What does a walk-in shower cost in Essex?
Our guide range in Essex is £2,600–£6,400 including VAT. Prices in Essex run at about 6% above the UK guide, based on East of England labour rates.
Tray and screen
- Tiling to the shower walls
Frameless upgrade
- Large tray and frameless screen
Tiled level floor
- Level threshold
Guide prices for Essex including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Essex?
- Southend-on-Sea
- Basildon
- Colchester
- Chelmsford
- Harlow
- Grays
- Braintree
- Brentwood
- Clacton-on-Sea
- South Benfleet
- Canvey Island
- Billericay
- Rayleigh
- Stanford-le-Hope
- Wickford
- Witham
- Pitsea
- Maldon
- Waltham Abbey
- South Ockendon
- Harwich
- Hadleigh
- Walton-on-the-Naze
- Frinton-on-Sea
- Rochford
- Saffron Walden
Water across much of Essex is very hard. If your supply in Southend-on-Sea is the same, limescale on shower glass and heads is a real issue: easy-clean glass, rub-clean nozzles and a squeegee make a big difference. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. If your Southend-on-Sea bathroom has a bath that nobody uses, a walk-in shower in the same space is often a two or three day job.
What the job includes
- A thermostatic valve with a riser rail, a fixed head or both
- An 8 mm or 10 mm toughened glass panel with a wall profile and support arm, or a frameless fixing
- Silicone, a full-flow test for leaks and spray, and handover
- Tanking to the shower walls, and to the floor where it is tiled
- Wall tiling, with an optional recessed niche
- Removal of the old bath or enclosure and making good to the walls and floor
Decisions to make first
Tray length
Go long rather than wide. A 1400 to 1700 mm tray with a 900 to 1200 mm panel leaves a dry walkway; a 1200 mm tray works but gives less margin for spray.
Niche
A recessed shelf in the back wall keeps bottles off the tray. It has to be planned at first fix and tanked like the rest of the wall.
Glass thickness
8 mm toughened glass is standard; 10 mm feels heavier and more solid. An easy-clean coating keeps limescale off clear glass in hard-water areas.
Head
A large overhead head feels luxurious but needs good flow. A handset on a riser is easier for rinsing hair and cleaning the shower.
Rules that apply in England
Fitting a walk-in shower does not need planning permission. The light and fan above the shower are in zone 1 up to 2.25 m and must be at least IPX4, or IPX5 where water jets are used, with 30 mA RCD protection on every circuit under BS 7671. Under the water fittings rules, a shower pump may only be used on a gravity system with a cold tank, never on the mains, and the shower needs protection against water flowing back into the supply.
In England, moving or adding lights, a fan or a shower circuit in a room with a bath or shower is notifiable under Part P. A tiled level floor that needs a new drain connection at the soil stack can bring in Part H.

