Our Design Process In Exeter
What actually happens, and in what order?
From the first hour in your house to the warranties in your hand, with the decisions made in the order that keeps them cheap to change.
Bathrooms go wrong in a predictable way. Decisions get made in the wrong order, so a choice that would have been free on a drawing becomes expensive on site. The whole point of the sequence below is that everything reversible happens before anything permanent.
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Tell us a little about the room and we will come back to you to arrange a visit. No obligation, and no pressure to decide on the day.
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Our Process
The Seven Stages
Every project runs in this order. The reason it does not vary is that each stage depends on decisions locked in by the one before it.
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Design consultation and measured survey
We come to the house, measure the room properly, and ask how you actually use it - who uses it, at what time of day, and what irritates you about it now. Where we can get a look behind panelling or under a bath, we do, because that is where the surprises live.
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Drawn layouts and full specification
You get two or three layouts to look at, not one. Alongside them, a written specification naming every tile, valve, tap and light - so the quote is for a defined room rather than a vague intention.
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Fixed written quote
Itemised, VAT inclusive, with the specification attached. If the survey turned up something that might need attention once the walls are open, it is written down as a possibility with a cost, rather than sprung on you later.
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Strip-out and first fix
Old suite out, back to the substrate. Pipework and cabling re-routed to suit the new layout, with electrics kept to the correct zones for a bathroom. This is the stage where an older property tells you the truth about its plumbing.
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Substrate, tanking and falls
Walls and floors boarded and primed. Wet areas tanked as a complete system rather than a coat of paint near the tray. In a wet room the falls are formed and checked with a level before any tile is cut.
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Tiling and set-out
Set-out is planned from the sightlines you will actually stand and look at, so full tiles land on the focal wall and cuts finish in the corners. Large-format and book-matched stone is dry-laid first to get the veining right.
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Second fix, commissioning and handover
Sanitaryware and brassware fitted, thermostatic valves balanced to the pressure your house genuinely has, extraction tested against the required rate. Then we walk the room with you, hand over the warranties in your name, and leave a care guide for the finishes.
Timing
How Long Each Part Takes
Realistic durations rather than optimistic ones. The lead times on materials are the part most people underestimate.
| Stage | Typical duration | What can extend it |
|---|---|---|
| Survey and consultation | 1 hour on site | Nothing - it is one visit |
| Design and specification | 2 - 3 weeks | Listed building or conservation area consent position |
| Your decisions on the drawings | As long as you need | Genuinely - this is not a stage to rush |
| Material lead times | 2 - 4 weeks | Natural stone, specified brassware, bespoke joinery |
| Strip-out and first fix | 3 - 5 working days | What is found behind the tiling |
| Substrate, tanking and screed | 3 - 6 working days | Curing times, which cannot be compressed |
| Tiling | 3 - 5 working days | Large formats and natural stone set-out |
| Second fix and commissioning | 2 - 3 working days | Pressure or flow issues needing a supply upgrade |
| Handover | 1 hour | Nothing |
On-site stages overlap where they sensibly can. The total for a straightforward room is eight to twelve working days, and three to four weeks for a wet room or a reconfigured layout.
While We Are There
You Are Still Living In The House
- Dust is managed daily, not at the end
- Sheeting goes down on the landing and stairs every morning and comes up every evening, and the work area is swept before we leave. Bathroom dust is fine and it travels - containing it is a daily discipline rather than a final clean.
- You will know when the water is off
- Water goes off only for short periods, always agreed in advance. We will tell you the evening before rather than knocking on the door at eight in the morning.
- We plan around your only WC
- If it is the only bathroom in the house we sequence the work so the WC is out of use for as little time as possible, and we will be specific about which days those are before starting.
- Photographs at each hidden stage
- You get pictures of the first fix, the tanking and the substrate before they are covered up. It is your record of what is behind the tile, and it is useful when you come to sell.
- Parking and access agreed upfront
- In central Exeter, Topsham and the Sidmouth conservation area this genuinely matters. We sort it out before day one rather than improvising.
Reassurance
What Our Guarantee Actually Covers
- The workmanship, not just the products
- Manufacturers cover their own goods. What usually fails on a bathroom is the work around them - a tray that was not bedded, a valve set to the wrong pressure, tanking that stopped short of the door. That is the part we stand behind.
- Tanking and falls in wet areas
- Any fully tiled shower area or wet room we build is tanked as a system and the falls are set and checked before tiling. Water finding its way into a floor void is the single most expensive bathroom failure there is.
- Manufacturer warranties passed to you
- Every warranty on your sanitaryware, brassware and shower valves is registered in your name and handed over in writing at the end of the job, along with the specification of what was actually installed.
- Anything we got wrong, we come back for
- If something we installed is not right, we return and put it right. Most of our enquiries come from people who were let down by someone who stopped answering the phone.
Questions
Process Questions
- What happens at the first visit?
- We measure the room properly - every dimension, ceiling height, window and door positions, existing service positions, floor construction and joist direction. Then we talk about how you use the room and what irritates you about it now. Where we can get a look behind panelling or under a bath without damage, we do. It takes about an hour and there is no charge.
- How long from first visit to finished bathroom?
- Typically six to ten weeks in total. Two to three weeks for design and specification, two to four weeks for materials to arrive - natural stone and specified brassware are the long leads - and then eight to twelve working days on site for a straightforward room, or three to four weeks for a wet room or a reconfigured layout.
- Do I need to be there while you work?
- No. Most clients are at work. We agree access arrangements at the start and keep you updated with photographs at the end of each significant stage, so you can see the tanking and the first fix before they disappear behind tile.
- What if I want to change something mid-project?
- Talk to us straight away, because the answer depends entirely on the stage. Changing a tile before it is ordered is free. Changing a valve position after first fix means opening a wall we have just closed. We will tell you honestly what a change costs rather than absorbing it quietly and resenting it.
- Who is actually on site?
- The same two people for most of the project, with a registered electrician in for the electrical stages and specialist trades where a project needs them. You are not meeting a new face every week and re-explaining what you wanted.
- What do I get at handover?
- A walk round the room together, the written specification of exactly what was installed, all manufacturer warranties registered in your name, electrical certification where notifiable work was carried out, and a care guide for your specific finishes - which matters most for natural stone and for brassware in the hard-water East Devon towns.
Coverage
Areas We Cover
We work across Exeter and out into East and Mid Devon. If your town is not listed, it is still worth asking - the practical limit is travel time rather than a fixed radius.
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Book The First Hour
No showroom to walk around and no sales appointment to sit through. We come to the house, measure up, and tell you honestly what the room can and cannot do.