05/10/2025
This was a very awkward space that really didn’t work at all and needed completely reconfiguring to maximise its full potential—particularly in terms of practicality.
It started as two separate rooms: a shower room and a toilet. As you can see from the before pictures, the original suite was a baby blue colour, probably dating back to the 60s or 70s. At some point between then and now, what would have been the matching blue bath was removed and replaced with a shower. Unfortunately, it wasn’t done well and left a lot of dead space in an already awkward room full of angles.
The decision was made to take down the partition between the two rooms to create one much larger, brighter, and more functional space—but even that came with its challenges. The roof space and eaves made it difficult to fit a standard glass shower panel, so we decided to remove the eaves walls and extend the roof space in the main part of the room by cutting out the existing plasterboard and studs between the purlins. We removed the old rock wool insulation and replaced it with Kingspan-type insulation, which provides far better thermal performance, while also gaining an extra 150mm of ceiling height.
While the eaves walls were open, we thoroughly insulated the entire eaves space along that side of the property.
The client wanted the mirrored basin cabinet to be recessed, and we also needed room for the new pipework, so we built a stud wall along the main wall. In doing so, we also studded out, insulated, and boarded over the old door, which was no longer needed—leaving just the original toilet entrance door.
Timber fixings were added to securely carry the shower panel, riser rail, basin unit, and radiators.
During the first fix, we installed all-new domestic hot and cold feeds, waste pipes with correct sizing and fall, and adjusted the heating pipes to supply two towel radiators (one dual fuel).
The electrical first fix included running cables for three spotlights, an extractor fan, the dual fuel radiator, a new dimmer switch, and a socket, as well as removing the redundant lights and switches from the original layout.
Wet areas were boarded with waterproof, cement-based QBoard, and moisture-resistant plasterboard was used around the toilet and ceilings.
Once all new pipework was tested and the room was fully boarded, we plastered the ceiling along with all the newly formed angles, the exposed timber rafter, and the existing curvature at the highest point of the room.
The floor was repaired and levelled—first by concreting low areas, then applying self-levelling compound. The Villeroy & Boch shower tray was then installed, tested, and sealed.
Before tiling, we cut in the shower niche/alcove and studded the back of the wall (from the storage cupboard side) to make the niche deeper and conceal both it and the new pipework below.
All walls, from floor to ceiling, were tiled in beautiful travertine, grouted and siliconed in beige to match. The angles were finished with brushed steel trim, and once everything was thoroughly cleaned, two coats of stone sealer were applied.
Then came my favourite part—the second fix. All sanitaryware and radiators were installed, tested, and sealed where necessary.
The electrician returned to second fix the lighting and sockets, and a roofer fitted a roof vent to connect the extractor fan.
The clients, who are absolute perfectionists, took care of the decorating and painting themselves. They did a beautiful job, and it really finished things off superbly—resulting in what I think is now a stunning and practical room, full of light, fine details, and character.
…Another delighted Bailey Plumbing and Heating Services Customer 🤗
