A bathroom renovation is a drainage, ventilation and waterproofing job with tiling on top. Getting the falls, the soil connection and the extract right is what decides whether it lasts. We coordinate the trades, and we appoint a structural engineer wherever a floor or a wall has to be altered. This page covers the drainage and building control questions a Maidenhead bathroom raises.
The sewer your bathroom connects to belongs to Thames Water
Thames Water is the statutory sewerage undertaker for the whole of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Where a bathroom moves, or where a new soil stack or waste run has to cross the line of a public sewer, the agreement to build over is Thames Water's to give rather than the council's. We establish where the drainage runs before a layout is agreed.
Moving a WC is the decision that carries the rest of the room. The soil connection sets the falls, the falls set the floor build up, and the floor build up sets the door, the threshold and the tiling. We work that sequence backwards from the stack at design stage, so the layout you approve is the layout that can be built.
Applications go on the council's own forms, and the inspections decide the certificate
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead no longer accepts building regulations applications through the Planning Portal. Applications must be made using the council's own online forms. Where a bathroom job needs an application, that is the route it takes, and we make it rather than leaving it with you.
The council states that if it is not called to carry out the relevant inspections it will not be able to issue a completion certificate. It also states that a Notice of Completion form must be completed by all parties and returned before a completion certificate can be issued. We book the inspections and return that paperwork as part of the job.
Older Maidenhead houses set what a new bathroom can be built into
The Maidenhead design code describes the Town periphery character area as Victorian and Edwardian suburbs of terraced and semi detached two storey dwellings, built in local warm orange red brick with decorative plaster moulding, colour washed render and hung sash windows. Timber floors and lath and plaster behind the tiles are what a bathroom in that stock is fixed to, so we check the substrate before anything is ordered.
The code describes the Castle Hill area within the St Mark's and All Saints character area as detached and semi detached late Georgian and Regency stucco fronted villas with shallow pitched slate roofs. A stucco front is not somewhere to put a new soil pipe or an extract terminal without thought. We agree the route and the terminal position before the room is stripped.
- Soil pipe and waste re-routing within the floor build-up
- Shower pumps and pressure improvements where flow is poor
- Complete bathroom design and planning
- Freestanding and built-in bath installation
- Full plumbing, drainage and waterproofing (tanking)
Why Maidenhead Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
A bathroom is decided by what is behind the tiles. We open up and check the joists, the substrate and the existing drainage before a layout is fixed, and we appoint a structural engineer where a floor or a wall has to be altered. Where an application is needed it goes on the borough's own online forms, and we book the inspections so the completion paperwork closes properly at the end. One point of contact covers the strip out, the first fix, the waterproofing, the tiling and the making good. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured, registered in England, company number 14611254, and rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder.
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- A written scope and programme agreed before work starts
- Grout, silicone and trims detailed by hand at the end
- The shortest sensible downtime where it is the only bathroom
- Full tanking behind tiles and across shower floors
- Structural engineer instructed and coordinated on your behalf