Bathroom installation in London

What a full bathroom installation includes

A full bathroom installation covers considerably more than swapping out a toilet and basin. The scope typically includes a bath or shower tray, WC, basin and vanity unit, mixer taps, shower enclosure or wet room formation, wall and floor tiling, new flooring, all pipework alterations, waterproofing (tanking), lighting, and a heated towel rail. Each element has a correct sequence — get it wrong and you are re-tiling over uncured adhesive or installing a shower valve before the wall is tanked.

London properties add layers of complexity that out-of-area contractors routinely underestimate. Most purpose-built flats built since the 1960s are served by a gravity-fed cold water system with low mains pressure — often insufficient for a thermostatically controlled concealed shower valve. The solution is either an electric shower (which heats water independently and needs only a cold supply) or a booster pump fitted inline. We assess water pressure at the survey stage and advise on the right solution before any sanitaryware is ordered. Buying a pressure-dependent shower valve for a low-pressure flat is an expensive mistake we help clients avoid.

Victorian and Edwardian terraces — a huge proportion of London's housing stock — present a different challenge: aged cast-iron soil stacks. Connecting new sanitaryware to a crumbling soil pipe mid-project causes delays and unexpected cost. We inspect the soil stack at the survey and include any remedial work in the fixed price, so there are no surprises once the old suite is out.

For en-suite installations, we can create a new bathroom from a corner of an existing bedroom. A typical en-suite job involves erecting a stud wall, rerouting a soil pipe to connect into the nearest stack, installing positive-pressure mechanical ventilation (as there is rarely an external wall), and running new hot and cold supplies from the airing cupboard or existing bathroom pipework. Our Gas Safe registered engineers handle all associated hot water work — cylinder upgrades, unvented system adjustments — as part of the same project. We cover all 33 London boroughs and carry 60 Checkatrade reviews and 120 MyBuilder reviews across 180+ verified jobs.

Wet rooms, project management and timelines

Wet rooms have become the preferred choice for smaller London bathrooms — removing the shower tray and enclosure opens up the floor plan and makes the space feel considerably larger. They are also far easier to clean and maintain. However, a wet room is only as good as its waterproofing. We use Schluter KERDI tanking membrane bonded to the substrate before any tiles go on, ensuring that water cannot reach the structural floor or walls regardless of tile or grout condition. In flats with concrete floors, a linear drain is recessed flush into the screed. In properties with suspended timber floors, we assess the structure and typically add a plywood subfloor before tanking. All wet room installations carry a 10-year waterproofing guarantee.

One of the most common frustrations with bathroom renovations is managing multiple trades. We eliminate that problem entirely. Prestige Engineers coordinates the plumber, tiler and electrician (for lighting circuits, extraction and the heated towel rail) from a single point of contact. You deal with one team, one schedule and one fixed price. There is no chasing separate contractors, no gaps between trades and no finger-pointing if something needs rectifying.

On timeline: a standard like-for-like bathroom swap — strip out the old suite, replumb, tile and install new sanitaryware — takes five to seven working days. A new en-suite creation or a full bathroom refurbishment with structural alterations runs seven to fourteen days depending on the scope. We provide a clear pricing breakdown before work starts and aim to restore hot water access each evening during the project so the household is not without a working shower for the full duration.