Bathroom Renovation in Gloucester

If the renovation strips the shower area back to the substrate, waterproofing must be redone — a failed membrane is the most expensive bathroom defect there is, because the fix means demolishing finished tiling. Several countries regulate wet-area waterproofing explicitly. Never let a contractor tile directly over an old or damaged membrane.

Buying your own toilet, vanity, and taps gives price control; buying through the contractor makes them responsible for defects, wrong sizes, and delivery timing. A common middle path: contractor supplies everything built-in or warranty-critical (shower valves, waste, membrane), you supply visible items like mirrors and accessories. Whoever supplies an item owns replacing it if it arrives damaged.

Strip-out, then first-fix plumbing and electrics (pipes and cables in walls), then substrate preparation and waterproofing, then tiling, then second-fix (toilet, vanity, taps, shower screen, lights), then silicone and snagging. If a quote or schedule doesn't follow this order, question it — out-of-sequence work is how leaks and redone tiles happen.

A bathroom renovation touches plumbing, electrics, waterproofing, tiling, and carpentry. A bathroom specialist or small contractor who coordinates all of it is usually worth the margin unless you have renovation experience — sequencing errors between trades (tiler before the plumber finished rough-in, for example) are the classic self-managed failure.

Checkatrade's 2025-26 guide puts a new bathroom including materials at £5,500-£8,000 with an average around £7,000; budget refits can come in near £3,000-£4,500 and large or high-end bathrooms run £14,000+. Fitting labour alone is typically £1,500-£4,000 depending on scope.

A straightforward refit takes about 5-10 working days; layout changes or first-floor drainage rework push it to two to three weeks. Book fitters ahead — good bathroom installers in most UK cities carry 4-8 week lead times.