2003 - Bathroom Renovation

The old bath The problem was climbing over the side of the bath in order to have a shower. Also, staying upright while in the bath having a shower. Also, barely having room to turn around while in the shower.

To remove the bath - to change the configuration of the small, narrow room at all - it was going to be necessary to remove many of the asbestos wall panels. The bath-shaped hole in the floor would have to be filled. In effect, the walls and floor would have to be replaced.

I got an occupational therapist in to provide specifications, and chose a firm that specialised in accessibility modifications to bathrooms. I'd envisaged a shower recess across the end of the room, but the OT suggested more or less turning the whole room into a shower recess, and that's what we did.

This first photo was taken after my last shower in the bath, very early in the morning of 13 October 2003, with work due to start at 7.30am. On the left is the heated towel rail, which used to hang by cable ties from a high towel rail. The previous week I'd painstakingly stuck its legs on - relieved and surprised to have kept them, and in a place where I could find them! It spent the next fortnight in the kitchen. The old basin was to be replaced by a single-tap basin - finally I was going to have taps I could manage!

The shower curtain is down and in the bath: you can see the pink shadecloth extension I always had to sew onto shower curtains so they'd reach the bath. (Even so, a fair bit of water escaped onto the lino - see split at end of bath.) You can also see how grotty and mouldy the walls had become over the years, despite much cleaning, and by pleasant contrast, the rag rug Eva made for me for a recent Christmas.

Old shaving cabinetThe new basinLeft: Opposite the bath was the old (tiny) shaving cabinet, topped by a strip heater with an old clock radio wedged between it and the high towel rail. (Showering and driving are my principal radio-listening opportunities.) There's a toothbrush holder too small for modern toothbrushes, the corner of the old two-tap handbasin, and a glimpse of the wonderful new window - the only new window so far whose architrave has been painted. More painting - and more renovations - in 2004!

All these bits and pieces had to be replaced. I chose the replacements without too much trouble, proud of my growing ability to deal with the anxiety of making irrevocable decisions, only to find I was then required to make a whole bunch more irrevocable decisions about where things would go. There are new rules about safety powerpoints, and the new, central position of the shower meant that everything had to change.

Right: The powerpoint is now under the window. The new light / heater / fan thingy (which lends this photo its alarming apricot glow!) is above where I thought I might dry myself but in fact don't - I think the room is small enough for this not to matter, but I won't know for sure till next winter. The shaving cabinet is much bigger, and recessed into the wall, to make up for no longer having a cupboard in the room. You can see a corner of the new shower curtain rail, which forms a 1200mm shower recess. The heavy cloth curtains billow inwards a little, but don't actually glue themselves to your legs - which is fortunate, because cold, clammy shower curtains glued to my legs make me throw up. The curtains are pushed back when the shower's not being used, to allow access to the handbasin.

Old showerOld doorLeft: Another view of the old shower, festooned with baskets which can't be used in the new setup because there is (and needs to be) a shower-recess-wide grabrail under the tap. I had some thoughts of putting off some of the decision-making by buying stick-on baskets later, but stick-on baskets were just as dear as baskets that had to be installed, so I bought a basket.

And there's the grabrail which was installed in 1986 by the Mobile Rehabilitation Service. It saved our necks many times, but it couldn't lift my legs and make me able to get over the side of the bath whenever my back was in spasm.

Right: The old door, with useful hooks - these have been replaced by a "double robe hook" which in fact only holds one robe. The light switch, to the left of the door, is now to the right of the door, which is now a sliding door. The sliding door had an unlooked-for consequence: on the one hand, it made the bathroom more accessible and spacious, but on the other, it meant that one of my grabrails in the neighbouring loo had to go. It's manageable now that I'm only dealing with "normal" pain levels. We shall see.

Where the cupboard wasNew loo Left: The corner opposite the door, where the cupboard used to be - and before the cupboard, the hot water system that provided about 7 minutes' worth of hot water. The pipe and power connections are revealed in all their glory.

Right: That corner now. It may seem extravagant to have two loos in a two-person household, and it is, but in the longer term, one of them is meant to become part of an ensuite to an extra room.

 

Old ceilingNew showerLeft: A final glimpse of the ceiling, complete with mould and nicotine. The painter was alarmed by the number of coats of paint he had to apply before the stains stopped coming through. I'm hoping that having an exhaust fan and a window I can actually open will prevent the problem from happening again.

Right: New shower before installation of the basket and the grabrail. I wasn't going to have a soap dish, but the builders provided one - and it's the one thing I think I've positioned wrongly, too close to the shower. Too late now!

 

Border in progressNon-slip tiles; footrest tileLeft: The border, over which I agonised for a long time. I couldn't find any tiles with built-in borders that I liked. Having a separate border cost extra, both for the tiles and for the laying, but eventually I decided that I'd be looking at them - and appreciating their preventing the bathroom from looking like something in a hospital - for a long time.

Right: The non-slip floor and the footrest tile. It was terrific to see the tiles being laid and the old intractable surfaces being replaced with durable - and cleanable! - materials.

 

Almost done!

Page created 30 October 2003; last updated 31 December 2003