That 'big project' I've been banging on about for a few years now....

[James Harrison]

How much does the bath run out from the wall? from the photo 15-20mm?

How square is the shower end of the bath top and the tiled wall? (shower screen)

It's somewhere in the region of 20mm. 
The shower end of the bath is square-on to the shower wall, and the shower wall is, if anything, probably closer to square now than previously (after having pack out every single tile on that wall to get a level finish). 

It's a bit of a mystery, how the old bath was square to both walls.  But then again the old bath also used to retain water and start developing a small beach (yuck) every time I used it.  So it was likely as not warped and twisted and forced in to the corner. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

I've thought of a way to maybe sort this out but 20mm is alot so the bath will have to come out again.
If you want to get involved I will give more details.

[James Harrison]

I've fitted a shower curtain;





And whilst I think this catches the majority of the spray, naturally in the few seconds between turning the shower on and getting the curtain closed there is a volume of water that makes it onto the wall and then down behind the bath. 

After showering for the first time this evening - I mean in the new bathroom, not first time ever - I had an awful panicking moment when I saw water streaming out from under the bathtub whilst drying myself off.  It was a few anxious minutes of feeling around under the bath to determine the waste wasn't leaking and it was most likely the run-off from the wall. 

I've thought of a way to maybe sort this out but 20mm is alot so the bath will have to come out again.
If you want to get involved I will give more details.

I'm definitely interested in hearing this - in the long term it will be better than draping towels over the gap.  If I do decide to move the bath though, it won't be for a little while yet. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

Right, this is a rediculous state of affairs.
I need to know whether the top of the front bath- horizontal and the tiles vertical (where a shower screen would fit) are both level and how square they are
If you dn't have a square the 3 4 5 method will do. we can allow for a 10mm - 15mm discrepency over the height and length of the screen, most are adjustable to a certain degree to allow for out of square.
start with that then we get onto the more cmplicated messy part of refitting the bath.
As there was originally a shower screen fitted do you know if wooden stud was put in befooe the wall was finished (for secure fixing of screen) would be handy to know.

[James Harrison]

The front of the bath is level, or pretty close to it. 



The wall is a bit trickier because the tiles have an undulating effect.  But this was the typical result - the wall is vertical, or pretty close to it. 



I put a 10" set-square into the bath-wall joint and it's not far off a right angle. 

The old shower screen rail was just screwed directly into the plasterboard (with solid brick immediately behind that) - there was no timber battening let into the plaster. 

[montysaurus]

https://ridgesidebb.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/diy-copper-shower-curtain-rod/ Have you thought of a larger shoer ring. That way you could keep the curtain along the back wall and still have room to enter. less chance of water getting behind tub onto tile.

[James Harrison]

I did think about a longer curtain rail, but the complication is that the ceiling slopes down over the bath, so securing to that was a no-go.  That really left the circular option as the best solution.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Don't know why I thought that wall was stud and lathe and plaster.....Brick is better.
Looks like a screen can be fitted with no hassles, levels and square good.

Option 1 The quick fix.
Cut the silicone and clean off as much as possible, undo the trap then shift the long side closer to the wall to see how much gap you end up with at the shower end can get away with 10mm ish on both.
Buy some window fitters 19mm quadrant (white plastic available almost anywhere.)
Mitre 2 ends cut overlong and postion ontop of the bath to check.
If pleasing to the eye (we know that internal corner isnt square, so this is about fooling the eye) It will not follw both tiles and bath so half and half it so it looks right.
If happy put some packing at the wide gaps, pull the bath away from both walls and squirt a ton of clear silicne between the bath and tiles push bath back into place, leave to cure.
Fit the shower screen cut the qaud to size and silicone in place finishing in white sanitary silicone.
OPtion 2
Basically the same but grind out the tiles in the corner to allow the bath to be sunk into the wall a bit to close the gap completely and use smaller quadrant. if going for this again I will go into more details later.Sounds worse than it is and you won't see any damage because of the way the tiles have finished .

