Showers and bathroom plumbing in Epping Forest and Harlow

What jobs does this cover?

The water side of a bathroom: showers, baths, basins, toilets, bidets and the pipes and wastes that serve them. That can mean repairing one shower valve, replacing a cracked basin, swapping a bath for a walk-in shower or plumbing a whole new en suite.

Tiling, joinery, plastering and electrics are other trades. A plumber handles the supply pipes, the fittings and the waste.

Why does my shower suddenly run hot or cold?

Common causes are:

• a thermostatic cartridge clogged with scale or worn out
• someone running a tap or flushing a toilet elsewhere, which upsets the balance of hot and cold
• a combination boiler that cannot keep up with the flow, or is developing a fault
• a shower head or hose so furred up that the flow drops

A shower that dribbles may only need its head cleaned. One that scalds without warning should not be used until it is checked.

Which kind of shower have I got?

It helps to know before you enquire:

• Electric: a box on the wall with its own heater, fed from the cold mains and wired to its own circuit
• Mixer on a combination boiler: hot and cold both arrive at mains pressure
• Mixer on a cylinder and loft tank: the water falls from the loft, so pressure depends on the height of the tank
• Power shower: a mixer with a built-in pump, used on tank-fed systems

A photo of the shower, and of the boiler or cylinder, is often enough for a plumber to tell.

Can a pump fix a weak shower?

Where the hot and cold come down from a tank in the loft, adding a pump can make a real difference, provided the pipework and the tank are suited to it. Most shower pumps are made for tank-fed systems, and a pump that would draw more than 12 litres a minute from the mains needs your water company's agreement first.

The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 say the water company must be told before certain things are fitted. Among them are any pump or booster pulling over 12 litres per minute out of the supply pipe, a bath that holds more than 230 litres and a bidet with an ascending spray or flexible hose.

Who deals with the wiring and the boiler?

An electric shower, an extractor fan or a heated towel rail on its own circuit needs a qualified electrician for the electrical side. If the project involves moving or replacing a gas boiler, the law says that part goes to an engineer on the Gas Safe Register.

Fitting a new unvented hot water cylinder is notifiable under Part G of the Building Regulations and needs a competent installer.

Why is water getting into the room below?

Leaks from bathrooms are often not from the pipes at all. Typical culprits are:

• sealant around a bath or tray that has split or come away
• grout gaps that let water behind the tiles
• a shower tray that flexes because it was not bedded firmly
• a loose waste under the bath or tray
• a screen or door that lets water out onto the floor

A stain that appears only after a shower points to one of these. A stain that grows when nobody has used the bathroom suggests a supply pipe.

What should I think about before a refit?

Waste pipes need a steady fall to drain, so a toilet or shower moved far from the soil stack may need more work, or a pump. Check ceiling height and floor strength before choosing a heavy stone bath. Flat owners should read the lease and clear any work on shared pipes with whoever manages the building. In a listed building, ask the council before you alter original fabric.

What should my enquiry say?

• the postcode, so we know whether a local plumber works there
• what you have in mind: mending, swapping a fitting or a full new bathroom
• the type of shower and how your hot water is heated
• where any leak or stain shows and when it appears
• whether you have already bought fittings
• whether your home is a flat or a listed building