Thirteen stages. You never see most of them again.
A bathroom renovation is thirteen stages and you only ever see one of them. Below is every stage: what we do, why it takes skill, and what a worse firm does here.
Everything that sits under your tiles.
The grout does not stop water. The layer underneath does. Everything you can see is there to look good.
Pick a layer to see what goes wrong there.
From strip‑out to handover.
We do stage two before stage one. That is the survey: we look at the substrate before a single tile comes off.
Stage 01 / 13
Strip-out
What we do
- Everything out. Tiles, floor, sanitaryware, old pipework, back to bare substrate.
Why it takes skill
Stripping out looks like the least skilled part of the job. It is not.
You have to know what may and may not come out. There are structural elements, and there is pipework serving the rest of the house.
Go too far and you have damaged the building. Do not go far enough and you are about to build on something old.
What a worse firm does
- Not stripping fully. Tiles over tiles, or leaving the old floor down. That saves a day.
- You will not see the difference, because the new tiles go over the top of it anyway.
Stage 02 / 13
Assessing the substrate
What we do
- Look at what is actually there. Is the floor flat, is it dry, is it strong enough.
- Is there moisture in the walls, is there mould, has anything rotted.
- And the important part: we do this before we start. That is the survey.
Why it takes skill
This is the stage where experience is worth most, because nothing happens. You are only looking.
But you have to see what is going on. A damp patch that means nothing and a damp patch that means everything look identical.
Do it up front and you know before you sign. And then it is in the price.
What a worse firm does
- Not looking first, and finding the problem once the job is open. Or knowing already and saving it for that moment.
- Because then it is not an awkward conversation at the kitchen table, it is an announcement in a bathroom that has been ripped apart.
Stage 03 / 13
Repairing the substrate
What we do
- Make it flat, dry and sound. Level, patch or rebuild whatever is not.
Why it takes skill
Everything above this depends on it. A floor that is out by a few millimetres is a shower that drains the wrong way.
Knowing when a substrate can be patched and when it has to come out is the difference between a repair and a callback.
What a worse firm does
- Levelling compound straight over a floor that needed taking up.
- It looks flat the same day, which is exactly the problem.
Stage 04 / 13
Pipework and electrics
What we do
- New pipework and wiring run, then pressure tested before anything covers it.
- Positions set for every waste, feed and socket.
Why it takes skill
After this stage nobody reaches any of it again without breaking something.
Fewer joints means fewer places it can leak. That is a decision made now, not later.
What a worse firm does
- Not pressure testing, and closing it up on the assumption it is fine.
- A slow weep behind a tiled wall takes months to show and takes the wall with it.
Stage 05 / 13
Forming the falls
What we do
- Build the fall towards the waste so water goes where it is supposed to.
Why it takes skill
Measured, not estimated. A fall that is close enough leaves standing water, and standing water finds every weakness you left.
What a worse firm does
- Eyeballing it. It usually drains, mostly, and the puddle in the corner becomes the customer problem rather than the fitter problem.
Stage 06 / 13
Priming
What we do
- Prime every surface that is about to be waterproofed or tiled.
Why it takes skill
Nothing that comes after this bonds properly without it. It is a cheap, fast, entirely invisible step.
What a worse firm does
- Skipping it. It saves an hour and a tin, and it is undetectable until adhesion fails.
Stage 07 / 13
Waterproofing
What we do
- A waterproof layer across the wet areas, with sealing tape in every corner and at every junction.
Why it takes skill
This layer is what stops the water, not the tile. Tiles and grout are not waterproof and were never meant to be.
Corners and junctions are where it always fails, which is why they get taped rather than just coated.
What a worse firm does
- Relying on the tile. Or coating the flat areas and skipping the tape in the corners, because the corners are where it is fiddly.
Stage 08 / 13
Drying
What we do
- Wait. The waterproof layer has to cure before anything goes on top of it.
Why it takes skill
This is the stage people compress when they have promised a week, and it is the one stage that cannot be compressed.
Drying times are not an opinion. They are printed on the tub.
What a worse firm does
- Tiling onto a layer that has not cured, so the thing keeping water out never fully forms.
Stage 09 / 13
Tiling
What we do
- Set out, then tile. Full adhesive coverage under every tile, external corners mitred.
Why it takes skill
Where the cuts land is decided before the first tile goes on. A cut in the wrong place is visible for as long as the room exists.
A mitred external corner is slower than a plastic trim and is the single clearest tell of who laid a bathroom.
What a worse firm does
- Dabs of adhesive on the corners instead of full coverage. Faster, cheaper, and hollow underneath.
- A trim on every external corner to hide the cuts.
Stage 10 / 13
Grouting
What we do
- Grout in the colour you chose, at an even depth throughout.
Why it takes skill
A grout line should be the same depth everywhere. Where it thins, it is nearly gone.
What a worse firm does
- Whatever colour happens to be in stock, and a finish that looks right for about a year.
Stage 11 / 13
Fitting the sanitaryware
What we do
- Pan, basin, bath, screens and brassware fitted, connected and tested.
Why it takes skill
Wall-hung anything is only as good as the frame behind it and what that frame is fixed to.
What a worse firm does
- Fixing a frame to a wall that will not carry it, and finding out when it moves.
Stage 12 / 13
Sealing
What we do
- Seal the junctions that move, in the colour that matches the grout.
Why it takes skill
Sealant goes where two materials move against each other. Everywhere else it is covering something up.
What a worse firm does
- Sealant used as a repair. A bead over a bad joint hides it for one winter.
Stage 13 / 13
Handover
What we do
- You walk your own bathroom from one end to the other with the project lead.
- Anything not right is put right before the final payment.
Why it takes skill
A handover is only worth anything if there is still money outstanding. That is the entire mechanism.
What a worse firm does
- Taking the full amount up front, which removes every reason to come back.
None of the above can be read off a finished room. Which is why it is better asked up front than discovered later.
Two to three weeks.
Drying times do not lie. Anyone promising it inside a week is skipping something. The waterproof layer has to cure before anything goes over it, and from the top it always looks dry before it is dry underneath.
It is also the easiest day to cut from a programme and the most expensive one to skip. Go on too early and the adhesive does not bond and the layer underneath tears. At that point the waterproofing is worth nothing.
- natural stone tiles
- walk-in shower
- brass rainfall head
- tiled recess
We come and look before a single tile comes off.
At your house or online, your choice. We go through all of it: the floor, the grout, the sealant, the falls, the waste. After that you know exactly what is going on and what will work in your room.
The bathroom survey normally costs
£169
We cover it.
What you get
- a written report of everything we find
- a quote for your room, with everything in it
- an honest answer. If you have got years left in it, we will just tell you that
Still looking around?
A reply within 24 hours. No obligation, just a clear answer on what is needed and what it costs.