Bathroom Fitting & Refurbishment in South Woodford & East London — full rebuilds, properly tanked

A bathroom either lasts 15 years or it leaks within 18 months — and the difference is almost entirely under the tile, not on top of it. We see the failures regularly because we get called in to strip them out and rebuild.

Our bathroom service covers full strip-out and rebuild — old suite removed, walls re-boarded with marine ply or cement board where needed, full tanking to BS 5385 wet area standards, plumbing first-fix and electrical first-fix relocated as needed, underfloor heating where specified, large-format porcelain tiling, sanitaryware install, glazing (shower screens, walk-in shower glass), tap and shower system second-fix, and decoration. Family bathrooms, ensuites, wet rooms and downstairs WCs.

Most clients are owner-occupiers refurbishing tired 1980s/1990s bathrooms in Victorian and Edwardian period stock, families upgrading after a loft conversion has added an ensuite requirement, and landlords specifying durable mid-range bathrooms for premium lets. Typical site duration is 2–3 weeks for a family bathroom, 3–4 weeks for a wet room with full tanking and underfloor heating.

Tanked to BS 5385 wet area standard

Full slurry-coat or membrane tanking applied to the wet zone (shower) and the entire bathroom floor — the substrate stays dry even if the surface joints fatigue.

Correct substrate every time

Marine ply or cement board in wet zones, moisture-resistant plasterboard elsewhere. Standard plasterboard never goes within 1m of a shower or bath.

Drain falls cut to 1:80 minimum

Wet room and walk-in shower floors set with proper falls to the gulley before tiling — water clears the floor instead of pooling on it.

Single accountable team

Plumber, tiler and decorator all from one company. No 'wait for the tiler to come back' weeks. One snag list, one warranty, one number.

Tanking is the waterproofing layer applied to the substrate before tiling. There are two main system types: slurry coats (cementitious or polymer-modified slurry painted onto the substrate, typically two coats with a reinforcing fabric at corners and joints) and sheet membranes (foam-cored or polyethylene sheet bonded to the substrate, popular for full wet rooms and underfloor heating zones). For BS 5385 wet area compliance the entire shower zone and the bathroom floor must be tanked; for full wet rooms the entire room is tanked.

Substrate choice underneath the tanking is critical. In wet zones (shower walls, the splash zone behind a bath), we use either marine ply or cement-fibre board (Hardiebacker, NoMorePly). Standard plasterboard — even moisture-resistant 'green' board — is not appropriate for wet zones because it loses structural strength when repeatedly wetted. For dry zones in the same bathroom, moisture-resistant plasterboard is acceptable.

Drain gulley installation determines whether a wet room or walk-in shower works for 15 years or starts pooling within two. The gulley must be set at the lowest point with a minimum 1:80 fall (12.5mm per metre) across the floor toward it. The substrate is built up around the gulley with screed or fall-formers, then tanked, then tiled with adhesive thick enough to bed each tile to the fall without lippage. Cutting tiles to follow a curved fall is the slow part of a wet room install.

Tile adhesive must match the tile and the substrate. Large-format porcelain (anything over 600×600) needs a flexible C2S1 or C2S2 adhesive, applied with a proper 10mm or 12mm notched trowel and back-buttered onto the tile to achieve >95% coverage. Skim-coverage installs (where adhesive doesn't reach the back of the tile) are the single biggest cause of debonding within 18–24 months.

Silicone joints are the last waterproofing line. They go between dissimilar materials (tile to bath, tile to shower tray, tile to wall corners) and they fatigue with movement. Industry-standard sanitary-grade silicone (with anti-mould additive) lasts 5–8 years before needing replacement; cheap general-purpose silicone fails within 18 months. We use Mapei Mapesil AC or equivalent on every bathroom.

How long does a bathroom installation take?

Can I keep using the bathroom during the work?

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