For a standard bathroom in a Cumbernauld home — a 1960s flat in Kildrum or Abronhill, a 1970s Radburn terrace in Seafar, a 2004 Smithstone new-build — we typically finish in 5 to 7 working days. Below is the day-by-day pattern, what can stretch it, and how we keep things moving.
Day-by-Day: Your Install Timeline
This is a typical Premium-package timeline on an uncomplicated job. Starter fits compress slightly; Luxury jobs with underfloor heating and wall-hung fittings tend to run the full 7 days.
Day 1 — Strip-Out & Preparation
We arrive at 8 am, put down floor protection from the front door through to the bathroom, and begin removing the old suite, tiles or prefab panels, flooring and any boxed-in pipework. In a CDC-era Kildrum or Abronhill flat this often reveals original 1960s wall panel board that comes off surprisingly cleanly; the concrete substrate behind is usually sound. Waste goes straight into a Hippo or grab-skip depending on access. By day-end the room is stripped ready for first fix.
Day 2 — First Fix (Plumbing & Electrics)
New pipework is cut in, water supplies re-routed if the layout is changing, and the waste pipe capped or extended where needed. Our electrician fits the mirror socket, fan, towel-rail connection, and any additional lighting runs. Everything terminates behind what will become the finished wall. In flats with original 1960s copper, we swap any sections showing wear — no extra charge if the pipe is obviously past its sell-by.
Day 3 — Walls, Floor & Wet Wall Panels
Walls are battened and boarded for wet-wall panels (or backer-boarded if you've chosen tile). Floor levelled and prepared for LVT. In a Radburn-era low-rise with suspended timber, we lay an 18 mm ply overlay screwed into the joists to eliminate flex before the LVT goes down. In a CDC flat with a concrete substrate, it's a simpler level-and-go. Wet-wall panels go up from floor to ceiling, butted and sealed with colour-matched trim.
Day 4 — Second Fix & Sanitaryware
Shower tray, shower screen, WC, basin, vanity, taps — all installed, connected and tested. LVT flooring glued down. Heated towel rail on the wall. LED mirror wired, demister tested. At this point the bathroom is physically functional, just not sealed and finished.
Day 5 — Finishes, Sealing & Handover
Silicone sealing on all joints — shower tray, screen, basin, WC, wet-wall-to-ceiling trim. Final fit of the towel rail, mirror, accessories. Deep clean throughout. The fitter walks you through the finished room, demonstrates the controls, and only then does the invoice come out. You sign the job off when you're happy.
Days 6–7 — If Needed
Reserved for jobs with extra complexity: underfloor heating (needs a screed-cure day), large-format tile, mosaic features, awkward deck-access logistics, or substantial joinery. We quote the realistic number of days at the home visit — you'll know the plan before we start.
What Can Make It Take Longer?
- Moving the plumbing — adds roughly a day. Turning a bath into a walk-in shower in the same position is fast; shifting the WC to the opposite wall in a concrete-floored CDC flat is not.
- Bespoke or lead-time items — made-to-order vanities, imported taps, or back-order sanitaryware. We flag these at quote stage and build them into the start date.
- Older properties with hidden issues — damp under a 1965 bath, asbestos tape around original flat pipes (it happens in some deck-access stock), or delaminated prefab panels that take longer to remove than expected. We allow contingency time for older Cumbernauld stock; we don't charge extra unless the fix is genuinely beyond the scope of the original quote.
- Material delays — rare, but not zero. We order materials the week before start and check delivery the Friday before.
How We Keep It on Schedule
Three things, basically. First, we work with our own employed team, not a pool of subcontractors — so the same fitter arrives every morning and the work is continuous. Second, we keep one bathroom in progress at a time; nobody disappears mid-job to go and start another somewhere else. Third, we order all materials to the workshop a week before your start date, so if anything's missing we chase it before we're inside your house.
Call us on 01236 801802 or request a quote online to book a free home visit.