Hi All,

Today I took my (70 ish year old) Mum round the sheds because she
would like a new bathroom. Dad isn't into DIY (now) and she tends to
drive anything that get's done these days (she also tripped over a
speed bump in the carpark, hitting the deck and cutting the finger
that was nearly bitten off by a dog a while back) ;-(

They were talking of removing the huge cast iron bath (any value ..
horse trough, planter etc or is it sledge hammer time?) and replacing
it with a shorter one (just to retain a 'bath') and fitting a decent
sized shower cubicle that would take a stool (for Dad) etc.

None of the sheds had a 'short' bath on display but did have corner
(and semi corner) ones but they would upset the useable layout of the
smallish bathroom.

I think I've found some 'studio' baths out there in internet land but
wondered if anyone had any experience of them in the flesh so to
speak?

Just for a bit more background .. they have a fairly old central
heating system (wall mounted balanced flue with pumped indirect system
to rads / cylinder (was all convection / coal fired)) and now what
seems to be fashionable flat panel cast iron rads ;-)

So, questions if I may ..

Where could we see a range of good (but not 'deluxe' / expensive)
shorter baths?

Who does a nice range of 'roomy' shower cubicles (spec as above). What
are the pro's / cons re over / under floor plumbing on the shower
waste please?

I think Dad would like a 'power shower' but believe you can't have
pumped shower and a combi / sealed boiler (if they were to go over to
one with a heating upgrade in the future)?

Any general tips / advice welcome please ;-)

All the best for 2005 ..

T i m