With either option I would try and get some support battens under the wall edges to prevent any further movement once siliconed...... belt and brases.

https://www.diy.com/departments/floplast-white-upvc-quadrant-moulding-l-2-5m-w-19mm/153446_BQ.prd?storeId=1260

make sure you buy a qaulity fully adjustable screen a bit like this one...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/mira-elevate-semi-frameless-chrome-curved-bathscreen-800mm-x-1450mm/981hw

[Sir Henry]

With either option I would try and get some support battens under the wall edges to prevent any further movement once siliconed...... belt and brases.

https://www.diy.com/departments/floplast-white-upvc-quadrant-moulding-l-2-5m-w-19mm/153446_BQ.prd?storeId=1260

If you go that way, don't forget that white upvc can easily be textured and stained to match the woodwork in the rest of the room, and so not stand out horribly.

[James Harrison]

Don't know why I thought that wall was stud and lathe and plaster.....Brick is better.
Looks like a screen can be fitted with no hassles, levels and square good.

Option 1 The quick fix.
Cut the silicone and clean off as much as possible, undo the trap then shift the long side closer to the wall to see how much gap you end up with at the shower end can get away with 10mm ish on both.
Buy some window fitters 19mm quadrant (white plastic available almost anywhere.)
Mitre 2 ends cut overlong and postion ontop of the bath to check.
If pleasing to the eye (we know that internal corner isnt square, so this is about fooling the eye) It will not follw both tiles and bath so half and half it so it looks right.
If happy put some packing at the wide gaps, pull the bath away from both walls and squirt a ton of clear silicne between the bath and tiles push bath back into place, leave to cure.
Fit the shower screen cut the qaud to size and silicone in place finishing in white sanitary silicone.
OPtion 2
Basically the same but grind out the tiles in the corner to allow the bath to be sunk into the wall a bit to close the gap completely and use smaller quadrant. if going for this again I will go into more details later.Sounds worse than it is and you won't see any damage because of the way the tiles have finished .

With either option I would try and get some support battens under the wall edges to prevent any further movement once siliconed...... belt and brases.

https://www.diy.com/departments/floplast-white-upvc-quadrant-moulding-l-2-5m-w-19mm/153446_BQ.prd?storeId=1260

make sure you buy a qaulity fully adjustable screen a bit like this one...
https://www.screwfix.com/p/mira-elevate-semi-frameless-chrome-curved-bathscreen-800mm-x-1450mm/981hw

Thank you for putting some time and thought into this - it's really appreciated.  I'm going to look further into the Option 1 route.  I'm thinking that it might be possible to build a little further on that and keep the bath where it is, and just look at packing out the gap along the long side.  I can, I think, live with silicon beading that gets wider along the length.  And then, as you say, lay some quadrant along it to give it a neat finish.

[SeVeNeVeS]

No worries this is what I did for a living.
I think every bath or shower tray I have ever fitted I put qaud inside to help waterproof and have never had a call back or leak.
All you have to do is loosen the trap and give the bath a heafty shove then tweak the trap back up to reduce the gaps.
My pleasure to be of any assistance.

[James Harrison]

Aside from my own personal remake of 'A Night to Remember' every time I shower, I'm starting to find other little things to fix....

- The copper washbasin isn't lacquered.  It's already tarnishing and building up some 'green'.  I'm going to have to keep on top of polishing that, and look into lacquering it.  I think you can buy spray-on lacquer.

- The taps dribble unless turned off hard.  Not a major problem, I'll keep an eye on it. 

- Water tends to spray out of the basin and over the marble top.  Again, not a major problem - I just need to keep a cloth handy to clean the water off. 

- Some of that water can get under the taps and then drip into the washstand unit itself.  It's only a small quantity of water and I took care to varnish the washstand inside and out, I don't think it will prove too big an issue.  I'm happy it's not the hose/ tap connection itself because the hoses are dry. 

- I really need to find a decent mirror for above the washstand.  The bathroom mirror I've got was OK for the previous arrangement but doesn't really suit the new one.  Therefore I'm reluctant to put the mirror up, meaning when I need to use it I need to perch it precariously on the washstand.  I have an idea in mind for the mirror and I think that means it will be a bespoke and expensive item.  One for a few months' time, I think. 

- The row of half tiles installed below and behind the radiator needs grouting. 

- The wall paintwork took a bit of damage in the installation works and needs making good.

- The wooden skirting boards and other trim are stained with paint, grout, adhesives etc and need making good. 

- The floor needs a good deep clean (going over it with steam cleaners, buckets of water etc just moves the dirt around).

