Comparison guides
Doing it yourself or having a bathroom professionally fitted
At a glance
- Changing taps, a toilet seat or repainting doesn't require special certification, but altering electrics, gas or the waste and supply pipework does.
- Waterproofing a shower or wet room is unforgiving of mistakes that only surface months later as a leak into a ceiling below, this is the area where inexperience costs most.
What separates them
- 1
Changing taps, a toilet seat or repainting doesn't require special certification, but altering electrics, gas or the waste and supply pipework does.
- 2
Waterproofing a shower or wet room is unforgiving of mistakes that only surface months later as a leak into a ceiling below, this is the area where inexperience costs most.
- 3
A DIY refit can genuinely work well for cosmetic-only changes on an already sound bathroom, but a full re-plan involving new services is a different scale of risk.
Questions we get asked
What parts of a bathroom refit are legally notifiable?
New electrical circuits and certain plumbing and ventilation work typically need to be certified or notified, depending on what's being altered.
Is it cheaper to DIY a whole bathroom?
It can reduce labour costs, but mistakes in waterproofing or services can be far more expensive to put right than the saving was worth.
Second opinion on diy or a fitted installation
If you already have a quote or a design and something does not sit right, it is worth another set of eyes before work starts.