Tiling and Plumbing question
Discussion
Hello All
I am in the process of purchasing my first property. An exciting and stressful time.
Over the coming months my girlfriend and I are going to renovate the entire flat but there are two questions that I wanted some advice on.
1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?
2. Plumbing - The flat is on the 5th floor, has good cold water pressure but poor hot water pressure. The water is heated via an immersion heater in a copper tank with a header tank directly above. I will have to keep this setup as there is no gas in the building to allow a combi boiler. I was thinking of getting a pump to reslove the issue of pressure. What are your thoughts on this and which pumps would you recommend. I was thinking of getting a Monsoon pump that will work on both the hot and cold water.
Any help would be appreciated.
Chris
I am in the process of purchasing my first property. An exciting and stressful time.
Over the coming months my girlfriend and I are going to renovate the entire flat but there are two questions that I wanted some advice on.
1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?
2. Plumbing - The flat is on the 5th floor, has good cold water pressure but poor hot water pressure. The water is heated via an immersion heater in a copper tank with a header tank directly above. I will have to keep this setup as there is no gas in the building to allow a combi boiler. I was thinking of getting a pump to reslove the issue of pressure. What are your thoughts on this and which pumps would you recommend. I was thinking of getting a Monsoon pump that will work on both the hot and cold water.
Any help would be appreciated.
Chris
Your poor hot water pressure is because you don't have enough "head" of water, ie the header tank isn't high enough above the shower or taps.
A small boost pump is the easiest answer - they have an inbuilt switch so when you turn a hot tap on it switches the pump on and shoves more water down the pipe.
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You'll should have a plumber install it
A small boost pump is the easiest answer - they have an inbuilt switch so when you turn a hot tap on it switches the pump on and shoves more water down the pipe.
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You'll should have a plumber install it
jaybkay said:
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You were doing OK 'til this bit.The OP needs a pump, not a circulator, which is COMPLETELY different to a central heating circulator. They are almost NEVER bronze, but either brass or plastic impeller bodies.
However, all that notwithstanding....
it is essential that you pay attention to the stored water capacity to avoid running into problems with the warranty on the pump.
Ferg said:
jaybkay said:
The pump you need is similar to a central heating circulating one, but it need an inbuilt switch and must have a bronze body rather than cast iron. It should cost about sixty quid.
You were doing OK 'til this bit.The OP needs a pump, not a circulator, which is COMPLETELY different to a central heating circulator. They are almost NEVER bronze, but either brass or plastic impeller bodies.
However, all that notwithstanding....
it is essential that you pay attention to the stored water capacity to avoid running into problems with the warranty on the pump.
D5ACT said:
Hello All
1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?
I never liked the idea of tiling over old tiles. This would look odd if you only had tiles half way up the wall, they'd stand out about 2cm.1. Tiling - The bathroom tiles are in good nick (no loose tiles, no blowen areas) although they look like something from a set of 'Life on Mars'. Question is, is it worth removing the tiles and tiling diretly onto the walls or would it be better advised to simply tile over the tiles that are already there as it is a good surface?
If you do remove the tiles and you have plasterboard walls, do what the tiling guy did in our house; instead of chipping all the tiles off and spending days chipping the lines of adhesive off, just cut the old plasterboard off along with the tiles and get the plasterboard replaced and skimmed. It may cost more, but it saves time and gives you a perfectly flat wall to tile onto.
cjs said:
Is it the shower that you are having pressure problems with? If so you may be better off getting an electric shower fitted, as said before, you could empty a tank of HW using a 'power shower' pump, no good if there are two of you.
It would appear that all of the hot water taps suffer the same lack of pressure. Would fitting a pump to the hot water tank and installing an electic shower be advisable? Can you do both?Thanks for the info so far.
Webber3 said:
If you do remove the tiles and you have plasterboard walls, do what the tiling guy did in our house; instead of chipping all the tiles off and spending days chipping the lines of adhesive off, just cut the old plasterboard off along with the tiles and get the plasterboard replaced and skimmed. It may cost more, but it saves time and gives you a perfectly flat wall to tile onto.
This sounds like a good plan. I've seen this done before. We have a fully tiled bathroom so I better get chipping. 
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