Wembley, HA9

The project

This bathroom renovation in Wembley, HA9 started as a straightforward refit and turned into a full strip-out once we got the old suite off the walls. Behind the dated tiling we found plumbing pipes and connections that were well past their working life — rather than box around the problem, we renewed most of the pipework so the new bathroom is running on sound plumbing throughout, not just a new finish over old faults.

With the room stripped back, we also changed the layout. An old, disused cupboard recess in the corner of the room was doing nothing but wasting space, so we absorbed it into the bathroom itself — that extra floor area is what made room for a proper walk-in shower and a separate floating vanity, rather than squeezing everything back into the original cramped footprint. At £15,000 and three weeks on site, the budget went into the layout change, the replumbing, and a full-height porcelain tiling scheme rather than a like-for-like swap.

What was involved

Full strip-out and disposal of the old suite, tiling and flooring; renewal of most of the existing plumbing pipes and connections uncovered during the strip-out; a layout redesign that reclaimed an old cupboard recess for usable floor space; first fix plumbing and electrics for the new layout; waterproofing/tanking to all wet areas; full-height large-format tiling to walls and floor; and the supply and installation of a freestanding bath, a walk-in shower enclosure, a floating countertop basin, a wall-hung WC and brushed brass brassware throughout. The room was commissioned, tested and snagged by us before handover.