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Reply With QuoteVery nice job ATM.
I like the vanity and for a small ensuite the sliding shower door is a great idea. Never seen one like that before.
The floor/wall tiling looks great with the timber trim at the top.
No doubt it has a feel of luxury for the wife
Ensuite Complete! Millenia ago there was the building of the pyramids, centuries ago there was the Taj Mahal, and now finally the completion of my ensuite renovation projectAfter nearly two years duration with various delays due to COVID / supply delays / contractor availability / demands of my own perfectionism / etc, it is finally over. It was instigated due to the multiple failures of the old ensuite (cracked floor / cracked tiles / broken cistern / and finally leaking under the shower) with the aim to make life a bit more pleasurable for my wife who had just been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which remains an ongoing battle.
Anyway, attached are some images taken today (on its first day of actual use).
The main features are:
- Replacement of cavity sliding door (always jamming, etc) with solid framed wall and frosted glass barn door (slides inside the ensuite).
- Hobless shower with frameless sliding glass screen.
- Bulky SS handles have been eschewed in favour of polished holes in barn door and shower screen.
- Double waterproofing (top and bottom of screed).
- Custom vanity and shaving cabinet (solid hardwood) - designed by me and built by Grandchester Designs (local company to my area). The Vanity has a 3mm epoxy resin top with satin finish. The shaving cabinet is 130mm deep (rather than standard 150mm and I have set it directly on the villaboard so that it protrudes only 115mm above tile surface).
- Other timber features include dado rails directly above top of tiles (~2.4mtr high), and vaulted ceiling (beams and cedar over 4mtrs high) that I rejuvenated over many days at the top of a ladder.
- Walls are all insulated for noise.
Other points of interest:
- Wooden ramp at entrance (see bottom of "ES from WIR" image) - ES floor is almost 60mm higher than floor boards in WIR due to the hobless design of the shower and use of thicker (exterior) grade Scyon flooring. Note extra floor joist added as well.
- Screed in floor is reinforced with metal mesh (heavier grade than chicken wire which is often used).
- I spent quite a few weeks shimming the wall studs and floor joists.
- I decided against inset wall niches as 3 of the walls are framed from 70mm members. Also the shower wall is shared with the hall so I didn't want any inadvertent bumps in the hall dislodging or cracking tiles at the back of the niche (against the interior of the hall gyprock). I have a chromed stainless shower shelf instead.
- I bought a short piece of stainless exhaust pipe, polished it and used it to cover the vanity waste pipe that goes through the floor.
- I decided against a "hanging" vanity as my custom vanity is very heavy due to the use of hardwood, and also deeper than usual (3" stud walls 4 mtrs high would also make it unwise).
- I created very detailed spreadsheets of all stud / nogging / pipe / electric wire locations.
- Mould on back inside rear surface of walls (when villaboard was removed) treated and painted with Zinsser MouldStop.
- Decided against mechanical fasteners on toilet pan base. I molded permanent shims (epoxy / microsphere mix) at 7 points around pan base; entire base stuck was cemented to floor with Wet Area silicone. Shims prevent any compression of silicone (due to uneven human body weight on pan) without danger to tiles whilst retaining silicone's advantages - has worked out really well.
Now for the next project - renovating the WIR ...
Very nice job ATM.
I like the vanity and for a small ensuite the sliding shower door is a great idea. Never seen one like that before.
The floor/wall tiling looks great with the timber trim at the top.
No doubt it has a feel of luxury for the wife
Very nice!
Thanks for the nice comments guys. Yes, Kerrie had the first shower yesterday, and compared to the old ensuite she said it felt like she was at a holiday resort
appreciate the effort involved, but personally not a fan of the tile colours against that feature grade timber same with the blue towels and chrome.
I think matt black for taps and fixtures etc would have looked schmick and tied in with your roof and the black of the wood features... and white towels of course
what timber is it?
Remember if you don't sin, then Jesus died for nothing
Hello havabeer, interesting comments, just shows that we all have a wide range of tastes.
Personally, we liked the way the lighter golden/brown hues in the tiles blended with the lighter hues in the wood - the aim was to provide a warm but subdued backdrop (tiles) with the woodwork providing the significant feature highlights (the people that have seen it have been very impressed ... so far). Whilst acknowledging the current trend in black fittings we prefer the timeless appeal (and ease of maintenance) of chrome ...
The timber is called wormy chestnut, which I believe is a generic term covering a number of species of wood (Messmate / Tassie Oak / Blackbutt / ...); the finished look depends on what is specifically selected for the job (veining / colouring / etc) as there is a lot of variation in these wood species.
Don't you mean black towelsOriginally Posted by havabeer
appreciate the effort involved, but personally not a fan of the tile colours against that feature grade timber same with the blue towels and chrome.
I think matt black for taps and fixtures etc would have looked schmick and tied in with your roof and the black of the wood features... and white towels of course
what timber is it?
Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
If you wash properly, white towels are fineDon't you mean black towels
Remember if you don't sin, then Jesus died for nothing
I can see how much effort you have put into it as it shows in the quality of the end result, well done.
Along with haveabeer, I am not in tune with the colour scheme, but that's why they sell 1000's of different coloured tiles / towels etc as everyone's taste is different.
I like the cabinet the timber is nice, the tiles are not to my style, chrome is easy to look after, black isn't a problem (if you buy good quality stuff).
This house is all black for kitchens / laundry / bathroom fittings haven't had any problems with maintenance, shower screens are anodized black, they clean the same as other finishes, just wipe it over and it stays looking new, I have done many chrome bathrooms in the past and just a bit over it now, looks a bit dated, there are a lot of nice variations now such as nickel finish, stainless steel, and various other silvers that look good nowadays.
