Bathroom Renovation South Kensington

GS Renovation renovates bathrooms and en-suites across South Kensington, working with the tall Victorian and late Georgian townhouses of the museum quarter. We deliver fully waterproofed wet rooms, walk-in showers and space-saving layouts that suit the character and the constraints of a period home.

In South Kensington, 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 South Kensington: 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 South Kensington 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.

Waterproofing and wet rooms in South Kensington homes

A bathroom in a period South Kensington house sits above timber floors and original ceilings, so getting the waterproofing right is everything. We tank the walls and floor properly before tiling, form falls to the drainage in wet rooms and walk-in showers, and make sure ventilation is adequate so moisture does not damage the fabric of a period building.

In SW7 townhouses the drainage runs are often long and awkward, and older soil pipes need careful connection. We handle the plumbing, the drainage and the extraction as a package, then add underfloor heating and tiling, so the finished room is both beautiful and technically sound where it counts most.

Housing in South Kensington

On the valuation list South Kensington counts about 8,840 homes, 85% flats and 15% houses; 84% predate 1919, 3% are interwar and 12% post-war. Where most homes are flats, a bathroom in a flat in South Kensington sits over a neighbour's ceiling, so it is tanked before tiling and a moved WC needs the freeholder's licence.

Old pipework behind a South Kensington bathroom

84% of homes in South Kensington were built before 1919, and a house of that age may still have lead somewhere in its water supply between the stopcock and the taps, or old cast iron and lead in its wastes. A bathroom renovation opens the floors and walls those pipes run through, which makes it the easiest moment to find and replace them. We trace the supply back from the new bathroom, replace any lead run we can reach, and note where it continues beyond the work area so the owner can decide on the rest.

In a flat the question reaches the shared pipework. 85% of South Kensington homes are flats, and in a converted house the rising main and the soil stack can serve every flat while belonging to the freeholder. Replacing the section inside your flat and connecting to an old shared pipe is possible, but the joint between new and old is where leaks start. Ask the managing agent before the design is fixed whether the shared supply is lead and what condition the stack is in, so that any replacement of the shared runs can be coordinated with your bathroom rather than follow it.

En-suites and space-saving layouts in South Kensington

The bedrooms of a South Kensington townhouse often have room to carve out an en-suite, and the tricky part is fitting drainage and ventilation into a period structure without spoiling the proportions of the house. We plan the layout so pipework routes sensibly, and choose sanitaryware and shower enclosures that make a compact SW7 space feel generous.

Where a family bathroom is small, clever design does the heavy lifting: a walk-in shower in place of a bath, a wall-hung basin, recessed niches and concealed cisterns all reclaim floor area. New circuits and changes around the bath or shower are notifiable under building regulations, so the wiring and any electric heating are certified by a registered electrician under Part P as part of the works.

What is checked in a bathroom

Most bathroom work is not notifiable, but three elements are. Electrical work in a room containing a bath or shower falls under Part P and has particular requirements about zones, bonding and the fittings permitted near water, so it is certified rather than assumed. Mechanical extraction has to meet Part F rates. And where a bathroom is formed in a room that never had one, the drainage becomes a matter for inspection.

In an SW7 townhouse there is often a fourth. Adding a bathroom at high level in a tall building can mean a soil connection running a long way, and the fall, the venting and the junction into the existing stack all have to work together. In a listed house, a new soil vent pipe on an elevation is a consent question rather than a technical one. We establish which of these apply before the design is fixed. Waterproofing itself is not inspected by anyone, which is precisely why the standard of tanking is worth agreeing in writing beforehand.

• Complete bathroom design and planning
• Freestanding and built-in bath installation
• Walk-in showers and wet-room installation

VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for South Kensington and Queen's Gate. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Work in South Kensington rarely sits on its own, so you may also want chimney breast removal in South Kensington, bathroom renovation across Kensington and Chelsea, bathroom fitting in London, how we handle bathroom renovation across London and Tiling Cost.

The GS Renovation Difference in South Kensington

South Kensington homeowners choose GS Renovation because we get the hidden work right, the tanking, drainage and ventilation that protect a period house, as well as the finish you see. One team handles plumbing, electrics, tiling and heating in occupied SW7 homes. Our founder's 30+ years on the tools backs every bathroom.

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.