Owning your own home

This is what happens when you don't pursue truth in materials @chrisbmx116

Nobody puts telly in the corner

1 Attachment

This is going to really stress me now... pretty sure the missus doesn't see any real difference in bronze/brass/copper and I've put a deposit down on a full set of Lusso stone gubbins after melting over decisions, not sure I can face trying to back peddle on that. My first choice was Arte form unfinished copper (or was it brass?). Another issue with Arte Forme is they didn't have the option for a hand held shower, but then how useful really are they?

@cozey that's pretty frustrating that that's rubbed off like that! Thanks for sharing... you up for sharing some pics of your full bathroom? I'm thinking it looks quite similar to whatI am planning...

Nobody puts telly in the corner

I will fight you

here's a couple pics. it's just basic basic really - council tiles, wholesale domestic suite, lusso stone fixtures and fittings, some coloured mapei grout, basic hex floor tiles. not the biggest so hard to get half decent pics

2 Attachments

Hand shower is useful / essential for rinsing tiles after cleaning.

We wanted raw brass but I couldn't handle the price companies were asking for it. Seeing as 99% of taps etc are solid brass which is then copper plated, then chrome plated, I couldn't bring myself to give someone a premium for a product that had had less done to it than a "finished" version.

In the end I bought a cheap mixer and sanded off all the nasty chrome to get to raw brass. The knobs were some kind of zinc alloy so I made my own. Solid brass round bar (not cheap) to my wife's design. Hand shower is a cheap Chinese ebay job but it's fine for the amount we use it. Holder was chrome but I stripped it the same way as the mixer. Flap-disc & angle grinder then emery paper then finally scotchbrite.

Not for everyone but it is possible to do it on the cheap. TBH there's probably a lot more raw brass options OTP now. Photo makes them look gross but they have a lovely warmth in real life.

1 Attachment

I'm pretty sure this is all done in photoshop

I 100% agree with this. So until I 'level up' my socio economic status I am going to stick with laminate (and destroying victorian features).

STAY TRUE.

The only acceptable finish for showers and taps is chrome. It’s good looking, hard wearing, shiny, and doesn’t scratch up or tarnish like raw brass, or painted/powder coated finishes.

Anything else is just a fad.

Also, yes you need a hand shower. You can’t clean your barse with a waterfall.

If you’re planning a shower near the loo, make the hose long enough that you can clean the loo with it. Or get a bum gun, like Amey.

You say tarnish, I say patina.

No one says potah-to.

Everyone who’s singing the song does.

Also, bathroom fittings have been polished brass since they were invented. I'd guess chrome only came into fashion in the 30s, so really it's just a fad.

Cheers for those! Yeah not miles off, nice to see a white rad too as I feel colour matching rads and taps is always a bit much...

@dbr that is madness on a brilliant level, I wouldn't have the balls to do that, but I love it. EC1 Bathrooms do Arte forme stuff for a reasonable price so think I am going top go for that, although the only draw back is they don't do a 3 way splitter so I can have shower, hand shower and bath filler, I will just have to sacrifice the hand held shower. Can totally see how they are useful but I have never had one (and have survived) and all pals who have them say they have barely used them.

@Fox yeah, you are totally right with materials being authentic, thought I could convince myself to bend the rules but no, going for real materials now (real terrazzo).

Your a fad.

Does anyone have any experience of repitching/replacing a roof?

My partner and I are very interested in the house pictured below, but the upstairs headroom is not hugely friendly to people over six foot.

The house is semi-detached and the otherwise identical house has a much steeper pitch to the roof so therefore much better headroom. How big a job is this, we're imagining large...

1 Attachment

Another vote for raw brass here.

I’m my head I was going for Vola setup like this but with 2 knobs

1 Attachment

make the hose long enough that you can clean the loo with it

But not long enough that it can fall in. Unless your shower has backflow prevention fitted.
(TBH I'm not sure if this is still current, but it's what I was taught)

From what I can see
2 dormers
1 velux
Party wall
Two chimneys
So you’d probably need a party wall consultant, maybe a structural engineer and architect. I don’t have experience but I wouldn’t say it seemed straightforward or cheap. Easiest would be to get a local building firm to give an estimate

Thanks @Tenderloin, that's the way we're leaning, I'll start asking around here. It's Edinburgh so we're also negotiating with the weirdnesses of Scottish bidding.

At a guess, regs say new builds and new installations require active extraction.

Cheers, this is the bit that's not clear. Looks like it's definitely required for new builds but not clear whether just fitting a new bathroom requires it.

It's not my bathroom so the window will be open 24/7 regardless if there's a fan in there.

A fan would be better but with the electrics it's coming in pretty pricey.

Another issue with Arte Forme is they didn't have the option for a hand held shower, but then how useful really are they?

My new place doesn't have one. We miss it for cleaning things and stuff like washing feet.

you're in scotland so one benefit is no party wall pish afaik

As long as you keep a safe distance

maybe a structural engineer and architect

I'd think definitely a structural engineer and architect, and a builder that knows how to either build with (pre-) Georgian stone, or with modern materials on top of old, without making it look like a Frankenstein mess (like that cement rendered crack house extension).

Can’t say for sure about Scotland but imagine you’d need planning permission too.