Repairing a toilet in an apartment is not an easy task, despite the seemingly small amount of work. The lion's share of difficulties is connected precisely with the size of the room and with the installation of plumbing and pipes in the toilet: risers, wiring, sewerage. Of course, it is better to entrust specific work to professionals, but it is quite possible to cope with cosmetic repairs without outside help. Let's find out how to do do-it-yourself toilet renovation, saving time, nerves and money, and find out where it should start.
What is the order in which toilet work is carried out?
Even a small repair of a toilet in a panel house will require a large number of different tasks. In this small room there are many different communications: pipeline, sewerage, heating, lighting. Often the toilet itself needs to be replaced. In some cases, a defective overhaul report may be required.
First you need to decide on the sequence of repairs in the toilet. Repair begins in an old house or in a new building with the development of design and calculation of the necessary materials. It is advisable to perform further repair steps in the following order:
- removal of old coatings from the ceiling and walls;
- replacement of heating pipes and sewer pipes, toilet installation installation;
- replacement of wiring (if necessary);
- cleaning of the premises;
- preparation of the floor, pouring the screed, laying the floor covering;
- installation of wall coverings (wallpaper, tiles, panels);
- if necessary - assembly of a sanitary cabinet;
- toilet installation;
- installing a new door.
Even the most modest repair in the toilet takes a lot of time and requires a significant investment, since plumbing is expensive. The most inexpensive repair option in the toilet is a simple cosmetic one, when the drain or wiring is not changed, but only the ceiling and walls are refreshed.
toilet design
Quite often, the toilet is a tiny room in which, as they say, you can’t turn around. In houses of the 137th series, the toilet, in which, in addition to the riser and pipes, there is also a ventilation shaft, is so small that there is practically no free space between the toilet bowl and the door. Within such a small room, design development before the start of repairs requires a special approach. When thinking through toilet interior some important nuances must be taken into account.
- The central object of the toilet is the toilet bowl. First of all, it must be comfortable. Snow-white sanitary ware looks best, although other colors can be chosen. The main thing is that it fits the overall interior.
- A great option for a small room is a built-in toilet. This is a practical solution: the tank and sewer pipes are removed into the sanitary cabinet, dirt, dust, microbes do not accumulate on them. Cleaning becomes much easier. In addition, the toilet on the installation moves a few centimeters deeper into the toilet, which makes staying in a small room more comfortable.
- Most often, heating risers and meters for water supply are installed in the toilet. They are also recommended to be sewn into a beautiful plumbing closet. The interior will only benefit from this. Opposite the meters and taps, a hinged hatch should be provided so that at any time you can turn off the water or view the readings.
A small toilet is recommended to be decorated in light colors, as they visually increase the space. At the same time, it is better to choose a dark color for the floor.
If you are tired of standard solutions, you can look for ideas on the Internet and create an unusual toilet interior in a new building. An interesting option is shown by the following photo.
You can decorate the toilet with wallpaper or paint the walls in an unusual way, but aggressive tones or excessive variegation should be avoided.
A black and white toilet will look stylish and non-standard, especially if you pick up black plumbing in high-tech style.
Renovation materials in the toilet
The load on the toilet room is quite specific. There is often high humidity, pollution and unpleasant odors are not uncommon. Therefore, the toilet should use finishing materials that do not absorb odors and dirt, resistant to high levels of humidity, and easy to clean.
To repair and level the floor surface in the toilet, it would be advisable to use self-leveling floors. The mixture must be prepared on a cement basis. For finishing, it is desirable to use porcelain stoneware tiles.
To level the walls of the toilet in a new building, you can use drywall, but only its moisture-resistant modification (a distinctive feature is the green color of the sheets). Aluminum profiles are recommended for the frame, because the wood quickly rots from dampness, is affected by fungus. Drywall can be tiled, painted or wallpapered.
At repairing a small toilet in an old house this method of alignment is inappropriate, because due to the crate, the already cramped space will decrease. The walls can be plastered or use a glue method for mounting GKL.
Important! Before applying the finish, the plaster layer must be treated with deep penetration impregnation in order to protect it from the harmful effects of dampness.
The choice of finishing materials for walls is quite wide:
- Tile. It is worth giving preference to a kaolion-based material (it is white on the reverse side).
- Porcelain tile.
- Dye. The best choice is an easy-to-clean latex compound.
- Washable wallpaper. They should be based on polyester or propylene, paper wallpapers in the toilet quickly become unusable.
- PVC panels. Suitable for repair type "economy".
The ceiling surface can be painted or a stretch ceiling made of PVC film can be installed, which will help prevent damage to the finish in case of leakage from neighbors from above.
Doors to the bathroom can be either standard or smaller, as in the houses of the 137 series. And this creates a lot of problems for the owners, because finding such a canvas can be problematic. Here you can give only one recommendation - the door should be deaf.
We start repair
When all questions on materials are resolved and a design is chosen, you can begin the repair process. Where to start repairing the toilet? From the dismantling of old materials: the toilet bowl is removed, coatings, wallpaper are removed, garbage is removed, etc.
Repairing a toilet in a new building is easier to do: there is no need to change pipes, dismantle the old finish.
The next stage of the repair is the installation of a new sewer. Now they use plastic. It is much lighter and cheaper, but is not inferior in strength to traditional materials. When buying any plumbing kits, you need to check if all the rubber gaskets are in place. If they are not enough, there may be problems with sealing the joints.
Then they change the pipes and wiring. Risers are now also made of polypropylene. They must be rigidly attached to the wall, especially the hot water pipe, as they can be deformed under the influence of high temperatures. With the economy option, the pipes are not touched, because the price of repairs increases noticeably from this. If the toilet is suspended, an installation is installed at this stage of the repair.
When making electrical wiring in a toilet in a new building, you need to remember that the wires must be hidden in a special corrugation, and junction boxes and wire connections must be moved outside this room.
Another point is ventilation.Often it is clogged, so you need to clean it and close it with a special grate.
For effective ventilation, it is desirable to equip a forced exhaust.
The repair is completed with the installation of a toilet bowl and the assembly of a sanitary cabinet.
Repair cost
Knowing how to make repairs in the toilet and what kind of work you have to do, you just have to decide whether you can do everything yourself or is it better to entrust some of the work to professional craftsmen.
The price of a cosmetic repair of a turnkey toilet in Moscow fluctuates in the range of 14–25 thousand rubles, in St. Petersburg such a repair will cost 10–22 thousand rubles. The price for a major overhaul with the replacement of pipes starts from 35 thousand rubles.
You can save money by doing some of the work yourself, for example, dismantling the old coating, making a screed, etc. If you have no experience in performing any operations, you can watch training videos, look through photos in search of inspiration.
