I've been fitting a new bathroom for someone this week, and it has gone
wrong from Monday.
They are knocking the bathroom and toilet into one. Removing the
dividing wall went fine on Monday, but knocking off the tiles revealed
another layer of tiles beneath, and these were held on with cement that
was so hard that either the tile had to be smashed up, or it ripped off
the plaster top finish.
Started to fit the bath on Tuesday.
This is a B+Q bath suite. Be warned, they are crap.
Firstly it was noticeable how thin the GRP bath body is - you really can
see the sun shine through it. Went to fit the stands, with the supplied
screws, strange, they only went in 2 or 3 mm then ripped out the
chipboard. Closer inspection showed the countersinked holes were on the
wrong side, so the supplied screws would never screw in tight.
So, sorted that, then got it level. This bath was the wobbliest I have
ever fitted (though I've only fitted around 10 baths). Extra supports
and wedges were needed all round, even though it was perfectly level on
a good floor.
With a few other things needing doing, it took me all day to do that.
So, onto the toilet today. It was being put onto new floor tiles, so get
the plumbing sorted first, then lay a sheet of ply, lay the tiles where
the pan was going to be, leave it a couple of hours, then fit the
toilet. In theory.
The existing pipework was a nightmare that had never been touched since
the house was built. I'd fit a new joint, turn on the water, then find
a leak further down. This went on until dinner time, when I thought all
the leaks were sorted, so the ply around the toilet could be laid.
Then I went down to fetch something, and noticed wet on the kitchen
worktop. Back up, checking all the pipes - no joints leaking at all.
Shining a torch under the floorboards showed a puddle under the wash
basin, that'd be the wash basin I hadnt touched. So, needed to take the
basin out to get access to the floorboard under it. Did that, plulled up
the floorboards to find the cold feed pipe to the basin was so corroded
that the movemet further down the line had caused it to spring a leak.
****e, another hour later, a new pipe had been fitted.
Back to the toilet. Tiles down now at 2pm, so should be able to put the
toilet in at 4pm ish.
A picture of a similar bath suite is he

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/sk...?skuId=9682694

Have a good look at the toilet. There is no access, or even viewing of
where the waste fitting is.
And no access to tighten the cistern to the pan (the pan has no separate
fixings to the wall, it has just the 2 bolts going through the pan to
hold it in place).
So the cistern needs to be tightened to the pan before fitting, then it
weighs probably 30kgs, and you have to manouvre it to couple onto a
waste/soil fitting that you cannot see.
It is not easy.
I have left it with a usual pan to soil pipe rubber seal, but tomorrow,
I'm taking it all off again, and fitting a flexible outlet/soil pipe, as
I just dont know if the soil outlet is sealing properly.
I never thought I would use a flexi soil pipe, but in this case I cannot
see any other alternative. Oh, it also needs a flexible water feed, as
the route to the cistern in so 'roundabout'.

So, if you are after a bathroom suite, be wary of this stuff, as it is a
nightmare to fit, and the bath is quite poor quality.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

On 2008-04-23 18:58:58 +0100, (A.Lee) said:

So, if you are after a bathroom suite, be wary of this stuff, as it is a
nightmare to fit, and the bath is quite poor quality.
Alan.

Moral of story. Make sure you know what the materials are before
pricing for or agreeing the job?

A.Lee wrote:
And no access to tighten the cistern to the pan (the pan has no separate
fixings to the wall, it has just the 2 bolts going through the pan to
hold it in place).

And you will find the whole lot wobbles about since it is only held at
the base. The solution I found was a liberal bead of silicone on the
back of the cistern. That fixes it to the wall nicely and firms the
whole thing up a treat.

So the cistern needs to be tightened to the pan before fitting, then it
weighs probably 30kgs, and you have to manouvre it to couple onto a
waste/soil fitting that you cannot see.
It is not easy.
I have left it with a usual pan to soil pipe rubber seal, but tomorrow,
I'm taking it all off again, and fitting a flexible outlet/soil pipe, as
I just dont know if the soil outlet is sealing properly.
I never thought I would use a flexi soil pipe, but in this case I cannot
see any other alternative. Oh, it also needs a flexible water feed, as
the route to the cistern in so 'roundabout'.

Yup, flexis are the best bet for this. Just beware of using them in
ground floor cloakrooms. Last one I did, rats crawled up the soil pipe,
and eat through the flexi. Result was a tad soggy when the loo was flushed.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

This is a B+Q bath suite. Be warned, they are crap.

Just to dive in to the thread here, but we've just had our bathroom
from hell replaced, and can recommend the Park Lane Corinthian 1700mm
* 750mm 8 jet whirlpool bath (currently £368)

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:58:58 +0100, (A.Lee) wrote:

I've been fitting a new bathroom for someone this week, and it has gone
wrong from Monday.
They are knocking the bathroom and toilet into one. Removing the
dividing wall went fine on Monday, but knocking off the tiles revealed
another layer of tiles beneath, and these were held on with cement that
was so hard that either the tile had to be smashed up, or it ripped off
the plaster top finish.
Started to fit the bath on Tuesday.
This is a B+Q bath suite. Be warned, they are crap.

You know those scalloped ones. They're responsible for massive
wastage. People bought them ("developers") and put them in and the
first thing people do is rip them out cos they're gross. Next time you
pass a skip have a look, there'll be one of these monstrosities in it.

