Bathroom projects unsuitable for DIY

Before embarking on a bathroom DIY project first consider whether your have the proper skills to handle it. PHOTO/UNSPLASH.COM.

What you need to know:

The do-it-yourself movement has many proponents as well as benefits. With just a virtual tutorial one can repair anything, which save time and money

The need to get our fingers dirty while saving some money is something some people will gladly welcome. However, experts discourage attempting some projects which they believe still require professional handling.

One of such area involves various projects in the bathroom or washroom.

Fred Batwale, a plumber says a bathroom is a wet area, therefore, it would be more advisable to use a professional. If one were to tackle a project and thereafter water starts sipping through, say the tiles, the damage may be big.

“After a repair on pipe work, and it is a slow leak, the damage can be so bad that it shows on the exterior of the house causing the paint to peel. That could be due to a small oversight that a professional may have seen,” he says. At that, doing a DIY ends up being more costly than if you hired a professional.

Tiling a bathroom

Tiling a bathroom floor is not the same as tiling another room because water from the bathroom must flow to the trough while the floor maintains a seamless look.

“However, when done by a non-professional, they may leave the floor uneven affecting the flow of water,” Adrian Obonyo, a contractor with Concept McFaj shares.

Since the area is wet, the grouting after tiling must be meticulously done to prevent water from slipping into the wall and floor which ultimately undermines their integrity.

“When doing DIY, there is a tendency to forget that placement matters. For instance, the toilet paper holder is put on the right hand side, close to the toilet seat but not close to the sink.  When this positioning is altered, functionality is also negatively affected. Another issue regarding positioning is the flow of items in the space. For example, the sink should be close to the door because not every time you go to the washroom you are going to use the shower or the toilet,” Obonyo shares.

Placement also involves the height where the different items that make up the washroom such as the mirror, soap dish, toilet paper holder must be at certain heights for them to be functional.

When fixing washroom accessories is done after tiling, it will involve drilling into the tiled wall. However, not everyone is well versed with handling the drill machine.  

Even when one is good at handling the drill machine, they might not be aware of the location of the water pipes therefore, might end up drilling into them. Such damage might affect the structural integrity of the walls. To repair this damage requires installation of new pipes which costs both time and money. 

Furthermore, for washrooms that have water heaters, at a certain height on the wall, upwards, the wall carries electrical wires. When drilled into can cause electric shock, render the water heater useless and also call for repairs.

What DIY projects can be done?

That said, Obonyo says there are some DIY projects that can be done in bathrooms. These include:

Replacing a toilet paper holderSeeing that the screws were already drilled into the wall, when replacing, all one needs are a pair of plugs and screws as well as a screw driver,  to screw back the toilet paper holder. That said, it is important to ensure you are working with a holder similar to what was there before because some vary in screw positions which may call for drilling fresh holes.

Replacing a shower head

 Some shower heads such as the telephone showerhead can easily get replaced in a DIY project. That is because the project only involves unscrewing the head, rolling the thread tape onto the new head and screwing it back. Cleaning a showerhead: There is nothing complicated about this procedure because the needed items are a polythene, vinegar, rubber-band, water and soap and allowing the head to soak in the mixture to get rid of any mineral and dirt deposits.

Replacing the toilet seat

 While this is very easy to do, the only requirement is that you go with the old toilet seat to the sanitary ware store. That will ensure that you buy a seat similar to what was there before as there are many types on the market.

Tip

Caution

There are waterproofing products available from hardware stores which profess to waterproof your bathroom for a fraction of the cost and time.

If it sounds cheap, it probably is and you do not want to cut corners when waterproofing a bathroom as it  can cause health issues with mould growth.