Choosing bathroom tiles
Porcelain tiles are durable and low-maintenance, suited to floors and high-use areas. Ceramic is cheaper and easier to cut, often used on walls. Large-format tiles look sleek with fewer grout lines but need a flatter substrate to fit well — worth discussing with your fitter before ordering.
Bathroom ventilation, why it's required
An extractor fan (or adequate window ventilation) is a Building Regulations requirement in bathrooms, managing moisture that would otherwise cause mould and damage to fittings and decoration over time. A bathroom without a window typically needs a fan wired to run for a period after the light is switched off.
KBSA and TrustMark, what they actually mean
The KBSA (Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Specialists Association) is the main UK trade body for the sector, though membership is limited to a few hundred companies nationally, so it's not something every bathroom fitter will have. TrustMark is a broader government-endorsed scheme covering many trades — worth asking which, if either, your fitter holds, rather than assuming either is universal.
Planning an en-suite bathroom
Adding an en-suite usually means extending plumbing and sometimes electrical circuits into a new area, and ventilation (an extractor fan, by regulation) becomes more important in a smaller enclosed space. Worth planning the layout around existing pipe runs where possible to control cost.
Background checks and identity verification
Since bathroom fitting isn't gated by a single mandatory certification the way gas or electrical work is, checking trading history, a verifiable business address, and reviews referencing specific completed jobs matters more here than for some other trades.
Choosing taps and shower valves
A thermostatic shower valve maintains a constant temperature even if water pressure elsewhere in the house changes (someone flushing a toilet, for example) — worth the extra cost over a manual mixer valve for most households. Tap finish (chrome, brushed nickel, matte black) is largely aesthetic but affects how easily fingerprints and limescale show.
What affects the cost
Cost depends on whether pipework and electrics need moving (not just swapping fixtures in place), the tiling area, fixture quality, and whether structural changes are needed (like removing a bath for a walk-in shower). Moving a toilet's position, in particular, is one of the more expensive changes because of the soil pipe work involved.
Why waterproofing (tanking) matters
Tanking is a waterproof membrane applied behind tiles, particularly around showers and baths, to stop water getting into the wall or floor structure below. Skipping this step is a common cause of hidden damp and rot that only becomes visible years later — worth confirming it's included, not assumed, in a refit quote.