Cheshire Bathroom Fitters | Knutsford | Sandbach | Holmes Chapel | Middlewich

We were recently working on a job in Middlewich — renovating an ensuite and refitting a small cloakroom at the same time. The cloakroom was a straightforward scope: new toilet, new vanity and basin, and a redecoration of the walls and ceiling.

While we were sanding the walls back, the customer came in and asked what we were doing. Fair question — to most people, if you’re redecorating, you just paint over what’s already there.

Why we sand first

This cloakroom had been decorated several times over the years. Each coat of paint had gone straight over the last, and the result was what you’d expect — a mottled, slightly uneven surface where years of layers had built up unevenly. You can paint over that, and it’ll look fine from a distance. But under a fresh coat of paint in a newly refitted room, every bump and variation shows.

Sanding the walls back flattens all of that out. It gives you a smooth, even surface that the new paint can go onto cleanly. The difference in the finished result is immediately noticeable — the walls look properly done rather than just freshly painted.

It’s the same reason good decorators sand between coats rather than just applying the next one straight over. The preparation is what determines the finish.

It’s a small thing — but it matters

A cloakroom refit is a relatively small job. New toilet, new vanity, fresh decoration — it shouldn’t take long and it doesn’t cost a fortune. But that’s exactly why the details matter. A small room gets looked at closely. There’s nowhere for a poor finish to hide.

Taking the time to sand the walls before painting costs maybe an extra twenty minutes. The difference it makes to how the finished room looks is disproportionate to the time involved. It’s just one of those things we do as a matter of course — whether it’s a full bathroom renovation or a small cloakroom tidy-up.

Same job, same standards. Every time.

Thinking about a bathroom refresh in Cheshire?

If you’re in Middlewich, Sandbach, Northwich, Knutsford, Holmes Chapel or Winsford, give Martin a call on 07734 703414 for a free, no-obligation quote.

Cheshire Bathroom Fitters — based in Middlewich, working across Cheshire for over 20 years.

There’s an assumption most people make about new build properties — that because everything is brand new, everything has been done properly. In our experience, when it comes to bathrooms, that assumption is almost always wrong.

A job in Holmes Chapel last year brought this into sharp focus. The property was eighteen months old. The customer wanted the bath removed and an open plan shower fitted in its place. Straightforward enough brief — but before we’d even started, the cracked grout on the existing tiles told us something wasn’t right.

What we found when we opened the wall

Once the tiles came off, the picture was exactly what we’d suspected. The plasterboard behind them was covered in black mould and was already breaking up. Eighteen months old. Never been touched since the builders handed the keys over.

The cause was straightforward. Water had been getting behind the tiles through the failing grout — cheap adhesive and grout applied without any waterproofing membrane underneath. Plasterboard, once water reaches it, behaves like a sponge. It absorbs moisture, swells, degrades, and provides the perfect environment for mould to take hold. It doesn’t take long. In this case, eighteen months was all it needed.

Before any new installation could go in, the damaged plasterboard had to come out completely, the area had to dry out properly, and everything had to be rebuilt from scratch with the waterproofing done correctly this time. A job that should have been straightforward became significantly more involved — and the customer was left paying to fix a problem that should never have existed in the first place.

The new build problem

In over 20 years of fitting bathrooms across Cheshire, we have never seen a large new build development where the bathroom has been properly tanked. Not once.

That’s worth sitting with for a moment. Tanking — applying a waterproof membrane before tiling any wet area — is a standard part of a professional bathroom installation. It’s not expensive, it’s not complicated, and it’s the single most important thing you can do to protect the structure of the room behind the tiles. And the large national developers simply don’t do it.

The reason is straightforward: volume and margin. On a large site development, the bathrooms are being turned around as quickly as possible. Tiles go straight onto plasterboard, adhesive and grout are the cheapest available, and the job is done. It looks fine on the day. The problems come later — often well within the first few years of the property being occupied.

It’s worth being fair here though. This isn’t a criticism of every builder. Smaller contractors doing bespoke one-off or two-off builds will often take a completely different approach — they have a reputation to protect in a way that a national developer operating at volume simply doesn’t. The issue is almost entirely specific to large site developments.

Why cheap grout fails so quickly

A new build property, for the first few years, is still moving. The structure is settling, there’s natural expansion and contraction as the building dries out, and that movement puts stress on everything — including the grout lines between tiles.

Cheap, rigid grout has no ability to flex with that movement. It cracks. Once it cracks, water gets in. And if there’s no waterproofing membrane behind the tiles to stop it, that water goes straight into whatever’s behind — usually plasterboard.

We use Mapei grout on every job specifically because it’s flexible. It can accommodate the small amounts of movement that every building experiences without cracking. In a new build that’s still settling, that flexibility isn’t a luxury — it’s essential. We also only ever use premium bagged flexible adhesive. Ready-mixed adhesive from a tub has its place, but it isn’t it in a wet area that needs to last.

