Needing a new bathroom suite

I’m in a similar situation at the moment, the house is 170 years old and nothing is straight. My brain only does straight lines and correct angles.

I put a slimline toilet in my last house and it was useless, I can’t stand a  shower over the bath, the manky shower curtain dangling in the bath is too much. The electrician has put holes in the walls to access the cavity and thread wires, I'm wondering whether to remove the lathe and plaster then soundproof and plasterboard. I’m most probably then going to have the walls skimmed and use a waterproof emulsion, it’s ideal for steam. We will tile the wet areas.
My wife likes a shower whilst I can’t tolerate them, I prefer a bath. The room as usual isn’t massive, it was originally a box bedroom.

I have found a good suite in Wickes, the nice part is that you can sit on the toilet and get into the bath for working out comfort.  I had a tape measure in my pocket and measured my wife’s rear for the bath width, I really got a slap for that.
I would like a column designer radiator but worried about dust traps. My last house had a towel radiator, similar to a ladder, once it had towels on it the room was cold. I eventually put an electric wall fan heater in, it was ideal as it is instant and saved putting the heating on.

I went to a local  builders merchant earlier and had a look at some mock up they have in the showroom, the man in there was really helpful and explained a lot of stuff to me. I think we might go for a high wall mounted cistern, one where you pull the chain, as gravity will help offset the smaller amount of water inside the cistern and our water pressure isn't great either. They do a range of what they call comfort height toilets, which basically means made for adults who don;t want their knees round their ears.

I had a good look at basins, most of them are tiny, narrow and shallow with a lot of wasted space, they seem to be designed for you to little more than wash your hands in, I want one big enough to be able to have a proper wash in. So I think it will be a bowl, some of them look like dog bowls, on a cabinet which at least gives us a reasonable amount of storage space. The bowls are bigger and deeper, but don't seem to take up a lot of space.

I have thought about underfloor heating and a towel rail, but it will depend I think on how hard it will be to take up the existing tiles and whats under them. The man explained radiators to me, and said that the ones that you can hang towels from don't put out much heat compared to one of a similar size thats a conventional radiator, so I think we'll have a normal radiator and put a seperate towel rail above it. I can't stand being cold in the bathroom.

Roy, if you've not enough room for a seperate shower what about a glass shower screen? We used to have one and they're so much better than a nasty old curtain that sticks to you when you try and get out. I'm glad I'm not in the market for a bath, as so many of them are tiny, short and narrow or tubs that you sit more upright in, if I have a bath then I want a good wallow and be able to lie in it.

I went to a local  builders merchant earlier and had a look at some mock up they have in the showroom, the man in there was really helpful and explained a lot of stuff to me. I think we might go for a high wall mounted cistern, one where you pull the chain, as gravity will help offset the smaller amount of water inside the cistern and our water pressure isn't great either. They do a range of what they call comfort height toilets, which basically means made for adults who don;t want their knees round their ears.

I had a good look at basins, most of them are tiny, narrow and shallow with a lot of wasted space, they seem to be designed for you to little more than wash your hands in, I want one big enough to be able to have a proper wash in. So I think it will be a bowl, some of them look like dog bowls, on a cabinet which at least gives us a reasonable amount of storage space. The bowls are bigger and deeper, but don't seem to take up a lot of space.

I have thought about underfloor heating and a towel rail, but it will depend I think on how hard it will be to take up the existing tiles and whats under them. The man explained radiators to me, and said that the ones that you can hang towels from don't put out much heat compared to one of a similar size thats a conventional radiator, so I think we'll have a normal radiator and put a seperate towel rail above it. I can't stand being cold in the bathroom.

Roy, if you've not enough room for a seperate shower what about a glass shower screen? We used to have one and they're so much better than a nasty old curtain that sticks to you when you try and get out. I'm glad I'm not in the market for a bath, as so many of them are tiny, short and narrow or tubs that you sit more upright in, if I have a bath then I want a good wallow and be able to lie in it.

Roy said:

'pull the chain'

I liked the gushing sound made by high level cisterns.At least they flushed everything away unlike low level cisterns. Our WC had a printed sign inside, 'leadless glaze' and as a child I read this as,'eyeless gaze'. It terrified me!

Izal Medicated Toilet Paper. I used to screw it up and rub it between my fingers to make it more tissue like. I could never understand how it was considered ‘hygienic’ toilet paper. I think ‘hygienic’ was written on the pack. At school we used to say it was hygienic compared to ‘used newspaper’..

Yeah I remember that awful stuff.

Worse still at junior school our toilets were outside.

Roy said:

I’m now having flashbacks to the school ‘tracing paper’ in the toilet blocks. 

Yes!

Izal.

Completely non absorbent

I’m now having flashbacks to the school ‘tracing paper’ in the toilet blocks. 

Roy said:

a gazunder

Just looked it up.

Thanks for that. 

You learn something every day

I only recently realised how a gazunder got its name.

Lots of fun facts about toilet terms here:

https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/bathroom-ideas-and-inspiration/why-do-we-say-loo-the-stories-behind-toilet-terminology

Roy said:

I count myself lucky that the toilet was indoors. I’ve heard many chilling tales!

Ours was at the end of the garden. 

My mum kept a paraffin lamp lit out there.

Spooky and cold at night when a child.

You have reminded me of the Victorian house I grew up in. We had a downstairs loo with a broad wooden seat and a pull flush. The chain was fairly heavy and it had a decorative wooden handle with brass features. The wooden seat was warm and comfortable to sit on but looking back, it wasn’t very hygienic. 

B said:

I still use the expression 'pull the chain'

I used that expression for a long time after I moved out of the house. I can’t remember when I changed it to ‘flush the loo’.

B said:

'pull the chain'

I also use the same expression, I count myself lucky that the toilet was indoors. I’ve heard many chilling tales!

Roy said:

My wife loves the idea of a high cistern, they have a brilliant flush.

My last house was Victorian and had the original high flush cistern which I loved. 

Incidentally I still use the expression 'pull the chain' for flushing which is left over from my childhood. 

Thanks for the advice, I have been looking at glass shower screens, I’ve found a bi-fold one that won’t close me in when using the bath. Glad you have found a local supplier, in my last house I found an ex-display bath and sink unit locally, the price was about 1/3 of its original price.

My wife loves the idea of a high cistern, they have a brilliant flush. We are only gravity fed from a bore hole on an hill above the house. Our current toilet has a macerator, it’s got to go before it needs any sort of repair, I refuse to work on it. Unfortunately to put a soil pipe in I have to drill a 4 inch hole through 2ft of stone wall, it may take a while.  I can’t stand the shorter bath lengths, they seem pointless.