by How to reduce the risk of leaks, choose materials and extend the life of your finish -v-vannoj-e4f41cb.jpg” alt=”15 tips for those planning a bathroom remodel” />
Artyom Lodvig General Director of Masters of Renovation.
Renovating a bathroom is more expensive than refinishing other areas of the apartment. There are a lot of difficult and dirty jobs here: laying pipes, laying tiles, installing equipment. And the consequences of mistakes can be severe – from flying off tiles to flooding neighbors from below. Such troubles can be avoided if you follow the recommendations of experts.
1. Think over the situation in advance
Plumbing, a washing machine, a water heater, cabinets, cabinets and shelving are placed in the bathroom. Think over their location in advance and mark on the plan. So the masters will find out where to make exits for water and sewerage.
2. Install a water heater
Or at least prepare leads and a socket for it.
Sooner or later, the summer weeks without hot water will force you to buy a water heater. To install it, you need access to wiring and pipes: if you do not take care of this in advance, you will have to break the tiles, and then redo the repairs. It is better to remove communications from the very beginning – then all that remains is to buy and connect the device.
3. Take care of waterproofing
Waterproofing is an essential part of a bathroom renovation. If you skip it, when leaking, water will penetrate through the cracks in the tile joints. As a result, mold, fungus or a bill for repairing the ceiling of the neighbors below.
To protect the premises below from flooding, roll, coating and impregnating materials are used. In bathrooms, coating waterproofing is most often done or combined with rolled waterproofing. The floors and walls need to be treated. The ceiling does not need to be protected: waterproofing in the apartment from above should prevent leakage.
4. Don't skimp on pipes
They usually try to save money on pipes in three ways: they buy cheaper, order a simpler scheme and ignore optional details. But sometimes this frugality can have bad consequences.
- Polypropylene water pipes are cheaper. But they do not bend, so they have to be cut and connected with fittings. As a result, connections become weak in places, leaks occur in them. I recommend XLPE pipes: they are more expensive, but the material itself is more reliable. It is also easier to work with such elements, because they are flexible and do not require additional connections, which eliminates installation errors.
- Pipes are combined in a serial or parallel (collector) way. The first option is cheap, but inconvenient: if the faucet in the bathroom breaks, the water will have to be turned off in the kitchen. With collector wiring, each device functions separately, so if something fails, the rest of the plumbing can be used.
- A coarse filter must be installed on the water supply pipes, which traps large impurities like grains of sand. A fine filter is sometimes added to it – it copes with smaller particles. Thanks to him, sanitary ware, faucets, fittings and pipes last longer, and softer and cleaner water flows from the tap.
- Sometimes there are different pressures in the pipes of hot and cold water supply, due to which the heated jet goes back through the pipes with the cold: it turns out that the hot water is overused by the meter. To prevent this, you can install a check valve: it prevents the hot stream from entering the cold water pipes.
Saving on pipes leads to leaks, unnecessary costs or inconvenience in everyday life. It is better to reduce spending on tiles or expensive accessories than on communications.
5. Make sure the pipes have been pressure tested
The pipes in the bathroom are partially sewn into the walls. If they are not checked after installation, they can leak at the most inopportune moment. To find the problem, you will have to dismantle the wall, and then rebuild and finish it.
To check the pipes in advance, they carry out pressure testing – testing the system with water or air under pressure. This helps to find weaknesses in the water supply system and eliminate them. Such a check is carried out by the same masters who mount the pipeline.
6. Leave access to pipes
Even if you use high-quality pipes and check them in advance, you won’t be able to completely get rid of the risk of leakage: there may be a problem with general house communications or a connection may leak. So that in the event of an accident it would not be necessary to dismantle the surrounding area and redo the repairs, it is impossible to sew pipes tightly into the wall.
Access is left through plumbing hatches. In order not to sacrifice aesthetics, they can be covered with invisible doors or roller shutters, disguised as a cabinet by installing a furniture door. All this is made to order according to the size of the opening.