- There's a box out to be built below the radiator. 

- The wall behind the toilet and bath needs a skirting board, or at least something to neaten the joint between floor and tile. 

- I want to put a new, more appropriate, light fitting in the room.  Another one for a couple months' time, I think. 

- I need to put a final piece of flooring in under the door. 

- The floor can be treacherously slippery when wet, I'll need to find a rug or something to reduce that. 

- The washstand is lower than the original sink, so I have to bend over lower.  One to watch for the future as I don't have the strongest of backs. 

Something I think to learn from this for when I remodel the kitchen, my first full use of the new suite this week highlights really that I've created something that's not exactly easy to use - it's close to being a triumph of aesthetics over function.   

[SeVeNeVeS]

You really should not be having so many issues on a new install.

The monoblock basin should have had a rubber washer that fit between the tap and top....... again silicone could be your freind...... loosen the nut that secures it, squirt some clear silicne in the gap, re-tighten and clean any splurg.

There should be ballofix valves on the hot and cold supplies, try turning them down a bit to hopefully reduce flow, Vertical full....horizontal off.

Halfords do an automotive cellulose clear laquer which is both tough and durable....you will have to mask the crap out of everything if you wish to spray in situ, overspay gets everywhere.

Can't suggest anything about your dicky back except daily morning stretches 

My only bit of other advice, if you gonna fit the shower screen yourself buy a tile spade bit larger than the rawl plug to allow it to pass through the tile and grout into the brick, no potential cracking of tiles, fill the holes and run a thin line of silicone down the wall bracket before fixing.

[James Harrison]

I wouldn't say any of the problems are a complete show-stopper, it's more in the nature of trying to get used to the changes (and I don't like change)... 

There is a rubber washer around the top and the tap, but it's a a horseshoe shape - it has a gap in it - and that is where the water comes in, I think. 

I'll have a look at adjusting the flow for the taps.

Thanks for the heads-up about Halfords lacquer, I'll look into it. 

No firm decision has yet been made about the shower screen versus the shower curtain - my preference is to keep the curtain but that's almost purely on stubbornness after the cost and struggle of buying and installing the rail. 

As to my back - I walk probably three or four miles each day as part of my work commute.  Whilst that's to the good, I'm also carrying a heavy backpack, which is not brilliant. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

The horseshoe washer is designed to go under the basin to protect chinaware from the metal bracket. there should be either another washer or o ring for the tap/top.

[James Harrison]

There's a horseshoe washer under the top, I think there is a circular washer on top as well (I remember seeing one in the bag of bits that came with the tap). 

I've made a start on some of the smaller jobs;

- I've grouted the line of half tiles under/ behind the radiator
- The small patches of adhesive and grout have been sanded off the walls
- The crack that opened up as the airing cupboard tried to peel away when the tile flooring was removed has been filled in
- The walls have been locally re-painted where necessary
- The plastic film to the copper tile trim has been removed

The remainder of the smaller jobs - just to get the room to a point where I'm happy to call it close enough and leave off - are

- Build the box out around the bottom of the radiator and put 'something' behind the bath where bare plaster can be seen
- Lay some skirting board or quadrant or 'something' along the back wall to hide the joint between floor and tiles
- Clean and lacquer the sink
- Clean up and re-stain the timberwork

It's getting there.  It's also taking some getting used to. 

[James Harrison]

More small jobs underway, but these ones actually make a bit of a difference. 



Firstly, I polished up the washbasin.  Brasso, and a lot of elbow grease, and then a few coats of clear acrylic lacquer (which is absolutely potent stuff). 

I suspect I'm going to have to keep polishing this because it seems to attract watermarks.  I know I've said previously about how hard the local water is, so maybe a follow-up for this is to have an inline filter installed. 



Secondly, I've fixed the gap behind the bath.  It's not a pretty fix - some flexible sealed plastic rodding and a lot of silicon - but it's a fix and right now that's all I need from it.  I have got some quadrant to install around the bath but I think it's going to need more than that hide this.  I might have a think about getting some thin timber and fitting that over the gap (when properly waterproofed and varnished of course). 

I've found a period Edwardian mirror that will nicely suit the washstand, so that's another little thing ticked off the list. 

