How long does a bathroom renovation take?
As a rough guide, a like-for-like bathroom refit, where the bath, basin, toilet and shower stay roughly where they are, usually takes one to two weeks of work on site. A full renovation that moves the toilet or shower, adds a wet room floor, builds a new stud wall or rewires the lighting normally runs to three weeks or more. The labour itself is rarely what stretches the job. Drying times for plaster, screed and adhesive, waiting for made-to-order items, building control or freeholder approval, and discovering problems once the old suite comes out are what turn a ten-day job into a month. Planning those in advance is the best way to keep the room out of action for as short a time as possible.
Loyal Plumbers · Updated
Discuss your plumbing workTypical timescales by type of project
Every bathroom is different, so treat these as planning ranges rather than promises. The main question is whether the pipework and waste stay where they are. Once a soil pipe or shower waste has to move, the floor usually comes up, and the job changes character.
| Project | Typical time on site | What usually decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Swap a basin, toilet or bath on existing connections | One to two days | Condition of the isolation valves, waste and floor under the old item |
| Replace a shower enclosure and tray | Two to four days | Whether the tray waste lines up, and tile repairs around the old screen |
| Like-for-like refit with new tiling | About one to two weeks | Wall condition once old tiles are off, and adhesive and grout curing |
| Layout change: toilet or shower moved | Two to three weeks | Soil pipe route, joist direction and floor levels |
| Wet room or full strip-out to bare walls | Three to four weeks or more | Floor build-up, tanking, screed drying and electrical work |
The stages of a bathroom renovation
Most renovations follow the same order. Knowing it helps you see where the waiting happens, and why trades cannot always overlap.
- Strip-out: removing the old suite, tiles and sometimes plasterboard. Usually a day or two, but it is when hidden leaks, rotten boards and old lead or iron pipework come to light.
- First fix: new supply and waste pipework, shower valve bodies, cistern frames and cable runs, all before walls and floors are closed. Pipework should be pressure tested at this stage.
- Boarding, plastering and floor preparation: new boards, tanking in wet areas, any screed. This is where drying time sits.
- Tiling: walls and floor, then grouting and sealing. Tile adhesive and grout need their curing time before the room takes water.
- Second fix: fitting the toilet, basin, bath or tray, taps, shower and extractor, connecting everything and testing for leaks.
- Finishing: silicone, decorating, accessories and final checks. Silicone needs to cure before the shower is used.
What makes a bathroom renovation take longer
The delays that catch people out are almost always the same few. Most can be reduced by deciding things before the old bathroom comes out.
Items not on site. A made-to-measure shower screen, a vanity unit on a long lead time or tiles that arrive in the wrong batch can leave a half-finished room waiting. Try to have the suite, valves and tiles delivered and checked before work starts.
Drying and curing. Plaster, sand and cement screed, tanking systems, tile adhesive and silicone all have minimum times set by the manufacturer. A traditional screed in a wet room floor can need a long time to dry before it can be tiled, which is one reason some installers use preformed trays or boards instead.
Moving the soil pipe. A toilet has to fall to the soil stack, so moving it can mean lifting floors, working around joists or fitting a pump. In flats the stack is often shared, which brings in the next point.
Permissions. In a leasehold flat, work that alters the pipework, drainage or floor may need the freeholder's consent under your lease. New drainage connections or structural changes can involve building control. Electrical work in a bathroom is covered by Part P of the Building Regulations, and some of it is notifiable.
Surprises behind the walls. Old lead supply pipes, corroded fittings, a leaking waste that has rotted the floor, or walls too uneven to tile. A good installer will warn you where this is likely, but some things only show up once the room is stripped.
Plumbing decisions to make before work starts
The fastest renovations are the ones where the plumbing scope is fixed before strip-out. These are the questions that most often hold a job up when they are left until the day.
Is the water system suitable for the shower you want? A combi boiler, an unvented cylinder and a gravity-fed cylinder behave very differently, and a powerful shower may need a pump or a different valve. Our comparison of a mixer shower vs electric shower sets out the supply and electrical requirements of each.
Where will the pipework be accessible? A concealed cistern or built-in shower valve needs a way to reach the parts later. Deciding where access panels go, or choosing a hidden toilet cistern that can be serviced from the front, avoids tiles being cut out later.
Does the supply need upgrading? Adding a second bathroom or a larger shower can outgrow a small or old supply pipe. Our guide to a water supply upgrade for an extra bathroom explains when that becomes necessary.
Ask for the first-fix pipework to be pressure tested and photographed before walls and floors are closed. It takes minutes, it protects your new finishes, and the photos are useful for years.
Living with the work: how long without a bathroom?
If it is your only bathroom, the question that matters is how long you will be without a toilet and a wash. Most installers can keep a toilet usable for most of the job, refitting the old one overnight or connecting the new one early. Showering is harder, because the tray or floor usually goes in near the start and cannot be used until the tiling and sealing are done.
Ask your installer to set out which days the water will be off, which days the toilet will be out, and when the shower can first be used. If there is a second WC or a family member nearby, plan around it. In a small flat it can be worth scheduling the noisiest, messiest days for when you are away.
How to keep the job on schedule
Agree a written scope that says what stays, what moves and what is new, and who supplies each item. Our bathroom plumbing checklist walks through layout, fittings, floor levels and access, and is a useful thing to go through before asking for quotes.
Have everything on site before strip-out. Check the boxes for damage and missing parts on delivery, not the day they are needed.
Make decisions early. Tile layout, valve height, niche positions and towel rail location all need to be settled before first fix. Changing them later means re-running pipework.
Keep one person in charge of the sequence. Where plumber, electrician, plasterer and tiler are separate, someone has to book them in the right order and allow for drying time between them. Our guide to planning a plumbing refurbishment covers how to structure that. If a new kitchen is part of the same project, our guide on how long does it take to fit a kitchen sets out that timeline.
Talk to us about your bathroom
Loyal Plumbers carries out bathroom fitting and the plumbing behind it across London and everywhere inside the M25, from swapping a single sanitaryware item to full strip-outs with new supply and waste runs. For bigger changes we also handle pipework installation and rerouting.
Call us or send an enquiry with photos of the current room, the layout you want, the type of boiler or cylinder you have and whether you live in a house or a leasehold flat. We will tell you what the plumbing involves and how it is likely to affect the timetable before you commit to anything.
Common questions
- Can a bathroom be renovated in a week?
- A straightforward like-for-like refit sometimes can, if everything is on site and the walls are in good condition. Once pipework moves, a new floor goes in or tiling is extensive, allow two weeks or more.
- How long will I be without a toilet?
- Usually only for short periods. Most installers keep the old toilet connected or fit the new one early so it is out of use for a day or so rather than the whole job. Ask for this to be planned in advance.
- Why does a wet room take longer than a normal bathroom?
- The floor has to be built to fall towards the drain and fully waterproofed. Screeds, tanking and adhesives each need drying or curing time before the next layer goes on.
- Do I need building control approval for a bathroom renovation?
- A like-for-like refit usually does not. New drainage, structural changes and some electrical work can be notifiable. In a leasehold flat, check your lease for freeholder consent too.
- When can I use the shower after it is fitted?
- Once the tiles are grouted and the silicone has cured, following the product instructions. Using it too early is a common cause of leaks around new trays and screens.
Sources and further reading
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