7. Install a leak protection system
This is an optional but useful device that costs from 8,000 rubles and will prevent a flood if a leak appears. The protection system consists of three components: a control module, automatic valves and sensors. Automatic taps are mounted in the water supply channel, and sensors are installed on the floor, in places where water is most likely to accumulate in the event of a leak.
When liquid hits the sensor, it transmits a signal to the control module. The module sends a command to the automatic faucet, and it shuts off the water. So the system will prevent household flooding.
8. Align the walls and floor
If you are going to lay tiles in the bathroom, properly prepare the floor and walls. You should not rely on tile adhesive: it cannot be applied in a thick layer, so it will not correct differences in the surface. If you tile curved walls or floors with tiles, it will lie in wedges in the corners.
The walls in the bathroom are aligned with the lighthouses – so the surface will turn out to be as flat as possible. A liquid self-leveling screed is poured onto the floor.
9. Do not use gypsum mixes
Gypsum absorbs water, so compositions based on it are not used in the bathroom. If liquid gets into the tile joint, the plaster will absorb it and swell, and the tile will fly off.
In the bathroom, it is recommended to use cement-sand mixtures – they are not afraid of water. Sometimes the frames of sanitary cabinets and ventilation ducts are assembled from drywall, but always moisture resistant. It is painted or tiled.
10. Choose non-slip floor tiles
Glossy tiles on the floor in the bathroom threaten the health of residents: such a surface is slippery in itself, and if it is also wet … sooner or later it can lead to injury. Therefore, it is better to choose a rough tile or porcelain stoneware. And if you still took the gloss, treat the material with a special anti-slip compound – these are sold in hardware stores.
11. Match the grout to the tile
There are two types of grout in retail outlets: cement and epoxy. The cement version is used for ceramic tiles and porcelain stoneware. Such a grout is easy to apply, but over time it cracks and begins to let water through. Usually it serves from 10 years, but it can become unusable earlier: it depends on the shrinkage of the house, the temperature and humidity in the room.
Epoxy grout is used in tandem with glass mosaic. The application is more complicated, but such a material does not pass water and remains in its original form much longer than the cement version. However, it is not worth using epoxy grout for ordinary ceramics: the composition will clog into pores and irregularities and will not be washed off the surface. And cement grout will spoil the look of the glass mosaic – the finish will fade.
12. Use Mosaics for the Shower Tray -vannoj-fa31518.png” alt=”15 tips for those planning a bathroom remodel” />
Homemade shower trays are usually tiled or tiled. I recommend the second option. The pallet is assembled at a slope to the drain, because of this, the tiles for cladding are cut at an angle and the result, even with careful execution, is not very aesthetic. And the mosaic does not need to be cut – it is small, so it easily fits on surfaces of complex shape.
Another bonus of this material is epoxy grout, which provides additional waterproofing of the pallet.
13. Install the bath correctly .png” alt=”15 Tips for Bathroom Remodelers” />
The bath is mounted so that its upper edges are located strictly horizontally: they are guided by this line when they lay tiles on the walls. It is not necessary to tilt the bowl towards the drain, because its bottom is already cast at an angle.
The place where the bathtub contacts the wall is sealed with sealant. An important point: before starting work, water should be drawn into the bath. Then drain when the material hardens. So the sealant layer is elastic and does not move away from the edge of the bath when it sags under the weight of water.
14. Connect the hood
The air in the bathroom is humid, and if the general house ventilation is not doing very well, mold will grow in the room. To avoid this, install a hood – it normalizes humidity and eliminates odors.
15. Choose protected sockets
Regular bathroom options are not suitable: if water gets on them, a short circuit is possible. Therefore, it is necessary to install waterproof sockets with covers. However, remember that even they cannot be placed close to faucets or the floor, otherwise, in the event of a leak, the electrical outlets may flood.
What to remember
In conclusion – a short checklist with the most important repair rules bathroom:
- Plan for future additions and potential accidents.
- Don't skimp on plumbing and electrical.
- Take care to protect against leaks and their consequences.
- Don't miss important finishing steps.
- Choose materials wisely based on the situation and your needs.
- Remember safety and comfort .
