The stage by stage timeline
A typical ten working day programme for a family bathroom.
- Days 1 to 2, strip out back to the brick and joists, waste removed
- Day 3, first fix plumbing and electrics, new waste runs set to fall
- Day 4, backer boarding, tray or former set, floor prepared
- Day 5, tanking applied, then left to cure overnight
- Days 6 to 8, wall and floor tiling, with adhesive curing before grouting
- Day 9, grouting, second fix plumbing, sanitaryware and brassware
- Day 10, electrics, extraction, silicone, decoration and handover
The waiting you cannot skip
Tanking needs to cure before tiles go on it, normally overnight. Tile adhesive needs to set before grouting, normally 24 hours on a floor. Silicone needs 24 hours before the shower is used. Rushing any of these is exactly how a bathroom starts leaking in year two.
How long you lose the bathroom
The room itself is out of use for the whole programme. Where the house has a second WC we keep it live throughout. Where it is the only bathroom, we can usually reconnect a working toilet at the end of most days from day three onward, and we tell you honestly at survey which days that will not be possible.
What adds days
Moving the soil connection adds one to two days. A wet room former in a timber floor adds one to two days of joist work. Underfloor heating adds a day plus its own curing time. Removing a bath to build a walk in shower is usually neutral on time.
Common questions
- How long does a small en suite take?
- Usually six to eight working days. The room is smaller but every stage, including tanking and curing, still has to happen in the same order.
- Can I use the toilet during the work?
- In most houses we can reconnect a working WC at the end of the day from day three onward. We confirm at survey which days that will not be possible in your layout.
- Why does tiling take three days?
- Walls are tiled, left to set, then the floor is done, and grouting only follows once the adhesive has cured. Grouting too early pulls adhesive out of the joints and shows as patchy grout later.
- Is a wet room slower than a standard bathroom?
- Yes, by around two to three days, mostly because the former has to be set into the floor structure and the falls checked before tanking.
- Will you be there every day?
- Yes, apart from any agreed curing day. You get the written programme at the start and we tell you the same day if anything changes.