Rhonda Bracey: At Random

For my own reference in case I ever need to replace anything…

• Shower: Argent Palais Combination Shower (15-year warranty; SC11230B) 230 mm round overhead, 120 mm 3-function handpiece; chrome finish
  (https://www.argentaust.com.au/argent-showers-combination-showers-pallas-combination-shower?item=8693)
• Mixer taps:
  • Basin: Argent Pace Comfort 170 (mm) Basin Mixer (15-year warranty; BL222625); chrome finish
    (https://www.argentaust.com.au/argent-tapware-basin-mixers-basin-mixers-pace-comfort-170-basin-mixer?item=8824)
  • Shower: Argent Pace Comfort 170 (mm) Shower Mixer (15-year warranty; SL322625); chrome finish; 35 mm European ceramic cartridge
    (https://www.argentaust.com.au/argent-tapware-shower-bath-mixers-shower-mixers-pace-comfort-170-shower-trim?item=8826)
• Toilet: Arcisan Neion Intelligent Toilet NEO41005, wall-faced intelligent toilet pan and in-wall cistern (intelligent toilet = has bidet functions; different parts have different warranty durations)
  (https://www.streamlineproducts.com.au/neion-wall-faced-intelligent-toilet-with-remote-and-arcisan-concealed-cistern)
• Tiles (one new pack of each provided for future use in case a tile cracks or gets broken):
  • Floor: 300 x 600 mm Riviera Beige
    (https://www.cerdomus.com.au/product/300×600-riviera-beige-matt-r10/)
  • Wall: 200 x 750 mm AT Viggo Arce
    (https://myareeceramics.com.au/pamesa/at-viggo-arce)
• Paint: Taubman’s Aria Ivory [White] B37 (on the Taubman’s website, Aria Ivory is also known as T12 4.A9 in the visualiser and as T15 6.2 in the swatch colours)
  (https://taubmans.com.au/paint-colours/colour-families/whites-and-neutrals/aria-ivory)
  • Walls: matte finish
  • Doors, architraves and pelmets: gloss in the same colour
  • NOTE: The painter may have used a different brand of paint, using this colour swatch for the colour match
  • NOTE: As a bonus, this colour swatch appears to be the same paint colour as that used in the minor bathroom, toilet and laundry.
• Vanity and handles, and mirrored cabinet:
  • Vanity: Timberline Carlo Satin White, 1500 mm long, floor standing, ceramic top with centre bowl, 4 L bin inside right door of cupboard
    (https://timberlinebp.com.au/products/vanities/carlo/)
  • Vanity handles: Curve 198 mm handles, chrome finish
    (https://timberlinebp.com.au/products-handles/)
  • Mirrored cabinet: Timberline Tennessee 3-door, 1500 mm long
    (https://timberlinebp.com.au/products/shaving-cabinets/tennessee/)
• Rails:
  • Towel rails: Pegasi Towel Rail Single; 2 x 900 mm, chrome finish
    (https://armanti.com.au/product/pegasi-single-towel-rail-900mm/)
  • Hand towel rail: Pegasi Hand Towel Rail Single; 1 x 300 mm, chrome finish, installed on left side of vanity
    (https://armanti.com.au/product/pegasi-hand-towel-rail-300mm/)
  • Grab rails: Con-Serv Straight Grab Rails with Polish Supreme finish:
    • 1 x 450 mm in shower
      (https://www.con-serv.com.au/product/187963-cf-straight-rail-ps-450mm?categoryId=502)
    • 1 x 300 mm in toilet
      (https://www.con-serv.com.au/product/187955-cf-straight-rail-ps-300mm?categoryId=502)
• Shower shelves: 2 x Argent Universal Shower Shelf Rack 480 x 110 mm chrome plated, with soap tray (AR31060)
  (https://www.argentaust.com.au/argent-accessories-shelves-baskets-universal-shower-shelf-rack-480?item=8945)
• Exhaust fans: 2 x Fantech XXXX
• Clothes hooks: 2 x Parl of Meir’s Classic Robe Hook, chrome finish, attached to bathroom side of main sliding door
  (https://armanti.com.au/product/round-robe-hook/)
• Toilet roll holder: 1 x Pegasi Toilet Roll Holder
  (https://armanti.com.au/product/pegasi-toilet-roll-holder/)
• Shower screen: Frameless (no idea who provided this)
• Drains:
  • Shower: channel grate (unknown brand)
  • Floor waste: 2 x Bermuda Square Megaflex Floor Waste; one in toilet, one in main bathroom floor
    (https://armanti.com.au/product/bermuda-square-megaflex-floor-waste/)
• Sliding doors:
  • Doors: 2 x (came from Sydney, no idea who made them)
  • Handles: Finger pulls on bedroom side of bathroom entry door and inside toilet; ‘D’ handles on other side (i.e. facing inside the bathroom)

