What does a cloakroom or downstairs WC cost in Cumbria?
Our guide range in Cumbria is £1,700–£4,200 including VAT. Prices in Cumbria run at about 6% below the UK guide, based on North West England labour rates.
Refit
- Existing downstairs WC
Upgrade
- Vanity basin with storage
New cloakroom
- Extractor fan to regulations
Guide prices for Cumbria including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Cumbria?
Most of Cumbria is supplied with soft water. In soft water, taps, wastes and toilet pans scale up slowly, so brushed and matt finishes are a safe choice. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. Where your Carlisle home already has a WC on gravity drainage, a macerator opens up more places a new cloakroom can go.
What the job includes
- An extractor fan ducted to outside, wired with an overrun timer or linked to the light
- A concealed cistern frame or WC unit where the space allows
- 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
- A new waste connection to the soil stack or drain, or a macerator where the rules allow it
- A survey that checks the headroom under the stairs, the door swing and how the waste will reach the drain
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.