the new suite into position, now you can turn the water back on and test for leaks. If your bathroom suites not fitted correctly you will soon find out.

When choosing bathroom suites try to keep it simple if you can and find something that will match up to the old pipe work as this will save a lot of time when installing them. Bathroom suites should last you for years so make sure you choose a neutral style and colour that will not go out of style. Remember those green and burgundy bathroom suites from the seventies, who likes them?

Plain or neutral colours are the best for bathroom suites as they will never go out of fashion, so when you come to sell your home in 15-20 years you won’t have to replace your bathroom suites to keep up to date.

If you replacing all your old radiators it is best to drain all the water from the heating system before you start, a very simple procedure which will make the task a lot easier. Also make sure your boiler is turned off before you start. First turn off the cold water inlet, this is normally located under the kitchen sink, if not there go outside of the house and search for a pipe coming into the house. Having found where the pipe enters the house you should be able to locate a tap fixed to the pipe just inside the house, turn this off. An easy way to test if the water is off is to run a cold tap, when the cold water stops you know you’ve turn off the right tap.

Radiators are also plumb into the hot water system so it is important to drain the hot water too. This is slightly more complicated as you need to stop any new water from getting into the hot water tank. Your hot water tank operates in the same way as your toilet cistern, as you flush your toilet a ball cock falls down and new water enters the cistern. To stop any new water entering the cistern you need to stop the ball cock from dropping, just use some rope to hold the ball tightly in place. Now you are able to drain the hot water.

Remember when draining radiators to drain from the lowest point possible, if your original radiators had been installed properly you will find there is a outlet drain on the lowest radiator, attaché a hose pipe to this and feed into an exterior drain. Having drained your system you are now free to remove all the old radiators and fit the new ones.

Shower cabins are becoming all the rage with people trying to save on their energy bills and water costs and with some great looking shower cabins you don’t have to suffer on the wow factor by installing a shower cabin.

Take a look at some of the new designs in shower cabins and you’ll be surprised at just how good they look. Installing shower cabins couldn’t be easier, just remove your old bath tub and fit your new shower cabin its place.

There are 3 major advantages to shower cabins compared with our standard bath tub. Number 1 you will reduce your water bills, number 2 you will reduce your water heating bills and number 3 you will have more space in your bathroom. Anyone who is concerned with the reducing their environmental footprint should at the very least consider installing shower cabins as an alternative to the standard bath tub.

In these days of global warming we all have to take some responsibility for the energy we use, a great way of reducing our own impact is to install shower cabins as these help with both reducing the water we use and the energy we consume. The cost of buying shower cabins and installing them will be quickly returned on the savings you make. An average shower costs as little as 10% of the average bath, so for every bath you take you could have 10 showers at the same price and having a shower cabin installed will mean 10% of your original bathing costs.

Shower enclosures come in many different styles and sizes whether you are looking for a 1, 2 or 3 panel shower enclosure you will find a wide choice. The term ‘shower enclosures’ is used to describe the panels that surround the shower keeping the water directed down towards the shower tray. A shower enclosure can consist of just one panel which spans from one wall to another as in the picture below.

Shower enclosures come in different shapes and sizes so if you are looking for something a little different in your bathroom why not consider a curved shower enclosure as opposed to the more traditional squared shower enclosure design.

Shower enclosures come with different styles access points too, so if you are short on space you may want to consider having sliding doors as this will avoid using extra space. If space is not an issue then you can choose from standard door openers or even bi-folding doors to access your shower enclosures.

Whatever access you have with your shower enclosures you want to know that they are strong enough to take someone falling against them without causing a nasty accident. Rest assured that all shower enclosures in the UK are built to strict safety rules insuring that all shower enclosures are safe to install.

ResinLite shower trays are the strongest shower trays on the market if you are concerned that standard shower trays will not give sufficient strength for the wear and tear your family will give it then ResinLite shower trays may well be the answer. With an ABS acrylic capped outer shell your ResinLite shower tray not only gives you the right support and strength but it feels great too.

If you are considering installing a shower enclosure into a bedroom where water leakage could cause some disastrous results the best option is to choose from the ResinLite shower trays as you can be sure they will not crack or break.

ResinLite shower trays start from less than £75 so you don’t have to spend a fortune to guarantee no leaks in the bedroom. Many times cheap shower trays will crack without your knowing resulting in water leaking out of the shower enclosure and causing all sorts of damage. Water that is left unattended will start to cause unpleasant smells and even attract unwanted pests. The best way to avoid all of these worries is to install a ResinLite shower tray and be sure that no water will escape from your shower trays.

Another good reason for installing a ResinLite shower tray is that whatever the weight of the person using your shower trays the ResinLite will be up to the task as you can see from the picture here.

Do you struggle with cheap toilet seats that are always breaking? When I had three small children it seemed that I, forever had to fix my toilet seats, I found that whether I used wooden or plastic toilet seats they would all end up breaking and the main cause for failure was due to the hinges. It is possible to replace just the hinges on your toilet seats however a better idea is to get yourself a really hardwearing toilet seat that will last all through your children’s childhood.

It was a mistake I continually made buying cheap toilets seats to replace old broken ones. I don’t know what my children were doing to break all those toilet seats but what I do know now is that I would invest in a hardwearing toilet seat. At about twice the price of an average toilet seat you can invest in a hardwearing toilet seat which will guarantee you toilet seat free nightmares.

If you having trouble finding good hardwearing toilet seats then here are 2 recommendations from us toiletseats4you.com and also heatandplumb.com both of these website specialise in hardwearing toilet seats that come with 10yr guarantees, that should see you through the early years.

With so many new and stylish designs radiators and towel rails have become somewhat of a designer product people no longer just buy radiators to heat their homes but also to improve the look of their homes. The traditional heated towel rail started life as just the hot water pipes that run through the bathroom. As a practical way to warm up your towels before getting out of the bath people would place them over the hot water pipes as often as not there would not be any heating in the bathroom. As central heating systems have taking storm and radiators are found in nearly every home across the UK so towel rails has increased in popularity.

Now you are able to choose from many different designs however the same basic principle is true for all towel rails and that is they are designed to be fitted in bathrooms to heat up not only the bathroom but your towels too.

The advantage nowadays is that you can have your towel rails run both through the central heating system and through an electric by pass, meaning that you do not have to have your central heating system on to enjoy a nice warm bath with your warm towel rails blazing. This is a good way of reducing your fuel bills too as towel rails maybe required more often that your whole central heating system. When choosing your towel rails another distinct advantage is to have a thermostatic control so as you can control what temperature your towel rails are.

When using the term walk in showers it is normally used to describe the shower enclosure or screen and tray that are used in the construction of a walk in shower. You can choose from very large shower enclosures for your walk in shower, similar to the one pictured here.

As you can see from the picture walk in showers can come with a very stylish and elegant finish these however are by no means cheap. If you already have a wet room installing a walk in shower screen is quite a simple exercise and will stop water from spraying around the room. Walk in showers are very practical particularly for those less able as they is no need to climb into a shower cubicle or bath as the name suggests you simple walk in.

When considering walk in showers for your home the first thing you need to consider is the space required as most walk in showers will take up nearly as much room as a bath tub. So unless you have 2 bathrooms your walk in shower is going to an alternative to your bath tub. In the UK we seem to be far more concerned about having a bath tub than elsewhere in the world, maybe it’s because of those long rainy days where we all enjoy the thought of coming home to a nice hot bath. So it is much more common to find walk in showers in other parts of Europe and Asia, where they are more likely to not have a bath tub installed.