What about the plasterboard itself?

Some people raise an eyebrow at plasterboard being used in a wet area at all. It’s a fair question, and the honest answer is that plasterboard is a perfectly acceptable background for bathroom tiling — provided it’s tanked correctly before anything goes on top of it. A proper waterproofing membrane means water never reaches the board in the first place, so the fact that it would absorb moisture if it got wet becomes irrelevant.

For those who want absolute belt-and-braces peace of mind, tile backer boards — such as Wedi board — are an alternative. They’re completely waterproof by nature and don’t need tanking in the same way. We’ll fit them where a customer specifically wants them. But in our honest view, if the tanking is done properly, the background material matters far less than people think. The membrane is doing the work.

What’s not acceptable — ever — is plasterboard with no tanking and cheap grout. Which is, unfortunately, what most new build bathrooms amount to.

If you’ve moved into a new build in the last few years

If you’re in a large development property and your bathroom is starting to show cracked grout — even if the property is only a year or two old — it’s worth taking seriously rather than just regrouting over the top. The grout cracking is a symptom. The question is whether water has already been getting behind the tiles, and what state the wall behind them is in.

We cover Holmes Chapel, Sandbach, Northwich, Middlewich, Knutsford and Winsford — all areas with significant new build development over the last decade. If you’re seeing early signs of problems in a newer property, give Martin a call on 07734 703414. We’ll give you an honest assessment of what’s there and what, if anything, needs doing.

Cheshire Bathroom Fitters — based in Middlewich, working across Cheshire for over 20 years.

It’s one of the first things people notice on the website, and it does occasionally put people off before they’ve even made contact. We only fit bathrooms that we’ve supplied. If you’ve already bought your suite, your tiles, your shower enclosure — we’re not the right company for you.

That’s a deliberate policy, and it’s worth explaining properly. Because it’s not about being difficult — it’s about being honest.

We used to do fit-only work

Earlier in the business, we took on fit-only jobs. A customer would source everything themselves, we’d turn up and install it. Seemed straightforward enough.

The reality was that it was almost impossible to control the outcome. Customers would arrive with products bought on price — cheap suites, budget tiles, enclosures from the bottom of the range — and expect a result that looked and performed like a quality installation. The two things don’t always go together.

The problem we kept running into was the guarantee. We’ve always offered a 12-month workmanship guarantee on everything we fit. But when you’re fitting products you haven’t chosen and can’t vouch for, the line between a workmanship issue and a product issue gets very blurry, very quickly. In practice, we were going back to jobs time and again — and in virtually every case, when we got there, the problem wasn’t how it had been fitted. It was what had been fitted.

A cheap shower valve that starts dripping after four months. Tiles that aren’t flat enough to lay properly without the finished surface showing it. An enclosure with components that don’t align the way they should. None of that is a fitting problem. But we were the ones going back to deal with it, on our own time, because our name was on the job.

After enough of that, the decision made itself.

It’s not just about cheap products

This is the bit that sometimes surprises people — it’s not that we’ll only work with budget goods and refuse anything premium. It’s that we need to know and trust what we’re fitting, whatever the price point.

There are products at the higher end of the market that we find genuinely difficult to work with — enclosures from certain well-known brands that are needlessly complicated to install, with components that don’t go together as smoothly as they should. The price tag doesn’t make them easier. In some cases it makes the job take longer, which costs the customer more in labour time and gives us a headache we didn’t need.

The same applies to tiles. High street tile shops sell some perfectly good products — but they also sell a lot of tiles that are inconsistent in thickness, slightly warped, or just difficult to lay well. A professional tiler can work with them, but it takes longer, and the finished result is never quite as clean as it would be with a properly manufactured tile from a trade supplier. We end up spending more time achieving a result that’s still not quite as good — and it’s our name above the door.

What we use instead — and why

Everything we supply comes from established manufacturers with a proven track record. Not necessarily the most expensive brands, and not the cheapest — but brands that have been around long enough that we know exactly how their products go together, how they perform over time, and what their after-sales support looks like if something does need attention years down the line.

That familiarity matters more than most people realise. Fitting a suite or enclosure you’ve fitted dozens of times before is faster, cleaner, and less likely to throw up surprises than fitting something you’ve never seen before. That efficiency benefits the customer directly — the job runs more smoothly, the programme is more predictable, and the finished result reflects what we’re actually capable of.

What this means for you

If you’re at the early stages of thinking about a new bathroom, this policy actually makes things simpler rather than more complicated. You don’t need to spend weeks researching products, comparing specs, and worrying about whether you’ve made the right choices. We handle all of that.

You tell us what you’re looking for — the style, the feel, the must-haves — and we’ll put together a supply and fit package with products we’re confident in, at a price that’s transparent from the start. Our quotes are fully itemised, fixed price, and typically run to several pages. No vague line items, no surprises when the bill comes in.