[SeVeNeVeS]

As long as you are happy with final result and finish, that is all that matters.
You gotta live it, no-one else.

[James Harrison]

As long as you are happy with final result and finish, that is all that matters.
You gotta live it, no-one else.

Long-term it will not please me. 

Short-term, whilst I progress with other bits of the room, 'it'll do'.

What I'm considering doing is buying some small bullnose skirting board, staining and varnishing it to within an inch of its life, and then fitting at as a sort of trim around the bath. 

That will wait a little while though because I've got a number of little finishing off things to do around the room and, to be honest, I'm tired of having to concentrate on just the one small area.   

[James Harrison]

After the incredibly... trying... week and a half I had whilst the majority of the remodelling work was done, I'm finding now that my enthusiasm and energy is decidedly waning and the sort of small finishing jobs that I usually delight in, are now becoming a chore. 

I'm close to calling it for the 2024 Programme. 

Work is still slowly pushing forward but progress now has got to overcome the inertia of my thinking 'I'm bored of this now / I've had enough / how much longer is this going to take?'



Well, the new mirror turned up today and that's a much better fit for the room.  'New' is probably not quite the right term because this is another antique piece dating to the 1900s/ 1910s. 



A start has also been made on cleaning up and re-staining the woodwork after the beating it took when I was repainting and remodelling. 

My vague plan is to start in this far corner and work my way around the room, probably only a little bit each day, re-staining, patch repainting the walls and doing any other little finishing jobs. 

There's probably a couple of weeks' work in this, all told:

- All the woodwork to restain
- The floorboards could probably do with a bit of a clean up now that they're actually in situ
- Some small localised paintwork touching-in
- A final piece of flooring under the door
- The box out under the radiator
- 'Something' on the floor to hide the gas pipe
- The proposed bullnose detail around the bath
- A couple of short skirting boards behind the bath and WC
- A new light fitting

I'm just... getting tired now though.

[SeVeNeVeS]

You really are not gonna like this........

Take time out, you have a "usable" bathroom. Do not use bullnose skirting as a trim around the bath it will look crap and not be practical.

Finish the skirting and boxing.

Ditch the curtain and install a screen once the bath has been re-fitted (cut out everything and start again, the plumber should have sorted the problem out whilst the initial installation was in progress...... chuck it in and run)

You will be much happier in the long run instead of having to make do and mend all the time, ending up with something you are not truely happy with. If you stop now it really isn't too much work to sort it out........

My 2 bobs worth, again, your house, your choice. Sorry if that sounds a little harsh, only trying to be of help.

[James Harrison]

Having seen the stuff in the flesh, as it were, last night, I agree that bullnose skirting is not the look I'm after.  What I have in mind is something like the wooden moulded trim you occasionally see around the top of the bath in a Victorian/ Edwardian bathroom - a bit like this sort of thing;



Obviously though mine would only be around the two walls and not the whole bath. 

Regarding the bath screen/ bath curtain discussion, I actually prefer having the curtain.  It looks more period-appropriate and now that I actually have curtain rings that fit and allow the curtain to be moved, it works about as well as the bath screen did in the old set-up.  Plus, the bath screen in my experience was awful to try and keep sparkling clean; get water on it once and it started to attract smears and limescale immediately - like I say, the local water is very, very hard. 

Re-finishing the skirting and other wooden trims is the direction I'm trying to go in at the moment; the difficulty is that after a day at work I'm not in any real mood to break out woodstain and paint brush and actually do it!

And for the box out, I know what I'm going to build, it's just getting around to buying the bits I need for it. 

Everything is either about finished or in hand and it's my unwillingness to get on with it that's the hold-up at the moment. 

Normal service will be resumed, at some point.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Would wood be good in a shower situation?

If I may suggest another approach........ fancy border tiles, not these specifically but as an example.

https://victorianceramics.com/ceramic-tiles/accessories/

Maybe something to search for at an acceptable price in the right colour, again not areal hassle to install and make the bath watertight and keeping with the Victorian feel.

[von Corax]

Would wood be good in a shower situation?

They do build boats out of the stuff...

[SeVeNeVeS]

Would wood be good in a shower situation?

They do build boats out of the stuff...

They can also build houses out of mud, wattle and daub and bannana leaves but other more suitable and durable materials are available these days requiring little or no maintenance.......