If you're attempting to fit your new bathroom yourself, you will need a degree of skill, but you should be able to carry out most of the work yourself, with careful planning and by using the right techniques.  Here we offer basic guidelines for preparation before fitting various types of bathroom fixtures.  You will need to assemble each item before getting it into position and plumbing it in.  Be prepared and make sure you've got the relevant connections for each job before you begin work.

How To Switch Off The Water & Remove The Old Fixtures

Tools Required: Screwdriver, basin wrench, adjustable spanners

Switching Off The Water:

Before you begin any major remodeling project in your bathroom, it's crucial for you to know how to turn off your water supplies.  All houses have stopcocks and valves that enable the water to be turned off in case of an emergency or for plumbing work.  More modern houses tend to have more stopcocks and valves than older ones, including shut-off valves for most fixtures, so you can easily isolate them from the rest of the supply, which are operated either with a small handle or a screwdriver. 

Stopcocks, on the other hand, work like taps to open or close the water supply.  The main stopcock is usually found close to the point where water comes into the house, often under the kitchen sink.  This will control the cold water supply for the whole house - it's either off or on.  There is usually also a hot water tank, which will generally have a separate stopcock to switch off the supply to or from it to stop the need to drain the entire tank.  Sometimes you can stop the supply to the hot water tank, but will need to empty the system to stop the supply from it.

Disconnecting The Sink:

First of all, turn off the water supply to the sink and run both faucets to get rid of any water left in them.  Then use a basin wrench to undo the nuts that connect the supply pipes to the faucet tails.  At this stage, it's possible to replace the faucets by undoing the backnuts.  However, if you want to replace the whole sink, you don't need to disconnect the faucets from the sink.

Next, unscrew the trap to disconnect the waste pipe.  Then, finally, unscrew the screws under the sink that hold it to the wall.  With a pedestal sink, the pedestal column should support the weight of the sink while you do this.  With a wall-mounted sink it's advisable to ask someone to hold onto the sink while you undo the screws.

Disconnecting The Toilet:

Here, we give guidelines on how to remove a modern close-coupled toilet.  The best technique for removing a toilet varies depending on the design, but the main thing to remember is to make sure the water supply to the cistern is turned off. Once you've switched off the water, flush the toilet to empty the remaining water from the cistern, then disconnect the supply pipe. 

Then you need to undo the nuts at the bottom of the cistern, which attach it to the toilet pan.  Remove the cistern lid and unscrew the screws that fix it to the wall.  You can then carefully lift the cistern off the toilet pan and remove it from the bathroom.  To remove the toilet pan, you need to undo the screws or bolts that hold it to the floor, before lifting it out.  The space is now ready for your new toilet.  However, in the meantime, it's a good idea to stuff an old rag into the soil pipe opening to prevent sewer gases escaping into the bathroom.

Disconnecting The Bath Tub:

The technique for removing a bath is similar to that for disconnecting a sink.  You will need to remove the bath panel to gain access to the pipe work beneath.  As always, switch of the water supply before disconnecting the supply and waste pipes.  You'll then need to unscrew the feet supporting the bath, and you might have to dismantle the frame for the bath panel.  After everything's been disconnected and the bath's ready to be removed, you'll probably need a helper to help you lift it out and maneuver it out of the bathroom.