The 12-month workmanship guarantee covers everything, because we’ve chosen everything. If something isn’t right, there’s no question about whether it’s a fitting issue or a product issue — it’s our responsibility either way, and we’ll sort it.

That’s a much cleaner arrangement for everyone — and it’s the reason the policy isn’t going to change.

Getting in touch

If you’re in Middlewich, Sandbach, Northwich, Knutsford, Holmes Chapel or Winsford and thinking about a new bathroom or ensuite, give Martin a call on 07734 703414 for a free, no-obligation quote. We’ll visit the property, discuss what you’re after, and put together a fully itemised written quote with no obligation.

Cheshire Bathroom Fitters — based in Middlewich, working across Cheshire for over 20 years.

Every job we do, there’s a list of small decisions that nobody ever asks us about. The customer’s focused on the tiles, the suite, the shower — understandably, that’s the exciting stuff. But there’s a load of less glamorous choices that quietly determine how the bathroom looks and performs three, five, ten years down the line.

Paint is one of them.

We’ve just stocked up on supplies for an upcoming job, and one of the items on the list was a tin of paint for the ceiling. It cost £66. You can get a tin of bathroom paint from a shop brand for less than half that. So why don’t we?

Not all “bathroom paint” is equal

We use Dulux Trade Diamond Matt. A couple of things about it specifically:

• It’s matt — so no shine, no reflections, nothing that draws attention to a slightly uneven ceiling (which, on a reskimmed ceiling, is more common than people think)
• It’s moisture and stain resistant
• It’s scrubbable — you can actually clean it without the finish wearing away

That combination matters in a bathroom more than almost anywhere else in the house. Every time you shower, the room fills with steam. That moisture has to land somewhere — and in most bathrooms, a fair amount of it ends up on the ceiling and walls.

What happens with cheaper paint

A cheap shop-brand paint will go on the wall and look fine on the day. The problems show up later.

The biggest issue is that cheaper paints tend to be very watery — thinner, less pigment, less of whatever makes a paint actually do its job. That means you need more coats to get proper coverage in the first place, which already starts to eat into the saving. But the bigger problem is what happens once the room is back in use.

A paint that isn’t properly moisture resistant will start to let damp through to the surface over time. That’s when you see mould starting to appear — usually first in the corners of the ceiling, or anywhere steam tends to collect. Once mould gets a foothold in paint that isn’t designed to resist it, it’s a losing battle. You can wipe it off, it comes back. Eventually you’re repainting a bathroom that’s only a year or two old.

A paint that isn’t scrubbable has a similar problem from a different angle. Bathrooms need cleaning more than most rooms — splashes, condensation marks, the odd bit of toothpaste on the wall near the sink. If the paint can’t handle being wiped down without the finish degrading, it starts looking tired much faster than it should.

The bit nobody sees — the mist coat

On most of our jobs, we’re reskimming the ceiling and often the walls too — fresh plaster needs proper preparation before the final paint goes on. We always seal new plaster with a mist coat first: a heavily watered-down coat of the same paint, applied before the proper coats go on.

The point of a mist coat is to let the paint bond properly with the fresh plaster. Skip this step, or do it badly, and you can end up with paint that doesn’t key into the surface properly — which shows up later as patchy areas, or paint that’s more prone to lifting or marking.

It’s another one of those steps that’s completely invisible in the finished bathroom. Nobody ever looks at a freshly painted ceiling and thinks “ah, I bet that had a proper mist coat.” But it’s part of why the finish lasts.

Is it applied any differently?

Not really — that’s part of what makes this an easy decision. A good quality bathroom-specific paint like Diamond Matt doesn’t need any special technique or extra time to apply compared to a standard paint. It goes on the same way, with the same number of coats once the surface is properly prepared. The difference isn’t in the application — it’s in what the paint is actually made of, and how it performs once the room’s back in daily use.

£66 versus £30 — is it really worth it?

On a job costing several thousand pounds, the difference between a £30 tin of paint and a £66 tin of paint is genuinely small money. But it’s the kind of small money that, multiplied across every wall and ceiling in the room, either gives you a finish that looks good for years — or one that starts showing problems within twelve months.

This is really the same principle that applies to everything else we use — Mapei waterproofing, branded suites, proper tanking before tiling. None of it is the most expensive option on the market. All of it is the option that means the job is still looking and performing well long after we’ve left.

It’s a small thing. But it’s exactly the kind of small thing that separates a bathroom that looks great on completion day from one that still looks great five years later.

Thinking about a bathroom renovation in Cheshire?

Every material choice we make — from the paint on the ceiling to the waterproofing behind the tiles — is chosen for how it performs over the long term, not just on the day we finish. If you’re in Middlewich, Sandbach, Northwich, Knutsford, Holmes Chapel or Winsford and thinking about a new bathroom, call Martin on 07734 703414 for a free, no-obligation quote.

Cheshire Bathroom Fitters — based in Middlewich, working across Cheshire for over 20 years.