Bathroom Upgrade – Amber Care Home

The work requested

This popular care home needed to increase the accessibility of its ground floor toilet facilities for residents and visitors. They had a room that provided 2 toilet cubicles, it needed to be converted to provide a fully accessible facility.

We took time to understand their requirements around access, safety and hygiene which enabled us to produce a plan to convert the space using the Altro Whiterock system. This system can be used to create moisture-sealed hygienic bathroom areas. The floor is prepared and the walls sealed before Altro safety flooring and Whiterock wall cladding is installed. This system ensures there are no seams between the floor and the wall where harmful bacteria can hide and breed, providing a slick, clean environment that is easy to clean.

How we Approached the work

A project timeline was created to ensure speed of installation whilst delivering a high-quality finish. After the removal of the old fixtures and fittings, a stud wall and boxing were installed to hide the existing pipework, the electrics and plumbing was then ‘first fixed’. The Artex walls were sealed, and it wasn’t long before the floor was ready to latex, creating a perfectly prepared level floor. Once the latex was dry and cured the Altro anti-slip safety flooring was installed. The flooring was continued up the wall forming a rounded angle skirting known as ‘coving’, providing a hygienic, safe and easy to clean detail. The Whiterock sheets were heated and thermoformed into the corners and angles of the room, all joints hot welded to provide that hygienic slick finish. Once the floor and walls were complete a suspended ceiling was installed, high gloss wipeable ceiling tiles were used to complete the look. Lowering the ceiling height has really enhanced the space and provides easy access to the void above if required. The ceiling is made complete with a new extractor fan, light senor and light fitting which removes the need to install light pulls or switches keeping the focus on hygiene and making it safer for staff who are supporting residents using the facilities. The final part of the project is to get the new accessible toilet and fixtures in place and secure.

The project was finished within 7 days, creating a bright and colourful space, whilst also being a safe and hygienic facility for residents and visitors. It’s wonderful for us to be part of these dramatic transformations which we know will help our client’s deliver their best services. This bathroom is now hygienic and easy to clean, with no ongoing maintenance requirements. Our clients were so pleased with the results that we have already been commissioned to complete 10 more room transformations for them.

The Challenges of this transformation

Undertaking this project in an operational care home presented a few challenges for the team, these included:

• Completing the work as quickly as possible whilst prioritising safety and minimising disruption. We made sure that we had great communication with our onsite liaison and planned for specific stages e.g. the initial water turn-off, the removal of old sanitary ware through the care home and taking product deliveries.  With this level of planning, we are happy to say that no other services or activities in the home were impacted.
• Coordinating multiple trades is a strength at SAB Group but achieving that when your workspace is a small washroom is a real skill.  We took time to plan and communicate with our local trades to ensure that the minimum number of people were onsite at any one time.
• Clearing the space each day as there was nowhere to leave tools and resources onsite.  We coordinated with our team to ensure that only essential equipment was brought into the space, and where required was removed each day to keep the site clear and safe.  This also meant carefully planning the removal of the old sanitary ware and fixtures along with the co-ordinated delivery of new fixtures and fittings to ensure the safety of residents and staff.

Key features of this project:

• Using quality products throughout.
• Sensor operated lights – increasing hygiene and convenience.
• Excellent communication – ensuring the safety of residents and staff.
• Speed of works – limiting the impact of the work on daily operations.