A DAD-OF-TWO has revealed how he saved £8,000 transforming his bathroom by using ex-display items and watching YouTube tutorials.
Adam Smith, 47, from London, transformed his bathroom for just £1,500 and revealed how watching DIY YouTube tutorials meant he could do most of the work himself.
Adam told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK: "We’ve lived in our late 1800 Victorian house since 2004 and this year decided to remodel as the house was becoming too small.
"After having our loft extended, giving us three large double bedrooms we had a small amount of cash left over and decided to give the family bathroom a refresh."
With their small budget of £2,000 it seemed impossible to get the bathroom they dreamed of as builders quotes were out of their budget.
The family had another bathroom in the loft, so Adam decided to have a go at doing the bathroom renovations himself.
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Adam revealed: "I’ve done some DIY projects in the past but have no real building experience so it was a daunting task to say the least."
But he found lots of useful knowledge from YouTube tutorials that helped him complete the transformation.
The dad said: "First of all was the rip out, a really messy job and the first time I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew. We wanted a hotel feel to the room which is why we went for the dark tiles.
"We spent a lot of time shopping around to make savings to come within budget. We bought ex-display items like taps, basins and cabinets, which saved a fortune.
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"They don’t exactly match but they’re close enough. For example, the bath taps were on sale for over £250, but I picked them up ex-display for £20, which was a great result.
“To find the ex-display items, I just went into the local plumbing shop and they had a shelf with lots of items on."
Adam even managed to bag the display cabinet for the basin, by simply asking the shop.
The dad got all the tiles, HardieBacker board, adhesive, grout, silicone, floor screed, screws and underfloor heating (a must for his wife) for just over £400.
He also sourced the bath, panel and screen from eBay for less than half the price of shop ones – but recommend doing lots of research and measuring as large items are hard to return.
"The whole build took some time as it was done both at weekends and after work, it seemed to go on forever but after several F bombs and some really stressful days, we’re really pleased with the result," joked Adam.
"I reckon we saved about £8,000 by doing it ourselves. I know other people who had their bathroom done and paid over £10,000.
"Obviously I’m chuffed to bits about the savings however, they came with a price. It was very stressful, especially when putting the floor down!"
Adam also shared what he would do differently if he were to do the renovation again.
"If I was to do it again, I’d say you should take your time levelling the floor," He explained, adding: "Mine is slightly out which had a knock-on effect fitting the bath panel.
"Visit plumbing shops and ask to see display items, you can pick up some real bargains.
"Spend time levelling the walls prior to tiling.
"Speak with a builder or watch videos and get an order of work list – I often did things out of order which made things difficult.
"Lay out your bathroom suite dry, we realised that the toilet was too close to the bath when it was centred between the bath and the basin, so we have it off centre for more comfort. Doing this also helps with pipe placement."
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Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “Most of us wouldn’t have the DIY skills to pull off such a big project, so hats off to Adam for persevering on such a stressful, messy and time-consuming project.
“He has shown it was more than worth it – the bathroom looks excellent, plus he’s saved an absolute fortune!"
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