Why Don't I

[Diver Fred]

Put underfloor heating into the bathroom was the thought. It will only take a couple of weekends…

So the bathroom, built in 1960 to a 1930’s cottage has 3 outside walls although one is a party wall. Prepared a detailed plan of the room(s) – the toilet is (was - more below) a separate room inside the bathroom.
I worked the floor area out to be 4.75 SqMtr. 'Cause of that bought 6SqMtr of tiles when on offer. Took the plan in to a supplier for a quote – they suggested that I'd need 4SqMtrs of heated mat (cottage is principally electric heated as there is no gas in the village {apart from that generated by the old women talking about the neighbours}). The ‘quote’ also included self levelling compound and adhesive...

So we started, builder chappy organised to lay the UF mat and tiles. I lifted the original floor vinyl tiles. We then decided that insulating the walls would be a good idea as the loft was done when the slates re-laid. That made us think about 'cold' spots so we then knocked the internal toilet wall down – b****y ash blocks - so dusty. As the concrete floor didn’t have any sign of a Damp Proof Membrane I painted down 2 thick coats of 'Synthaproof' type paint (Actually the Wickes equivalent); that stuff remains tacky.

The tile suppliers said that 1 bag of SLC would be enough; having taken the wall down I decided that where the wall was would take most of that so I added couple of more bags.

Builder chappy arrived early on Monday morning and we started with the SLC to find that the 3 bags was barely enough – so more collected as will need more to spread into the 'mat'.
It is worth noting that the SLC will spread/run when and where you don't want it to go, we used battening to restrain that running around; also, if you haven't used it before a blunt spike roller gets the air out of the mix most effectively. Also something we Builder and I where unprepared for was the drying time of the SLC anything upto 72 hours – we should have started on Friday… (as we were away for the weekend.)

So following Wednesday we returned to the bathroom and laid the insulating mat (10mm) taped up the joints and then started with the heating mat – now as I said above I worked out the floor area to be 4.75SqMtr and bought 4SqMtr of mat; with need for 80mm separation from walls and neighbouring element and that where the mat is nothing should be on the heated floor 3.5SqMtr would have been sufficient… In fact we had real difficulty to ‘loose’ the whole mat into the floor area.
The Mat and loose element was fixed with tale making sure that no air gaps existed around the mat. Then SLC was laid over the top – again more SLC was needed.
On Friday the builder chappy returns with tools to lay the tiles – the ‘glue’ was a rapid set stuff from Larsen – 2 bags used.

Once laid (and supply of food from the local consumed) the floor was grouted.

Materials used to date:-
4SqMtr heating mat (800 watt),
6 insulating panels,
Damp proof liquid,
2 bags adhesive
8 ! bags SLC.

You, the reader may be wondering about the availability of bathroom facilities (toilet, shower, basin, etc) – luckily we have a camping toilet and the kitchen sink we can use.

To be contined.

 

[Diver Fred]

Pictures to follow - when know how to post them.

 

[Diver Fred]

PT2

So the floor is laid and dry…

As we have demolished a wall the decorating needs some work. Where the demolished partition wall was now needs 'repairs’ to the plaster up the wall and along the ceiling, new ‘skill’ for me.

Previously around the bath was Formica shower (washroom) panelling, been up for some years so we decided to extend that around the outside walls – unfortunately Formica no longer supply the panels. After much ringing around we found that the pattern was still available but to special order only the price of which made a complete replacement attractive. Um…

The builder chappy pointed us at a supplier in a local town having convinced us that the latest and comparatively low cost wall panels will be a good replacement. So we visited the merchants for a look at the product. I’d already seen similar panels that I’d discounted – 100% plastic box section with one side patterned. So after much thought and as a repayment for the plumbing advice we were given we ordered those panels and accessories.
Was that a bad move? Once we had the panels home I found a copy of the fitting instructions enclosed in the wrapping – the very last line of the instructions says 'this product is UV sensitive please keep curtains closed in bright sunlight’ - are they serious? So that went back. After much searching again I found panels from another source – melamine faced WBP plywood - 50% dearer per sheet after some discount.

So removed the old shower panelling and replaced previous ineffective insulation with ‘Kingspan’ PIR, also battened up the other outside walls and filled those gaps with the same PIR. The window reveals I've used the surplus underfloor insulation boards – using ‘gripfill' to hold in place.

As there was a decision to hide the exposed pipes I’ve had hours of ‘fun’ removing pipes, soldering in new corners (previously gentle curves - now right angle joints). Soldering was one hell of a learning curve, knew the theory as I can electrical solder beautifully, always struggled with copper plumbing pipes; found very late in the day I was using to much heat...! So frustrating when you are heating one joint and the one next to it moves... Moved the combined tank to insulate the airing cupboard walls. So now have a combination of copper and plastic plumbing.

Before the final fixing of the panelling to the walls we are waiting for the coloured glass for the windowsills to arrive. Then the existing basin will be refitted onto a vanity unit.


Materials used to date:

3 8'x4' sheets Kingspan 25mm
5 25x35mm battens
2 ‘Floor’ insulating panels,
2 tubes Gripfill
4 1220x2440 Shower Panels (Rearo)
Panel joining trims :-
4 ‘H’ section
3 External Corners
2 Internal Corners
2 End Trims
Rearo Adhesives/Sealers
3 tubes Adhesive
3 tubes Sealer
(bought 3 tubes of Sealer, need more, 6 tubes of adhesive, need less; in fact the sealer is also a good adhesive so could have solely used that.)
3mtr 15mm copper pipe
3mtr 22mm plastic pipe
3mtr 15mm plastic pipe
Various copper and plastic plumbing bits & pieces.

Lessons,
Be very pessimistic about the floor area to heat; we would have had a simpler job using a smaller (3.5 SqMtr) mat.
Be pessimistic on the amount of SLC and Tile Glue.
Do get the materials from a supplier that offer to refund on unused materials.
If you aren’t happy with the materials don't buy/use – even if it comes strongly recommended.
Don’t let SWMBO rush you into cutting materials…

I now am much more confident in soldering copper pipe!

More to follow.