Wednesday evening’s events were nothing short of amazing and Water was everywhere. No I am not speaking of the shocking weather conditions Sydney has witnessed this winter, but Bathware pioneers Candana Bathroomware celebrated the launch of their new interactive website, aptly named Water, at their Woollahra Showroom.

It has now been 30 years since Candana Designs made their mark on the bathroom industry, and with this new website it was all the more reason for a celebration.

After many days of constantly checking the weather forecast a minimum of five times a day it panned out to be one the nicest and balmy evenings Sydney has seen in a while.

From 6.30pm onwards the corner of Edgecliff Rd and Junction St was transformed into an array of light and colour thanks to Chameleon Lighting, the masterminds behind Sydney’s VIVID Festival.  Michael Foley from Foreign Dub in the meantime was enticing the crowd with his minimal fusion of dub and drum n’ bass.

Chilling out with a Monteiths, Gin & Q Tonic or Thistle Hill Wine in their hands, Sydney’s best Architects, Interior Designers and Lifestyle Media strolled through the stunning showroom filled with the latest designer bathroom products.  In addition, guests were also lucky enough to get a hands on tutorial by Directors Richard, Marc and Judy Reed showcasing the new website.

As our friends started to make their exit, many of them reinforced to us ummers how great the website is going to be for the industry! The party ended at 9.30pm, however in usual umm style, we kicked on till the early hours of the morning with our buddies at Candana!

To check out more images visit our Gallery or for the official Candana event video please click below.

http://vimeo.com/27039000

Written on July 29, 2011 at 5:51 am, by Adrian Digicomo UMM Communications

WELS is the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards scheme whereby all toilets, urinals, basin taps, kitchen taps, laundry taps, and shower outlets are required to be rated as to their water efficiency. Each of these products must (after July 1st, 2006) display a label identifying its water efficiency by a 6 star rating......

1 Star being the lowest rating (highest water use)  

6 Star being the highest rating (lowest water use)

WELS is intended as a method by which consumers can clearly identify the water efficiency of products with confidence that the performance of that product has not been compromised.

To date, only toilets having a minimum efficiency rating of 3 star (6 & 3 litres/minute) can be sold in Australia, however, we urge you to check with your local councils or building authorities as they may have their own requirements.

CANDANA SUPPORTS INTELLEGENT USE OF OUR WATER RESOURCES

RENOVATING A BATHROOM?

WHAT’S REALLY INVOLVED…?

I often overhear customers in our showrooms stating things like:

“We’re planning on renovating our bathroom ourselves”, “We’re going to strip it out ourselves’, or “My brother’s a plumber. He’s going to help us” …and wonder if they are really aware of what’s involved in renovating a bathroom.

There are, of course, shortcuts that can be taken. You can lay tiles directly over the top of existing tiles as long as the existing tiles aren’t ‘drummy’ and you’re prepared to have a step-up at the door. There are also a number of companies that will re-spray your existing tiles and fixtures if it’s just a make-over you’re after. But, if you’re undertaking a completely new fit out, these are the normal steps one would take. Please remember though, every job is different.

• Day 1 would see your plumber and electrician coming in to ‘cap-off’ existing water points and disconnect electrical outlets and fittings (and possibly providing for temporary electrical supply) before any other trades were able to begin work. Today, you loose your toilet so, hopefully, you’ve made alternative arrangements.
• The bathroom can now be stripped out. Be careful you don’t puncture any of those water pipes…they’re under a lot of pressure. If the walls are timber frame, the easiest way of getting the tiles off is to remove the whole fibrous sheeting. These will need to be replaced anyway. If the walls are brick, you should ideally remove the tiles and the cement render from behind…back to the brickwork. Dress appropriately as broken tiles cut like glass. Strip out can normally take a day (for timber frame) to a week of very strenuous labouring (for brick walls). All this rubbish needs to be carted out to a waiting skip.
• Your plumber would now, normally, come in and do his rough-in. This involves relocating water points and fitting in-wall bodies (if mixer taps are being used) so make sure they’re on site. If you are re-locating fixtures, new drainage would also be required. How difficult this is depends again on your construction. A timber frame or concrete slab floor with access underneath is reasonably straight forward, whereas, a concrete slab on fill involves breaking up the entire slab, digging down to junctions, then pouring a new re-enforced concrete slab. This could very possibly take a week or longer. If you are not sure of your construction, check outside the bathroom. If there are air vents at ground level between the walls of the bathroom, then you probably have a ‘floating’ floor. No air vents, then more than likely the area was filled and a slab poured on top. At some point your electrician would now come in and do his rough-in for power points and lights
• Now we can start re-building. If you’re fitting a bath the plumber would fit it and a carpenter (or bricklayer) would frame up around it. If timber frame, a carpenter would re-line all the walls with new fibrous sheeting. If brick construction, a renderer would render the surfaces for tiling. This is an important step as the final result will only be as good as the evenness of these surfaces. Render should also be allowed to cure for a number of days.
• Waterproofing is the next step. There are many different opinions as to the best water-proof membrane. You’ll have to do your own research here.

