Bathroom plumbing and installation in Bristol

The shower you can have depends on your hot water system. On a combi boiler, flow is shared between the shower and any other tap. With a gravity fed cylinder and a loft tank, common in interwar homes in Henleaze and Knowle, pressure depends on how high the tank is, and a pump may be needed. An unvented cylinder runs at mains pressure but needs good incoming flow.

We test your incoming flow and pressure before you pick a shower. In older Bristol homes, a narrow lead or iron supply pipe can be the real limit. If your supply is lead, Bristol Water's LeadFreeBristol scheme may replace it in some areas, which can make a real difference to flow.

In a typical Victorian terrace in Bedminster, Easton or Bishopston, the bathroom sits in the rear wing over the kitchen, with a cast iron soil pipe on the back wall. Moving the toilet usually means a new route to that soil pipe, and the waste needs a steady fall. Old cast iron stacks often crack at the joints and are worth replacing while the bathroom is stripped out.

In Clifton and Redland flats, the soil stack may be shared with flats above and below, so changes need agreement from the freeholder or management company. In a listed building or conservation area, a new soil pipe or vent on a front wall may need consent. Bristol has 33 conservation areas, so it is worth checking early.

Bathroom work in England has to meet the Building Regulations. Drainage changes fall under Part H, water efficiency and hot water safety under Part G, and extractor fans under Part F. Electrical work in a bathroom, such as an electric shower on a new circuit, falls under Part P and is notifiable, so it needs a registered electrician or a building control application. We plumb the bathroom and work alongside an electrician for anything electrical.

Hard water matters here too. Thermostatic showers and mixer cartridges scale up in Bristol water, so we fit isolation valves and suggest fittings that are easy to service.

A few questions save a lot of trouble later. Where does the soil pipe go, and can the toilet reach it with a steady fall? What hot water system do you have, and will it feed the shower you want? Is there an isolation valve on every tap and toilet? In older terraces, is the floor sound under the bath, or has a slow leak softened the joists?

We answer those at the survey, before tiles are chosen. If the supply is lead or the soil stack is old cast iron, it is usually cheaper to replace them while the room is stripped than to come back later. In a flat, we also check the shared soil stack and whether the freeholder needs to agree to the work.