Kitchen and Bath

Kitchen and Bath

These are the two rooms where every millimetre is visible, and they are the two rooms that sell a house.

A kitchen or bath is dense work. Plumbing, electrical, tile, cabinets and stone all have to land in the right order and in the right place, and a cabinet run that is out by a quarter inch shows up in every gap along the counter.

We set cabinets off a level line rather than off the floor, we template the countertop after the cabinets are in, and we lay out the tile so the cuts land where you do not look.

The half you never see again

A bathroom is a wet room with a decorative surface on it. What decides whether it lasts is entirely underneath: the waterproofing, the slope of the pan, the way the membrane turns up the wall and laps over the flange of the drain. Get any of that wrong and the tile still looks perfect for about four years.

So on a bath we waterproof the whole wet area rather than relying on the tile and the grout, which are not waterproof and were never meant to be. Pans get sloped to the drain before anything is tiled, and we flood test where the detail calls for it, which means plugging the drain, filling the pan and leaving it overnight to prove it holds before a single tile goes down.

On kitchens the equivalent invisible work is the layout. Most kitchen regret is layout regret: the island that leaves nowhere to stand with the dishwasher open, the fridge door that blocks the walkway, the outlet that ends up behind the toaster. That is why the room gets drawn in 3D before anything is ordered, and why we would rather argue about it on screen than after the cabinets are hung.

How the job runs

1. Measure and draw first. Site measured, drawn to scale, clearances checked against the appliances you are actually buying.
2. Order and stage before demolition. Nothing comes out until what replaces it is in the building. Empty rooms waiting on a cabinet delivery are how a two week job becomes six.
3. Demolition and rough in. Plumbing and electrical moved to the drawing, inspected while open.
4. Waterproof, then prove it. Membrane, sloped pan, flood test.
5. Tile, cabinets, counters. Templated after the boxes are set, not before, so the counter fits the room that exists.
6. Fixtures, then run everything. Every tap, drain and door checked with you standing there.

What the job includes

• Cabinetry supply and installation
• Countertop templating and fitting
• Floor, wall and shower tile
• Plumbing and electrical rough in
• Vanities, tubs and shower enclosures
• Lighting, ventilation and finish hardware