Bathrooms

Cloakroom Installation

A downstairs cloakroom takes the daily pressure off a single family bathroom, and most homes have room for one somewhere. We design and fit the whole thing, from working out where the waste can run to the last bead of sealant.

Call 01273 911551

What's involved

A cloakroom is a small room that touches several trades, and we handle all of it in one go.

Survey and Layout Planning

Checking clearances, door swing and where the water supply and waste can realistically run, before anything is ordered or ripped out.

First-Fix Plumbing

Running new hot, cold and waste pipework back to the existing supply and soil stack, with isolation valves fitted for future servicing.

WC and Basin Installation

Fitting compact or short-projection sanitaryware, cistern and taps, then testing every joint under pressure before anything is boxed in.

Tiling and Finishing

Water-resistant flooring, tiling or wall panels, sealant and decoration, so the room is finished rather than just plumbed.

Turning a spare corner into a working cloakroom

Most cloakrooms start life as something else: an under-stairs cupboard, a dead corner by the back door, the end of a utility room. The job is to work out whether that space can take a WC and a basin once the door swing and the clearances in front of both are accounted for, and whether the waste can reach the soil stack without a run that will cause trouble later. We look at that first, before anything is ordered or ripped out.

Getting the waste right is what decides most cloakroom projects. Gravity waste needs a fall, so the further the WC sits from the stack, the more the floor build-up or the boxing has to give. Where that isn't workable we will say so and talk through the alternatives, including a macerator, rather than fitting something that needs pulling apart in a year.

The layout is decided by where the waste can go, not by where you would ideally like the toilet.

Once the layout is agreed, the space is stripped back and first-fix begins. We isolate the water supply, run new hot and cold pipework to the basin position, take the waste through to the stack, and put isolation valves on both feeds so the fittings can be serviced later without draining the house down. If there is lighting and an extractor fan to wire, those cable runs go in at the same stage, while the walls are still open. Everything is tested before it is closed up.

Second-fix is the visible half. The WC and cistern go in, the basin and taps are set and connected, and every joint is checked under pressure with the isolation valves worked open and closed. Then the flooring, the tiling or wall panels, sealant around the basin and behind the WC, and the door furniture. We work with dust sheets down and clear up at the end of each day, because a cloakroom is usually in the middle of the house rather than tucked away at the top of it.

More information

What a cloakroom job usually covers

  • Survey of the space, including door swing, clearances and where the waste can run
  • New hot, cold and waste pipework back to the existing supply and soil stack
  • Isolation valves on both feeds, so future servicing doesn't mean a full drain-down
  • Wiring routes for lighting and an extractor fan, put in before the walls are closed
  • Compact or short-projection WC, cistern and basin, set level and pressure tested
  • Ventilation: either an opening window or a suitably rated extractor fan
  • A small radiator or heated towel rail where the heating system allows it
  • Water-resistant flooring, tiling or panelling, sealant and decoration

A cloakroom is a small room, but it is a full job: plumbing, electrics, ventilation and finishing, all in the right order.

Where the room needs heating, we can take a spur off the existing central heating for a small radiator or a heated towel rail, which also helps keep condensation down in a room that has no natural airflow. We are Gas Safe registered for domestic gas work under registration 568345 and an accredited Vaillant installer, so if the boiler or the wider heating system needs looking at as part of the work, it is the same team rather than another trade to book and wait for.

We are based in Woodingdean and cover Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Lewes, Shoreham-by-Sea, Haywards Heath, Seaford, Burgess Hill and surrounding Sussex towns. If you are weighing up whether a cloakroom will fit, call 01273 911551, or come and see us at 58 Warren Road.

Recent work

Cloakroom with close-coupled toilet, patterned monochrome floor tiles and a slim basin against green walls
July 2019

Cloakroom WC refurbishment with new basin

We refurbished this small cloakroom and added a basin to the room to make it more practical for family use.

Under-stairs cloakroom with dark green panelling, monochrome patterned floor tiles and a slim wall-hung basin
Hove · March 2019

Cloakroom WC refurbishment in Hove

A toilet refurbishment at a property in Hove. We added a basin and wall panelling to change both the look and the functionality of the room.

Small cloakroom with mint green walls, star-patterned floor tiles and a dark green basin unit
Brighton · February 2019

Cloakroom WC refurbishment in Brighton

A small toilet refurbishment completed in Brighton. We added the plumbing for a new basin and completely changed the room.

White toilet beside glossy brown tiled walls, black vertical radiator and blue floral-patterned floor tiles
Shoreham-by-Sea

Cloakroom toilet renovation, Shoreham-by-Sea

A cloakroom toilet renovation in Shoreham-by-Sea. The existing room was stripped out completely and every part of the rebuild was completed by R.K Plumbing & Heating.

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Before you book

The questions we are usually asked before a cloakroom job starts.

How much space do you need for a downstairs cloakroom?
A cloakroom needs room for a WC and a basin with comfortable clearance in front of both, plus space for the door to open without fouling anything. Compact and short-projection sanitaryware helps a great deal in tight spots, and an outward-opening or sliding door can rescue a space that otherwise would not work. We measure it properly at survey stage before anything is ordered.
Where in the house can a cloakroom go?
Under the stairs, in a spare corner, or by converting a cupboard or part of a utility room are the usual places. The closer the space sits to existing water and waste pipework, the simpler and less disruptive the installation tends to be. R.K Plumbing & Heating will look at the whole ground floor and suggest the option that works best rather than the first one that fits.
How long does a cloakroom installation take?
A straightforward cloakroom using existing water and waste connections is usually a matter of days rather than weeks. Where new pipe runs, a longer waste route or structural changes are needed, it takes longer. We set out the sequence of work at survey stage so you know what is happening and when.
Does a cloakroom need Building Regulations approval?
Most cloakrooms do not need planning permission, but the drainage, ventilation and electrical work generally has to meet Building Regulations, and some projects need Building Control sign-off. It depends on what is being altered and where the waste connects. We will tell you what applies to your job before work starts.
Does a cloakroom need a window or an extractor fan?
It needs one or the other. A small enclosed room with a WC in it builds up humidity and odours without ventilation, and that eventually shows as damp, peeling paint and mould in the corners. Where there is no opening window we fit a suitably rated extractor fan and run the wiring at first-fix stage.
Can you handle the plumbing, the electrics and the tiling, or do I need other trades?
We handle the job end to end, from first-fix plumbing and wiring routes through to sanitaryware, tiling and finishing. That means one team sequencing the work in the right order rather than you coordinating separate trades around each other. It is the same approach we take on a full bathroom installation.
Which areas do you cover for cloakroom installation?
We are based in Woodingdean and cover Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Lewes, Shoreham-by-Sea, Haywards Heath, Seaford, Burgess Hill and surrounding Sussex towns. Our premises at 58 Warren Road, Woodingdean can be visited if you would rather talk a project through in person.
How do I get a price for a cloakroom?
Call us on 01273 911551 with a rough idea of the space, or send over a photo and some measurements to start with. For anything beyond the simplest job we will want to see the room in person, because the waste route is what decides both the layout and the cost. There is no pressure either way.

Let's sort your cloakroom

Tell us about the space you have in mind and we will let you know honestly whether a cloakroom will work there.

Call 01273 911551