If underfloor heating is being included you will need to schedule this in. Often you may want to get plasterers in to set joints and fit cornices before tiling, as well as, paint exposed walls, ceiling, and woodwork. The fewer trades that come in after tiling…the less chance of scratching or damaging the tiles.

• Tiling. This is what can make or break the project. A good tiler is worth every cent. So many good jobs fall apart because of inferior tiling work. It’s normal to leave the job for a day or two after tiling to let them really set before walking on them.
• Now we see the carpenter fitting vanity units, towel rails, etc. and the plumber and electrician doing their final fit out. That toilet you lost on Day 1…..Today gets reinstated (but you can’t sit on it for 24 hours as the cement needs to cure)
• Things like shower screens or custom sized mirrors can now be measured and, more than likely, will take a week or so to be manufactured. 
  
  Et VOILÀ … a brand spanking new bathroom that will give you years of enjoyment…and how easy was that!!! 

With over 30 years experience in the bathroom industry, I would certainly think twice before I attempted to renovate my own bathroom….for a number of reasons:

• You’ve painstakingly scheduled all of your sub-contractors. Should just one of them get delayed, or calls in a ‘sicky’, you have to re-schedule everyone else. This is when you find out that if the tiler can’t do it on the pre-arranged days, then he can’t get back to it for a month.
• A builder who keeps a team of tradespeople busy, does the quoting for them, and arranges all of their materials to site, probably pays them a much lower rate than you will. Even taking into account the builder’s mark-up you probably haven’t saved any money.
• Tradespeople are notorious for ‘passing the buck’. “I didn’t chip that tile…It was like that when I got here”. No one will ever own up to it, so you will have to pay the tiler to come back and fix it up. With a builder, you just point your finger and say “fix it”.
• And what happens down the line when a crack appears down the wall, or water is seeping through the ceiling below from ‘somewhere’. Again, the plumber says that it was the tiler. The tiler reckons it must have been the render, etc. With a builder, he/she is responsible for the warranty period.

No…I think that I would use a licensed builder and let them have all the headaches. Make sure, though, that they are licensed, ask for references and check them out, and then still prepare yourself for the unexpected. Builders face many of the challenges that you would have faced…but, at least, they have had more experience in resolving them.

Richard Reed – Senior Director, CANDANA

For many years in Australia, basins and baths with integral overflows (e.g. the small hole near the rim) were not permitted as it was considered that they bred bacteria and could contaminate the water....probably correct. Instead, australian bathrooms were required to have a waste outlet on the floor in the event that a fixture should overflow.

Recently, this regulation is being ignored as even Australian manufacturers are supplying fittings with overflow holes....but we still are required to have a floor waste.

This simple little waste on the floor is solely responsible for the manner in which bathrooms are constructed in Australia. Whereas, in most other countries fixtures and wall claddings can be purchased from their local DIY outlet and installed in just a couple of days...we, in Australia, need to conform to very different building codes and techniques.

• Firstly, a waterproof membrane is required on the floor and up the walls (in wet areas) prior to fitting any finishes.
• The finished floor needs to have a gradient to the waste outlet. This eliminates anything such as linoleum, carpeting, or timber floor boards. The alternative is a ceramic or stone tile which requires a skilled tradesperson for installation.
• Then, since we need to bring in a tiler for the floor, they may as well tile the walls where required, instead of using wall panels such as fibreglass or acrylic sheets.
• With a sloping floor, fixtures such as toilets, can not be just screwed down...they need to be set on a bed of cement to get them level.
• Shower screens also need to be custom fabricated to allow for slope on the floor and can only be measured on completion of tiling.

All this because of the almightly floor waste...but, thank you Mr Waste. You are why we have such functional, attractive, and long lasting bathrooms in Australia. 

Toulouse double-ended bath. Bateau style bath with internal overflow hole. Ideal for both traditional and contemporary bathrooms. Dimensions: 1815mm L x 800mm W x 717mm H x 405mm D Colour: White Material: QUARRYCAST®. One piece casting of rare volcanic limestone and resin. Harder and more durable than acrylic. Easy clean high gloss finish. Exterior can be painted. Volume: 272 litres Weight: 88kg Waste: 40mm overflow Warranty: 25 year guarantee Installation: Refer to installation instructions supplied with bath for additional information.

A range of functional sculpture designed to create today’s most individual bathrooms. Basins that are organic shapes, sculpted, tactile and hand finished works of art that can be used every day. Dimensions: 425mm W x 425mm D x 150mm H Colour: Warm White, White, Mocha, Charcoal, Chocolate Material: Made from engineered stone: a combination of the natural elements of stone, marble and cement brought together and finished in a unique way to produce organic shaped, silken finish basins without the use of resins. All Boyd Alternatives products are made by hand in Central Victoria, Australia. Waste: 32mm non-overflow waste (supplied separately). Taphole: No taphole