That dreaded leak / bathroom

[Colin Wilson]

Not sure how it happened, but the missus was complaining about how much she hated the bathroom today, and the whole lot started to get bashed about, the tatty looking hardboard bath panel snapped into several pieces etc...

I think I sorted the leak - the bath is now slid up hard against the wall furthest away from where it was (plenty of access to the tails!)

- the old Xpelair has been lashed and the hole filled in (we don't suffer from much damp / condensation in there now since we got central heating - and it hadn't worked for a couple of years anyway) but i'm wondering what to do next...

She's talking tiling, and i've only ever done it once before - given that tiles are fairly cheap, and marble tiles are only a little less so nowadays, the question was posed about using marble (my fault...)

Apart from cutting the damn stuff, is it any harder to work with ?

One small "issue" I might have is how I now fill in the gap at the tap end of the bath - it's never going to hold much weight other than shampoo bottles, so what I was thinking was a batten against the end wall, a strip of wood stuck to the bath (no more nails jobbie), and laying large-ish tiles onto them - they could sit on a bead of silicone to seal, with more run up the back of the tiles where they'd meet, and normal grout on top.

Does this sound feasible ?

[Andy Hall]

Actually it's very easy to cut. A diamond wheel wet tile saw is required - not a score and snap device. You will probably want to use said saw outside because of the water, so the main fun becomes running up and down stairs.

The second part is to use a good quality adhesive and not just any old tile rubbish. White should be used and I would suggest looking at products from Ardex or Weber (was Howtex) and choosing the correct type for the underlying surface(s). Both companies have good technical departments who provide good advice.

Remember that marble tiles are a lot heavier than ceramic, so the adhesive technique and product is very important.

No. Bad idea.

The tiles will weigh quite a bit and you don't want any movement here. Therefore, it would be best to make a substantial frame to support the shelf, securely fixing it to the wall. Fixing a piece of wood to the bath would not be a good solution at all. If there is to be a joint to allow tiny movement, it should be where the shelf meets the bath. On larger tiled areas, it's common to incorporate movement joints filled with silicone sealer anyway. One other point on that it that generally with stone tiles, it's better to use clear sealer as opposed to white. Usually the appearance is a lot better.

[Autolycus]

We've got a gap of a foot or so at the non-tap end, and the previous owner made a loose-fitting lid for it. The bath panel extends to the wall, so it forms a useful storage space for stuff like spare bog rolls, cleaning materials and the like. A hinged lid would perhaps be even better, but it hasn't reached the top of the priority list in 23 years, so it probably never will. Probably better to have it away from the taps, and thus away from the over-bath shower - could you slide your bath along while you're about it?

[Colin Wilson]

I've only just moved it, and the missus seems happier with it with the tap end being the one with the "gap" to fill (she can put candles on it, etc. you know the story...)

Things seem to be going from bad to worse however on the tiling front

- we've pulled back from the marble idea, but I just want out. I've had enough.

She hates the (grey) bathroom suite, but to save money wants to reuse the one we've got... that causes issues with how the hell I tile the place because i've got to start trying to move the pedastal and cistern etc. - so to do that, it'd be easier to rip the f'ing lot out and start from scratch.

Except...

...the pipes to the radiator in the bathroom run under the bath, and are "behind" the legs of the bath, so I can't move that without doing something with them. I'm not a plumber. And then you wouldn't bother sticking the old tatty suite back in - and since you wouldn't want to stick a new one on top of old lino, you'd tile the floor before you started to put it all back in again. ARGGGHH F'ING ARGHHHHH

Wonder if our Medway Handyman might fancy a holiday in Liverpool :-/