Installing a traditional bathroom on a budget

Plan the room before you buy a single tile

A traditional bathroom is rarely a large one. In a typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace you might be working with something close to 2.4 metres by 1.8 metres, often with a sloping ceiling over the bath and a soil pipe boxed into a corner. Measure everything before you spend a penny, including the depth of the window reveal and how far the door swings into the room. Then make the biggest decision of the whole project: whether you can keep the existing layout.

Leaving the bath, basin and toilet where they are is the single largest saving available, because the waste runs and supplies stay put. Moving a soil stack to the opposite wall can add several hundred pounds to a job that was meant to be modest. Set your priorities before you shop, too. Water pressure, waterproofing and layout come first; decorative detail comes last. It is far easier to upgrade a tap later than to re-tile a wall.

Period-style fittings that do not cost the earth

The traditional look is cheap to imitate because the shapes have barely changed in a century. What costs money is authenticity for its own sake, so pick the details people actually notice and economise elsewhere.

• Basins: a 560mm or 600mm basin with a pedestal looks right in almost any period home and hides the trap neatly. A full pedestal is usually cheaper than a vanity unit and takes up less floor space, though it gives you nowhere to put anything.
• Taps: crosshead or lever handles in chrome suit the era, but check inside for ceramic disc cartridges. They feel better, drip less and save you replacing washers every couple of years.
• Toilets: a close-coupled pan with a traditional lever is the sensible buy. A high-level cistern on a long chrome pipe is the more theatrical option, but it needs a solid wall behind it and careful pipe alignment.
• Baths: an acrylic roll-top bath with ball-and-claw feet costs a fraction of cast iron and is far easier to get up the stairs. Cast iron holds heat beautifully but is genuinely heavy, so have your floor joists checked before committing.
• Showers: an exposed riser rail with a traditional-style head gives you the period silhouette without hidden pipework to chase into the wall.

Ex-display stock, end-of-line finishes and reclamation yards are your friends here. A second-hand cast iron radiator, cleaned up and repainted, can look superb for a fraction of the new price.

Walls and floors: durable finishes with a period feel

Half-height tongue-and-groove panelling is one of the most cost-effective ways to add character in a small bathroom. Use moisture-resistant MDF, prime the cut edges properly and finish with a wipeable eggshell or satin designed for bathrooms. Run a dado rail along the top and you have an instant period detail for the price of a couple of sheets and a tin of paint.

For tiles, plain white 150mm by 150mm ceramics with a simple border or a pencil tile will never date. Tile to about 1.2 metres around the bath and shower, or to full height inside a shower enclosure, and use tile backer board rather than plasterboard in wet zones.

• Flooring: luxury vinyl tile in a stone or chequerboard effect is warm underfoot, water-resistant and quick to fit. Ceramic or encaustic-style tiles look magnificent but need a sound, rigid subfloor.
• Grout and silicone: spend a little more on mould-resistant grout and a good sanitary silicone. This is the cheapest way to make a bathroom look well maintained for years.
• Ventilation: a humidistat extractor fan with a timer costs very little extra and protects everything you have just installed.

Storage that earns its keep

Traditional bathrooms rarely have built-in storage, so create it rather than buying another freestanding shelf. Boxing in pipework and redundant bulkheads gives you flat surfaces and hidden space at the same time. A mirrored cabinet above the basin adds reflected light and somewhere to hide the clutter.

If you have a recess, shallow shelves between the studs will hold towels and bottles without intruding. Keep at least one accessible isolation valve on every supply so future repairs do not mean draining the whole system. A heated towel rail doubles as storage and as your main heat source in a small room, which may let you skip a radiator altogether.

Spend your money on the plumbing

This is where a budget bathroom quietly succeeds or fails. If you have a combi boiler, mains pressure will happily run a decent shower. If you are on a gravity-fed system with a tank in the loft, check the pressure before buying a large rain-style head, because it may deliver little more than a dribble.

• A thermostatic shower valve is worth the extra; it keeps the temperature steady when someone runs a tap downstairs.
• Buy fittings marked as approved for UK water regulations, and keep the paperwork for your installer.
• Fit full-bore isolation valves rather than cheap ones with narrow bores, which throttle your flow.

The rest of the budget can go on the things you touch and see every day: taps, handles, a good mirror and a decent light fitting.

Trim the budget without cutting corners

Doing the strip-out, the painting and the tiling yourself can save a substantial sum, provided you are honest about your abilities. Tiling a shower wall badly is a false economy; painting panelling badly is not.

• Buy tiles and flooring at the end of a range, and always order ten per cent extra for cuts and breakages.
• Keep the existing suite if it is sound, and replace only the taps, seat and silicone for a fresh look.
• Sequence the trades properly. Plumber first, then electrician, then tiler, then you with the paintbrush. Chaos here costs more than any fitting.
• Hold back around ten to fifteen per cent of your budget for the surprises behind the old tiles, which in older UK homes are almost guaranteed.

Buy well once, install it carefully, and a traditional bathroom will look as though it has always belonged there.