--
http://www.orderonlinepickupinstore.co.uk
Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk

"A.Lee" wrote in message
...
I've been fitting a new bathroom for someone this week, and it has gone
wrong from Monday.
They are knocking the bathroom and toilet into one. Removing the
dividing wall went fine on Monday, but knocking off the tiles revealed
another layer of tiles beneath, and these were held on with cement that
was so hard that either the tile had to be smashed up, or it ripped off
the plaster top finish.
Started to fit the bath on Tuesday.
This is a B+Q bath suite. Be warned, they are crap.
Firstly it was noticeable how thin the GRP bath body is - you really can
see the sun shine through it. Went to fit the stands, with the supplied
screws, strange, they only went in 2 or 3 mm then ripped out the
chipboard. Closer inspection showed the countersinked holes were on the
wrong side, so the supplied screws would never screw in tight.
So, sorted that, then got it level. This bath was the wobbliest I have
ever fitted (though I've only fitted around 10 baths). Extra supports
and wedges were needed all round, even though it was perfectly level on
a good floor.
With a few other things needing doing, it took me all day to do that.
So, onto the toilet today. It was being put onto new floor tiles, so get
the plumbing sorted first, then lay a sheet of ply, lay the tiles where
the pan was going to be, leave it a couple of hours, then fit the
toilet. In theory.
The existing pipework was a nightmare that had never been touched since
the house was built. I'd fit a new joint, turn on the water, then find
a leak further down. This went on until dinner time, when I thought all
the leaks were sorted, so the ply around the toilet could be laid.
Then I went down to fetch something, and noticed wet on the kitchen
worktop. Back up, checking all the pipes - no joints leaking at all.
Shining a torch under the floorboards showed a puddle under the wash
basin, that'd be the wash basin I hadnt touched. So, needed to take the
basin out to get access to the floorboard under it. Did that, plulled up
the floorboards to find the cold feed pipe to the basin was so corroded
that the movemet further down the line had caused it to spring a leak.
****e, another hour later, a new pipe had been fitted.
Back to the toilet. Tiles down now at 2pm, so should be able to put the
toilet in at 4pm ish.
A picture of a similar bath suite is he

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/sk...?skuId=9682694

Have a good look at the toilet. There is no access, or even viewing of
where the waste fitting is.
And no access to tighten the cistern to the pan (the pan has no separate
fixings to the wall, it has just the 2 bolts going through the pan to
hold it in place).
So the cistern needs to be tightened to the pan before fitting, then it
weighs probably 30kgs, and you have to manouvre it to couple onto a
waste/soil fitting that you cannot see.
It is not easy.
I have left it with a usual pan to soil pipe rubber seal, but tomorrow,
I'm taking it all off again, and fitting a flexible outlet/soil pipe, as
I just dont know if the soil outlet is sealing properly.
I never thought I would use a flexi soil pipe, but in this case I cannot
see any other alternative. Oh, it also needs a flexible water feed, as
the route to the cistern in so 'roundabout'.

So, if you are after a bathroom suite, be wary of this stuff, as it is a
nightmare to fit, and the bath is quite poor quality.
Alan.

Funny you should say that. Just fitting more or less identical suite (much
higher quality, large discount available!). Have just decided toilet will
have to be changed for open back version as there's no way I can fit it for
the same reasons you mention. Mine weighs about 30 bloodyKg without the
cistern! I assumed from the catalogue the covered in back somehow went on
afterwards. I can only assume they are designed to be fitted through a false
wall into a void or something. Tiles bringing off wall, 1950's metal
imperial waste pipe leading to boxed in 6" internal cast iron soil stack
(with dog leg). Stippled wall one end. And it's mine (


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

I fitted one of these type of toilets for a neighbour last year and found it
relatively easy. How I approached it was I placed a straight edge across
the back of the pan to get a measurement of the 'wall to WC spigot' distance
and made sure the pan connector was fixed to allow for this measurement. I
also used a flexi tap connector for the cistern fill as obviously it cannot
be hard piped due to the lack of access. Pictures are available if
required.

HTH

John

On Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:58:58 +0100, A.Lee wrote:

Have a good look at the toilet. There is no access, or even viewing of
where the waste fitting is.
And no access to tighten the cistern to the pan (the pan has no separate
fixings to the wall, it has just the 2 bolts going through the pan to
hold it in place).
So the cistern needs to be tightened to the pan before fitting, then it
weighs probably 30kgs, and you have to manouvre it to couple onto a
waste/soil fitting that you cannot see.
It is not easy.

Agreed: BTDTGTTS :-)

I have left it with a usual pan to soil pipe rubber seal, but tomorrow,
I'm taking it all off again, and fitting a flexible outlet/soil pipe, as
I just dont know if the soil outlet is sealing properly. I never thought
I would use a flexi soil pipe, but in this case I cannot see any other
alternative. Oh, it also needs a flexible water feed, as the route to
the cistern in so 'roundabout'.

I managed to connect the soil with a longish straight multiquick-type pan
connector pushed only just on to the pan spigot then got my hand in enough
to guide the ribbed end of the connector into the soil pipe, then pushed
the whole pan back and prayed ;-). Nicely siliconed rubbers essential.

And yes it is a PITA, especially if you have to get it all out again as I
did :-(. The installation had gravity cold water. I'd replaced the
supplied valve, which was hopeless on gravity, with a Torbeck which I had
on the van and seemed to work. However a few weeks later it was not
shutting off and I gave up and got a valve suitable for high or low
pressures and fitted that.


--
John Stumbles

A backstreet vasectomy left me sterile