CRF Services Ltd
En suite bathroom installation and refits
An en suite bathroom is a private shower room or small bathroom that opens straight off a bedroom, rather than off the landing. CRF Services Ltd fits new en suites into existing bedrooms and refits old ones that have started to leak, smell or simply look dated. Danny plans each one around the single question that decides whether an en suite works: where the waste can go.
What is an en suite, and what goes in one
Most en suites are compact. A typical one has a shower rather than a bath, a toilet and a small basin, sometimes on a vanity unit to give a little storage. Some larger bedrooms take a full size en suite with a bath, but in most Medway houses the space is borrowed from the bedroom itself, so every bit of floor counts.
Because the room is small and the shower is used every day, ventilation, waterproofing and the choice of tray matter more than they would in a big family bathroom. Steam has nowhere to go, so an extractor fan is part of the plan from the start.
Can you add an en suite to a bedroom?
Often, yes, but not anywhere you like. A toilet needs a waste pipe of a decent size with a steady fall to the soil stack. The closer the new room is to the existing stack, usually on the same wall as the main bathroom or the outside wall where the soil pipe runs, the simpler the job. Further away, the pipe has to run under the floor between joists, and the direction those joists run decides whether that is possible without cutting them.
Where a gravity waste cannot reach, a macerator pump can carry waste through a smaller pipe. It works, but it is noisier and needs a power supply, so it is a fallback rather than a first choice. Hot water supply, the distance from the boiler or cylinder, and whether the shower will have enough pressure upstairs are all checked at the survey.
- Position of the soil stack and the route for the waste
- Which way the floor joists run
- Hot water supply and shower pressure
- Where an extractor fan can vent outside
- How much floor space the bedroom can give up
Building the room
A new en suite usually starts with a stud wall to divide it from the bedroom, with a door set into it. The wall is framed in timber, insulated for sound, and boarded with moisture resistant board, with cement based board and tanking around the shower. First fix plumbing goes in before the walls are closed up, then the room is tiled and the toilet, basin, tray and screen are fitted.
The shower area itself is built in the same way as a walk in shower, with a low tray and fixed screen. If an existing en suite already has a tray that cracks or rocks, a shower tray replacement may be enough. Wall and floor tiles follow the approach on the bathroom tiling page.
How the dividing wall itself is framed and boarded is explained on the stud walls page.
Do you need an en suite?
Nobody needs one, but in a house with several people and one bathroom, a second shower room takes the pressure off busy mornings. Some owners add one before selling, as a main bedroom with its own shower room is something many buyers look for. Others would rather spend the money on a better main bathroom. The honest answer depends on the household and whether the bedroom stays a comfortable size afterwards.
Permission and regulations
Adding an en suite inside an existing house does not usually need planning permission, as it is internal work. It does fall under Building Regulations for drainage, ventilation and electrical work, and new electrics in a bathroom are for a qualified electrician. In a listed building, or a flat where the freeholder controls alterations, check before anything starts. Danny explains which parts of the job need a specialist when the work is quoted.
En suite cost: what moves the price
The cost of an en suite installation depends mostly on the drainage route, whether a wall has to be built, the amount of tiling and the fittings you choose. Refitting an existing en suite in the same layout is usually the simplest; creating a new one from part of a bedroom is the most involved. Every en suite is quoted in writing after a visit, as part of the bathroom renovation service. Send photos and a rough sketch of the bedroom through the contact page. En suites are a common request from family houses in Tonbridge too.
Space saving layouts are explored in small en suite ideas, the price drivers are in the en suite cost guide, and ventilation is covered on bathroom extractor fans.
This work is part of our Bathroom Renovations service.
Common questions
En suite bathroom installation and refits questions answered
Useful guides
Wet room vs walk in shower: which is right for your bathroom?
The floor decides this more often than the budget does.
Stud wall cost: what goes into building a partition wall
The parts of a partition wall that decide the price, from the studs to the final coat of paint.
Bathroom renovation cost for a full size family bathroom
How much a full bathroom refit costs, and why two quotes for the same room can differ.
Have a job in mind?
Tell Danny what needs doing and get a clear, no-obligation quotation.