purchasing new plumbing

[joycenalex]

i'm turning my tax refund/lotsa overtime into a new bathroom, well updated one. i'm getting a new shower surround, glassblock window, new toilet, pedestal sink and flooring. i have questions for a plumber or DIY type of person. 1-is there a difference in flush strength between a two piece and one piece toilet? 2-when the toilet and old sink are removed i want to place beadboard paneling behind the new ones, and lay the one piece of vinyl flooring, or should i redo the floor and wall AFTER the new toilet and sink are hooked up? 3- i really want a serious vent fan, hooked up to the outside , through the attic, attached to a timer, so the moisture is sucked out of the bathroom, is there a best brand? quiet is important, but i want a strong fan, so moisture, mold and humidity isn't a problem. should i get a contractor or an electrician to cut the hole in the roof to connect this?. thanks, i'm clueless about this.

[joycenalex]

*bump* i cannot be the only PTer who's ever redone a bathroom.....any advice?

[Pam]

Well I am not a do it yourselfer in the plumbing area but I have done lots of other types of things myself and have watched hubby work on plumbing and he isn't even a plumber by trade. :) I don't know anything about toilets although hubby insisted when we re-did our powder room that we put in a Kohler toilet. We did everything to the walls and floor before putting the toilet and sink back. It was messy for a while but I love it now.

Next I want to tackle the upstairs bathroom. That will involve a new tub surround so it will be much more extensive and won't happen for quite some time I'm afraid. I told hubby I wanted ceramic tile flooring in that bathroom and he feels that ceramic tile shouldn't be done except on concrete such as a home built on a concrete slab. He said it is too much weight for an upstairs bathroom. I think he is trying to find a way to discourage my project. :rolleyes:

I would love to see *before* and *after* pictures of your bathroom. :) All of my favorite shows are on HGTV so I am sort of a nut when it comes to remodeling. :)

[wombat2u2004]

i'm turning my tax refund/lotsa overtime into a new bathroom, well updated one. i'm getting a new shower surround, glassblock window, new toilet, pedestal sink and flooring. i have questions for a plumber or DIY type of person. 1-is there a difference in flush strength between a two piece and one piece toilet? 2-when the toilet and old sink are removed i want to place beadboard paneling behind the new ones, and lay the one piece of vinyl flooring, or should i redo the floor and wall AFTER the new toilet and sink are hooked up? 3- i really want a serious vent fan, hooked up to the outside , through the attic, attached to a timer, so the moisture is sucked out of the bathroom, is there a best brand? quiet is important, but i want a strong fan, so moisture, mold and humidity isn't a problem. should i get a contractor or an electrician to cut the hole in the roof to connect this?. thanks, i'm clueless about this.

Hmmmmm....well !!!!
Lets see here.
Firstly......the difference between a two piece toilet (separate cistern and pan) as against a close coupled toilet unit can only be ascertained from where you buy your toilet suites....what you have to ask is cistern capacity, in litres (or do you all go in pints ???) Anyway....the higher the water capacity in the cistern, the more water you will have going down into the pan when you flush. As for flush strength.....there is no difference in that between the two different kinds of toilets given the cisterns have the same amount of water in them. Do you follow ????
Secondly.........Finish all of your surfaces (wall and floor) before you put your new fixtures in.........it is actually quite hard to provide wall sheeting and floor sheeting up to fixtures. So get that vinyl and wallboard in first....k ???
Thirdly........fans ???? I'm not sure what you have for sale over there, but "Mistral or Lenco" are good brands here in Australia...maybe you can get them there.
A good idea instead of a timer, is to link the fan switch to the light switch, so that when you enter the bathroom and switch the light on, the fan comes on at the same time, and of course when you switch the light off...the fan goes off to. Here in Australia it is building law to do that in bathrooms without a window, as light and ventilation must be provided at the same time. As for flueing the fan through an attic or a wall space to an outside area.....you can buy flueing flashing kits that will prevent rain etc entering your house at the flue penetration. It's easy enough to cut the hole, and then flash it, but make sure you can buy such a kit first. When you buy your flueing....(ducting) ask for a flashing kit to.
But remember, when installing the flueing, make sure you have a minimum of bends in its run....no sharp corners.....k ??? That can prevent the air drawn out of the bathroom area from being extracted smoothly.
Hope this is of help to you JNA.
Any more info you'd like....just PM me...I'm glad to help.
Bathroom expert
Builder of bathrooms of distinction
All round rodent
Wombat

[wombat2u2004]

Well I am not a do it yourselfer in the plumbing area but I have done lots of other types of things myself and have watched hubby work on plumbing and he isn't even a plumber by trade. :) I don't know anything about toilets although hubby insisted when we re-did our powder room that we put in a Kohler toilet. We did everything to the walls and floor before putting the toilet and sink back. It was messy for a while but I love it now.

Next I want to tackle the upstairs bathroom. That will involve a new tub surround so it will be much more extensive and won't happen for quite some time I'm afraid. I told hubby I wanted ceramic tile flooring in that bathroom and he feels that ceramic tile shouldn't be done except on concrete such as a home built on a concrete slab. He said it is too much weight for an upstairs bathroom. I think he is trying to find a way to discourage my project. :rolleyes:

I would love to see *before* and *after* pictures of your bathroom. :) All of my favorite shows are on HGTV so I am sort of a nut when it comes to remodeling. :)

Hahahaha... I think so Pam......ceramic tiles are fine in an upstairs bathroom, they even make special adhesives that remain flexible on timber floors so that the tiles won't crack.
I don't think there has been one double storey house that I have ever constructed that is without tiled floors in ALL bathrooms, upstairs or downstairs. Weight is not an issue....the important thing is to grade those tiles at a slope to fall toward a waste outlet....otherwise if one of you fixtures starts to leak.....you get water on ya head when you're watching the news....lol.
Wom