Bathroom reno done by Armanti in Bunbury, Western Australia. All warranties etc. held by them.

[Links last checked March 2023]

All done! Final tweaks and washdown done, carpet reinstated to doorway, and final payment made. I got the PM to install the old towel rails I’d salvaged from the strip-out to the backs of the sliding doors. Two towel rails only hold 2 towels, but not a damp bath mat, face washers, old towel to mop up excess water after squeegeeing the shower, etc. You can never have too many power points or towel rails!

I’m looking forward to a decent night’s sleep back in our own bed after a month in the spare bedroom!

The frameless shower screen got fitted today (the silicone has to dry for about 24 hours) and the PM was here for several hours refitting the fittings he’d taken off for the painter, adding door furniture, hanging the siding doors, siliconing the toilet area (it’s now ready to use!), aligning the doors on the vanity and overhead cabinet, washing down the walls and floors to remove any chalky residue from the grout etc.

On Monday, the carpet layer comes to re-lay the bedroom carpet that was pulled up 4 weeks ago, then the PM will do the final silicone joints in the shower and the rest of the main bathroom, do a final clean and check, and then it will be ours, though we won’t be able to use the shower for another day while the silicone joint filler sets.

It’s been a long journey, but the initial design and every expectation that was set by the PM has been met, with no SANFUs along the way. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, the quality of the workmanship, the professionalism of everybody, and the respect they showed our property. I’d certainly use them again if I was to ever do this again.

Note: Some of the photos show the tiles darker than they actually are. They’re all quite light.

By noon today the first coat of paint had been applied, and the second coat was done by 2:30pm and I said goodbye to the painter. I’m very pleased with the colour I chose. And the bonus is it’s the same colour as used in the other bathroom, laundry, and 2nd toilet! That was a bit of serendipity—I chose the paint swatch for the new bathroom, then found out it was the same as those other rooms. Now it all has to dry fully, ready for the shower screen installation tomorrow.

Tuesday: Darn, Day 16 of bathroom renos didn’t start until a day later than expected. Why? The painter ran over on his previous job and threw the schedule out by another day. Monday was a public holiday here and with another extra day required early last week for the extra coat of waterproofing we wanted, we’re now past the 3-week time frame, and it will likely be 4+ weeks. Painting will take at least a day, possibly 2. Then the shower screen and the sliding doors have to get installed (none are here as yet—doors may not come until next week), and I think the painter has to come back to paint the doors too. And the carpet tradie has to refit the bedroom carpet that was pulled up to give clear access to the en suite bathroom. It’s so close…. And we’re getting sick of the broken sleep we get from the bed in the spare room—we’d just like to get our bedroom back at this point.

Wednesday: Update: Painter due here ‘before lunch’ today. Assuming that all goes well, shower screen due Friday. Doors that were due to come early next week now due to arrive tomorrow.

Wednesday further update: Painter now here; doors arriving today. And I found out from the project manager that 3 weeks = 21 work days, not calendar days, so we’re into Day 16 of the 21 working days.

