Bathroom Renovation Kensington and Chelsea

GS Renovation refurbishes bathrooms and en-suites across Kensington and Chelsea, fitting out the townhouses and mews homes of SW3, SW7, W8 and W11. We handle full waterproofing, drainage, tiling and heating, designing wet rooms and space-saving layouts that work within the awkward proportions of period properties.

In Kensington and Chelsea, a full bathroom refit typically costs £6,000 to £20,000 or more (indicative London ranges, MyBuilder and Checkatrade, 2026). GS Renovation Ltd, a building contractor based in Potters Bar, does the work in Kensington and Chelsea: we carry the tanking, plumbing and tiling as one contract, with the electrics certified by a registered electrician.

How the job runs

1. Free design visit at your Kensington and Chelsea home and an itemised quote.
2. Strip-out, then first-fix plumbing and electrics.
3. Tanking to the wet areas, then tiling.
4. Sanitaryware and second fix, with notifiable electrics certified by a registered electrician. Typically 10 to 15 working days on site.

Wet rooms and tanking in Kensington and Chelsea

Bathrooms in the townhouses of Chelsea and Notting Hill are often carved out of former bedrooms or landing space, on upper floors with timber joists that must stay dry. We tank and waterproof the whole area before tiling, forming falls to the drain for walk-in showers and wet rooms so water goes where it should. Correct drainage and mechanical ventilation are designed in to protect the period structure below.

Underfloor heating, tiling and the finishing work follow once the waterproofing is proven. In the tall, narrow homes across SW3 and W8, running new soil and waste pipes takes planning, so we route them discreetly through cupboards and voids. Notifiable electrical work for the bathroom is certified by a registered electrician under Part P, or notified to building control, and the whole installation is designed to cope with the demands of daily use in a busy household.

Housing in Kensington and Chelsea

Take the 89,280 or so homes the valuation list gives Kensington and Chelsea: 84% flats, 16% houses, 65% from before 1919, 8% interwar and 26% post-war. Where most homes are flats, a bathroom in a flat in Kensington and Chelsea sits over a neighbour's ceiling, so tanking comes first.

Bathrooms over neighbours and below the street in Kensington and Chelsea

84% of homes in Kensington and Chelsea are flats, so a bathroom renovation here is more often done over someone else's ceiling than over your own kitchen. That changes the order of the job. Stripping out old tiles and screed is the noisiest stage, and the council's Final Draft Code of Construction Practice sets 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, as the permitted hours for noisy works audible at the site boundary. In a block the noise reaches the neighbours through the party floor and the shared walls, so strip-out goes into the first weekdays of the programme and the neighbours below are given the dates.

A bathroom on a lower ground floor faces the opposite problem: water arriving from below rather than leaking downwards. The publication version of the New Local Plan Review states that basements are considered highly vulnerable to flooding. For a bathroom set below the level of the street drain, the waste either falls to a drain fitted with protection against backflow or is pumped up to it, and that choice is made before the floor is laid. Without that protection, a surcharged sewer can push sewage back up through the shower waste.

En-suites and small bathrooms in Kensington and Chelsea

The period homes of Knightsbridge, South Kensington and Holland Park rarely offer generous bathroom space, so clever layout matters. We add en-suites to principal bedrooms and reconfigure tight family bathrooms, using wall-hung sanitaryware, walk-in showers and concealed cisterns to free up floor area. Every layout is planned around the existing joists, chimney breasts and window positions of the original room.

Waterproofing standards stay the same whatever the size: full tanking, proper drainage falls and adequate extraction to prevent damp in these solid-walled properties. Underfloor heating warms cold period floors, and considered tiling and lighting lift a small space. Bathroom renovation is internal work requiring building regulations rather than planning permission, though in listed homes we check whether altering the room affects anything requiring consent.

• Underfloor heating and heated towel rails
• Notifiable bathroom electrics certified by a registered electrician under Part P
• Floor strengthening before large-format tiles or stone

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 21 statistical areas in Kensington and Chelsea. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Two or three things usually come up alongside bathroom renovation on a Kensington and Chelsea job: chimney breast removal in Kensington and Chelsea, our Kensington and Chelsea area guide, bathroom fitting in London, how we handle bathroom renovation across London and Small Bathroom Ideas.

Trusted Bathroom Renovation in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea owners choose GS Renovation because a bathroom in a period townhouse depends on getting the waterproofing, drainage and ventilation right on timber upper floors. We tank properly, route services discreetly and finish to a high standard, adding en-suites and wet rooms that suit tight period layouts. Our founder's 30+ years on the tools stands behind the work.

Checked by Abdelaaziz Saaid, founder and director of GS Renovation Ltd (Companies House no. 14611254). Structural design is by the consulting engineer appointed to your project.