Every month
Look along every sealant joint around the bath, tray and basin. You are checking for gaps, lifting edges and black spots that do not wipe off. Mould that sits on the surface cleans away; mould that has grown into the silicone means the joint needs cutting out and renewing.
Pour a jug of water into the shower waste and the basin and watch how fast it goes. Slowing drainage is almost always hair and soap building up in the trap, and clearing it early is far easier than clearing a full blockage.
Every three months
Hold a sheet of toilet paper under the extractor fan while it runs. If the fan cannot hold it against the grille, it is not moving enough air, and that is when condensation and mould start to spread. Clean the grille and check again before assuming the fan has failed.
Listen to the toilet after it has refilled. A faint hiss, or water trickling into the pan long after the flush, means the fill valve or flush valve is letting by. It wastes water and it rarely fixes itself.
Twice a year
Run a hand along the grout lines in the shower. Grout that is cracked, crumbling or missing lets water get behind the tiles, and that is how a small maintenance job becomes a leak through the ceiling below. Tap any tiles that look suspect: a hollow sound can mean the adhesive behind them has let go.
Turn each isolation valve on the basin and toilet supplies off and back on. Valves that are never moved can seize, and the time you discover that is usually the moment you need one to work.
Once a year
Find the stopcock and check it turns fully off and back on. Look at the ceiling below the bathroom for any staining, and at the floor around the toilet and bath for soft spots or lifted flooring. Check the bath panel is firmly fixed and the seal along its top edge is intact, because water running behind a loose panel goes straight onto the floor structure.
Signs that need a professional
Some things are past a routine check. Water marks on the ceiling below, a floor that flexes near the shower, tiles that move when pressed, a musty smell that keeps coming back after cleaning, or sealant that goes black again within weeks of being renewed all point to water getting somewhere it should not. At that stage the job is finding the cause, not treating the symptom.
Letting someone else keep on top of it
Landlords and busy households often prefer one trusted contact who handles small plumbing, sealant, grout and tiling jobs as they come up. Our property maintenance service covers exactly that across Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Stroud, Stonehouse, Malvern, Ledbury, Newent and Ross-on-Wye, with jobs priced before work starts. If a check on this list turns something up, send a photo and we will tell you whether it needs a visit.