I think black could have worked well in yours to pickup the black highlights in the vanity and looks less in your face like chrome is.
I build custom timber vanities and love timber, but think there's a bit too much timber in this room as it's a small room and looks overpowering, less is more to highlight timber as a feature.
Below is the latest bathroom I did here, I only used a timber top for the vanity, the rest is oak in white as I think it was the right amount of timber for a room of this size, this way the vanity top becomes the hero, maybe a floating shelf or two would be ok, but will just end up with clutter on them, and I don't like clutter, although I do have some beautiful timber downstairs that will match the vanity top, with some hidden floating brackest would look good.
Also in yours is that a double towel rail ?
Original bathroom
Best style of extraction fan ever used, it sucks up 100% of steam generated so no chance of future damages from moisture over the years, and it's on a sensor so comes on automatically when entering the room.
Will stay on the entire time you are in the shower, be it 2min or 20 min, then turn off 5 min after you leave, so much easier.
Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
How are those stretchy pics done, I don't like them.
Bathroom looks great, 'wavy relief type' tiles not my taste though.
Like the round mirror!
Put the phone into 0.5x zoom, you can get them un stretchy if you adjust the angle, I was crouched down to avoid the mirror so couldn't get the right angle for un stretchy
Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
Wavy tiles are nice for adding texture, had to add some texture in as the rest of the walls / floor are matt finish porcelains so they lack a bit of personalityPut the phone into 0.5x zoom, you can get them un stretchy if you adjust the angle, I was crouched down to avoid the mirror so couldn't get the right angle for un stretchy
Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
Thanks !
Oh yes, they are easy to clean like chrome, but some finishes show up marks far more readily. We had chocolate coloured basin / taps in the old ensuite (coloured fittings were in fashion in the late 80s) which drove my wife mad ...
Too much timber? - you wouldn't like the rest of our house then .... With us, don't think "contemporary suburban", think more like the character of "Escape to the Country". It's better described as a timber feature ensuite with a tile foundation
.
Putting on my contemporary trending hat for a moment, you've done a great job transforming that outdated bathroom to a plush new look! Having a lot of wall space, it's a nice feature to have a contrasting tiled wall behind the vanity. We are also fans of the free standing bath - looks great! Also, I've seen a few bathrooms with a cracked tile where the baths are tiled in (poor brickwork / glue?). That's something I would have in our current main bathroom if we ever renovate it!
Just a couple of points:
- Is that a door-less shower in the last image? I love that idea too (though we don't have enough room in our main bathroom). I would, however, choose larger tiles for the shower area (less grout to clean).
- I would probably have left a little more space between the vanity and the bath; also makes for easier access when cleaning (the only slight downside of a freestanding bath).
Yes, it is a double towel rail (hard to tell from the angle of the shot). SWMBO likes the blue towels for a splash of colour and to match the bedspread / curtains in the bedroom; however they will change with the next wash cycle
Freestanding baths are so much easier than built in type, the waterproofing is part of the main room so no stuffing around with hidden lips under the bath etc.
There is no trenching the bath into wall frames, etc, installation takes 10 minutes, and the bath stays in it's box out of the room until the room is completely finished, so saves any damage happening to it along the way.
Just a couple of points:
Yes it is, best thing ever, did it in the last house as well, there is nothing to clean, the worst thing in showers is Glass and all the rollers / sliding tracks etc, I would recommend anyone if they have the room to do the same.
If you use a good quality grout it's not a problem, Ardex FG8 is the one I use for regular grout, and laticrete for epoxy grout
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Ensuite Complete! Great build ATM, the finer details are impressive & look very well executed!
That does seem like quite a more simple & efficient way to design a shower where physically possible - out of interest, generally what kind of size/dimensions does one need to make this work in terms of over spray? What direction does the shower head face in relation to the door?
That bathroom looks stellar too METRIX.
I’m not Metrix but I can answer from my own experience.
We have three showers. The one shown in bathroom 1 has a rainfall showerhead which goes straight down and an 1100mm long glass and lots of water escapes the shower enclosure and sits on the floor immediately outside.
Shower in bathroom 2 has the same dimensions but a rail shower, with the head pointed back to the rear. Seems to work much better though I haven’t had an actual shower in that one yet.
Bathroom 3 has a rainfall shower and an 850mm glass. Note the aluminium angle on the floor runs parallel to the glass, so any water splashes are unlikely to land outside the area that drains back to the shower waste. The glass is a bit short, but we wanted to allow 800mm free space as the minimum required to get a wheelchair or walker in and manoeuvre it around. Neither of us require a wheelchair and we hope we never will but recent experiences with our aging parents has shown us that you might as well plan for it now, and build it in early while you are on top of such things.
So bathroom 1 is quite splashy. I tell myself it doesn’t matter as it only takes a wipe to clean up, but I’d rather it didn’t happen. I would still rather have this situation then have a shower hob (which is deadly) or a poorly situated door (which is equally so).
I also think that perhaps the problem is the rainfall shower heads. With these the problem water seems to bounce off the body at about shoulder height, and you can easily see it travelling right out of the shower enclosure. I think perhaps a lower set, conventional shower head would broadcast the water less.
I try changing the angle of the rainfall head but it makes no difference.
Usually like to have 1200mm as a minimum, anything less and you can get water going everywhere, as Aaron said, the ceiling mount shower heads tend to throw water a bit further, so a wall mounted system aimed at you is a better choice if space is at a premium.
I get the fall on the floor tiles in these to be more aggressive, this way the water tends to go towards the drain quicker than hanging around the floor.
Thanks, it was a pain in the butt to get rid of the old one.
Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
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