End of day: The painter did a lot of prep work today—patching and priming surfaces ready for the full day tomorrow, which he expects it will take to complete the painting. But the big surprise when I popped my head in late this afternoon was the sliding doors—I had assumed they’d be the boring flat doors I remembered from my childhood, but no…. the project manager had ordered doors panelled and coloured the SAME as the other internal doors in the house! That was a lovely surprise.

The skip bin people were here bright and early to take the very full (and heavy) skip. The electrician arrived just before 8:30 to do the final electrical work (power outlets, light switches, exhaust fans) and was done by about 10am. No more tradies until Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday here) when the painter arrives. The OM covered over the new shower fittings in prep for the painter.

Full skip ready to be taken away this morning. Bye-bye bathroom!

New exhaust fan above shower (there’s a similar one in the toilet). Both the PM and the electrician say these are incredibly efficient, far more so than the previous ones we had.

Plastic protective covering over the new shower fittings in readiness for the painter on Tuesday.

TWO double power outlets! We only had one before, on that far right wall. And a new hand-towel rail.

Boring but functional—light and fan switches; the 3rd switch in the toilet is for the smart toilet.

Posting these pics a little late as the plumber didn’t get here until late afternoon. Progress today installing the pelmets for the sliding doors and fitting and testing all the plumbing fixtures, including the toilet. 

The fittings are starting to go in—there’ll be more this afternoon, so I’ll add more photos at the end of the day.

Later…

Double shelves in the shower because we BOTH have shampoos etc. These were going to be side by side, but the position of the pipework behind the walls and the narrow gap for the shower hose meant that wasn’t a good option in reality (it looked good on paper, but sometimes you have to make compromises along the way, such as the position of the mixer tap for the shower—that was meant to be much closer to the window, but the hot water pipes for the whole house are behind the first set of tiles on that wall and the pipework for the shower and its tap cross those pipes so we couldn’t put the tap there without ripping out the whole wall (a load-bearing wall) and starting again—not going to happen!). Also a grab rail for holding onto when you clean your feet and between your toes.

Smart toilet facing the wrong way, but ready to be installed when the plumber comes tomorrow. Toilet roll holder still to be added, but grab rail already in place—remember, we want to ‘age in place’ in this house, so putting these things in now means we don’t have to retrofit if one of us has a temporary or long-term disability, or just needs a bit of support getting onto or off the toilet.

Double towel rails on the wall opposite the walk-in shower (DH is ~1.9 m tall, so the top one is for him!). If we need more towel rails, they can go on the back of the sliding doors (I’ve already checked this with the PM). Oh, and the vanity top, doors and handles have been added.

Today was the final tiling and all the wall and floor grouting. It’s now all drying in prep for tomorrow when some of the fittings and plumbing will start to get installed. It’s starting to look more and more like a bathroom!
Only the silicon beading to be done in the corners of the shower and where the wall tiles meet the floor.

Tiled floor has been washed and is now drying—the tiler did a great job matching the tiles in the channel drain with those on the floor. I watched him set aside those pieces several days ago when he was making his cuts for the floor tiles—that prep certainly paid off.

In this last photo, the grouted area is on the left showing how clean a finish grouting makes to the tiles; the ungrouted floor tiles are on the right. And my purple Crocs are making an unexpected appearance 🙂

The tiler and project manager (PM) here bright and early this morning. By lunchtime, the tiler had finished almost all the wall tiling, the PM made the surround for the in-wall toilet cistern, which the tiler mostly tiled. More time to cure, so they’d both left by lunchtime. The tiler will finish the last bits of tiling tomorrow and then do the grouting.

Later this week will see the return of the plumber and electrician, plus the painter, and most of the fittings will be installed. Next Monday is a public holiday, so the shower screen may not come until next Tuesday, but we should hopefully have a functioning bathroom sometime next week, a couple of days over the expected time. The doors won’t be installed until 14 March (I think), then I think the painter comes back to do those. And yes that now very yellow caramel paint will be replaced with a much lighter beach sand colour.