Refurbishment or renovation: how to choose
A refurbishment makes sense when
- The layout works and nothing needs to move
- The pipework is sound and the pressure is fine
- You want a fresh, modern room on a defined budget
- You are selling or letting and need it done in a week
- The suite is fine but the tiles, grout and fittings let it down
A full renovation is the better call when
- You want the bath out and a walk-in shower in
- The toilet or basin needs to move
- There is old lead or failing pipework, or no isolation valves
- The floor moves, slopes or has been wet for years
- You want a wet room
We will tell you which you need at the survey, and sometimes the answer is the cheaper one. A room with a sound layout and good pipework does not need ripping back to the brick to look new.
What gets done in a typical refurbishment
- 01
Strip the finishes
Old tiles, old flooring, old silicone, the suite if it is being replaced. The plumbing stays, capped and protected.
- 02
Make good
Walls skimmed or boarded flat where the old tiles have taken the plaster with them, floor checked and levelled, wet areas tanked.
- 03
Finish the surfaces
New wall tiles or panels, new floor, grout, trims.
- 04
Fit and connect
Suite reconnected or replaced on the existing feeds and wastes, new taps, shower, screen, rail, mirror, fan, lights.
- 05
Seal and clean
Silicone, grout cleaned, room cleaned, walk round.
Quick wins that make an old bathroom look new
- Regrouting and resealing alone can take ten years off a bathroom, and it is a day's work.
- New taps and a new shower head on an existing valve, if the valve is sound.
- A new bath panel, a new screen instead of a curtain, a new toilet seat.
- Wall panels over existing tiles where the tiles are solid, saving the rip-out.
- A heated towel rail in place of an old radiator, and an LED mirror in place of a bare bulb.
Refurbishments for sellers, landlords and agents
If you are selling, the bathroom is one of the two rooms a buyer judges the house on. A week-long refurbishment with a clean suite, light tiles and new silicone usually pays for itself in the offer. For landlords, a refurbishment between tenants with hard-wearing finishes and sensible fittings is the way to stop the maintenance calls; we work with letting agents on access and invoicing, and that has its own page.