What does a cloakroom or downstairs WC cost in Berkshire?
Our guide range in Berkshire is £2,000–£5,000 including VAT. Prices in Berkshire run at about 12% above the UK guide, based on South East England labour rates.
Refit
- Compact WC and corner or wall basin
Upgrade
- Feature tiles and lighting
New cloakroom
- Formed under the stairs or in a utility
Guide prices for Berkshire including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Berkshire?
Water across much of Berkshire is hard. Taps, plug wastes and toilet pans scale up quickly, so chrome copes better than matt black, and a removable aerator is worth having. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. For a new cloakroom in Reading, the first thing we look at is where the nearest drain or soil stack runs.
What the job includes
- A new waste connection to the soil stack or drain, or a macerator where the rules allow it
- Lighting wired by a qualified electrician, tested and certified
- Strip-out of the old fittings, waste removal and making good on the hall side
- An extractor fan ducted to outside, wired with an overrun timer or linked to the light
- Splashback or feature tiling and a new floor, often LVT or porcelain
- Compact sanitaryware: a short-projection, back-to-wall or wall-hung WC and a corner, wall-hung or slim vanity basin
Decisions to make first
Macerator or gravity
Gravity drainage is silent and needs no maintenance. A macerator lets a WC go where a pipe could not otherwise fall, provided another WC in the house is on gravity drainage.
Door
An outward-opening door is usually needed so it does not hit the WC. A sliding door suits a narrow hallway where an outward door would block the way.
WC style
A wall-hung WC on a frame gives the most floor space and looks neat. A back-to-wall pan in a short furniture unit is easier to fit against an uneven wall.
Basin
A corner basin fits the tightest rooms. A slim vanity basin with a cupboard underneath gives somewhere to keep spare toilet rolls and soap, and hides the trap.
Rules that apply in England
A cloakroom refit does not need planning permission, and forming a new one inside the house rarely does, although a listed building needs listed building consent for internal alterations affecting its character. A macerator or pumped WC is acceptable only where the home also has a WC on gravity drainage. The water fittings rules in each nation limit a new WC to a 6-litre flush.
In England, a new WC connected to the soil stack or drain is drainage work under Part H, and a newly formed cloakroom without an opening window should have mechanical extract; Approved Document F gives 6 litres per second as the design rate for a WC, against 15 for a bathroom. Because a cloakroom has no bath or shower, adding a light to an existing circuit is not notifiable under Part P, but a new circuit is.