Bathroom plumbing in Bristol

What we do

• Replacing basins, pedestals and vanity units
• Replacing baths, with new wastes and taps
• Fitting and repairing mixer showers and shower valves (see shower problems)
• New toilets and cisterns, including concealed cisterns
• Macerator and Saniflo installation and repairs
• First-fix and second-fix plumbing for a full refit

Planning a bathroom change

Order matters. The pipework inside walls and under floors, the first fix, needs to go in before boarding and tiling. Basins, taps, toilet and shower fittings, the second fix, go in afterwards. If you’re managing several trades yourself, agree who does what and when before anything is removed.

Choose your shower valve and taps before the walls are closed up, because they decide where the pipes need to be. If you’re moving a toilet, check where the soil pipe is and whether the new position will give the waste enough fall. Toilets are the hardest fitting to move. Where a gravity waste isn’t possible, such as a basement shower room, a macerator can be the answer.

Low shower pressure?

Common causes are a limescaled shower head or valve, a part-closed isolation valve, or the way your hot and cold supplies are arranged. Bristol’s hard water makes the first one especially common. Tell us what kind of hot water system you have, and we’ll talk through the options.

Bathrooms in flats and older houses

Many Bristol bathrooms are in converted Victorian and Georgian houses, where a bathroom may have been squeezed into a former bedroom or box room. Waste runs can be long, floors uneven and access tight. We’ll look at what’s there before quoting, so there are no surprises when the old suite comes out.