A luxury master bathroom suite on a 1930s detached in Harborne, Birmingham — walls reconfigured between the original bathroom and an adjacent box room to create one connected suite, freestanding stone resin bath beneath a south-facing bay window, frameless walk-in shower zone, double vanity with backlit anti-fog mirrors, large-format marble-effect porcelain throughout, brushed nickel fittings, and a fully fitted dressing area with full-height wardrobes. Four-week fixed-price programme, full tank flood-test pass before any tile was cut.
A family in their late forties on a leafy Harborne road, occupying a substantial four-bedroom 1930s detached they had owned for nine years. Three children, the eldest two now at university, the youngest in the last year of A-levels. The first-floor layout had a small original master bathroom (5.5m²) and an adjacent narrow box room (5.5m²) that had drifted from "spare bedroom" through "ironing room" to "stuff that doesn't belong anywhere else." The brief was simple: combine the two rooms into one connected master suite — bathroom on one side, dressing area on the other, walls reconfigured to make it work as a single space.
The room shape was unusual. The box room had a south-facing two-pane bay window throwing light into a space being used as storage; the original bathroom had a single small north-facing window and felt every minute of its 1930s shadow. By taking the wall down between the two and reorienting the layout, the bath could be positioned beneath the bay window taking the natural light, the existing bathroom plumbing zone could be reorganised around a new walk-in shower, and the dressing area could be tucked at the bedroom-facing end with full-height fitted joinery to three walls.
We were one of three contractors quoting. The two competing tenders both treated the wall reconfiguration as a possible variation pending structural survey. We did the structural survey in-house at quote stage, confirmed the wall non-load-bearing, and costed the reconfiguration into the fixed-price total. £26,000 across both rooms, four weeks on site, family bathroom downstairs in active use throughout. Handover at the end of week four; the clients had their first bath beneath the bay window the following Saturday morning with the south-facing sun coming through.
The brief was developed over two design meetings with both homeowners. Priorities, in their stated order:
A four-week master suite combining two rooms into one is achievable, but unforgiving. Six interrelated constraints had to be locked down before strip-out began.
The wall between the two rooms had to come down. Our structural survey at quote stage confirmed it as non-load-bearing — a single skin of brick on a 1930s timber sole plate, no supporting role above. We removed the wall in week 1 with a 75mm flush steel section dressed into the ceiling void at the previous wall position to handle minor joist deflection across the new clear span, plastered out to a clean continuous ceiling. No exposed lintel, no awkward step.
The freestanding bath sits within the bay window's three-pane embrace, with roughly 200mm clearance from bath rim to internal cill. Standard plaster cill returns wouldn't survive bath splash. We specified a continuous tiled cill return in the same large-format porcelain, with a 5mm shadow gap to the timber window frame and a silicone bead on the gap. Bath splash hits porcelain, not plaster. Run twice through a hosepipe-test simulating worst-case splash before the silicone bead was applied.
Smaller bathroom footprint, same waterproofing discipline. Schluter Kerdi sheet membrane across the wet end of the room (excluding the dressing-area zone) and 1.8m up the walk-in shower walls. Linear drain at 1:80 fall. 24-hour static flood test with 30mm standing water depth. Photographs at start and end. Tank passed and signed off before any tile was cut.
An open master suite without a door between bathroom and dressing area means humidity will travel. Untreated, this is a long-term problem — condensation on wardrobe interiors, musty clothing, swollen MDF carcasses. We zoned extraction (humidity-sensed extract fan over the wet end with run-on timer), built a vapour barrier into the dressing-area joinery backings, and specified marine-grade ply for the wardrobe carcasses rather than standard MDF. The room measured 58% RH peak post-shower in commissioning, 45% within twelve minutes — well within tolerance for clothing storage.
A frameless pivot door on a 10mm tempered glass panel concentrates load on a small bracket area. Standard 12.5mm plasterboard on metal stud doesn't take the moment load. We built an 18mm WBP plywood backing reinforcement into the stud wall before plaster, in the exact bracket footprint, so the bracket fixings landed on solid timber not plaster. Zero flex in the door at any opening angle.
Twenty working days for strip-out, wall reconfiguration, first fix, screed, tanking, flood test, tile install, sanitaryware and dressing area joinery is dense. Every trade was scheduled tight: tanking on Tuesday of week 2, flood test until Wednesday evening of week 2, tile install starting Thursday of week 2 and continuing through week 3. No buffer, no rest weeks, but no missed handoff either.
Master suites that combine wet and dry zones in one room are a different problem to a stand-alone bathroom. Three disciplines did the heavy lifting, plus the same tanking discipline we apply to every wet zone regardless of size.
Structural survey at quote stage, not after deposit. The two competing tenders treated the internal wall as a possible variation. We surveyed the wall at quote stage, confirmed it non-load-bearing, costed the reconfiguration into the fixed price, and committed to handle any structural surprise inside the contract sum. No variation order possible at week one. The clients' main reason for choosing us, by their own account.
Humidity treated as a separate workstream. An open master suite has a humidity problem that a closed bathroom doesn't. We commissioned a humidity-sensed extract fan with run-on timer and silent operation, sized to deliver 8 air changes per hour at peak; built a vapour barrier into the dressing-area joinery backings to break the conductive path between bathroom moisture and clothing storage; and specified marine-grade ply (not MDF) for the wardrobe carcasses. Peak RH measured 58% after shower, decay to 45% within twelve minutes — documented.
Tanking as a separate, signed-off workstream. The wet zone is smaller than on a stand-alone bathroom, but the consequence of failure is identical. Schluter Kerdi sheet membrane, full corner detail, sealed at every penetration, 24-hour static flood test with photographic record at start and end. Signed-off sheet in the project file before any tile was cut.
Smart specification at the budget point. £26,000 across an 11m² combined suite needs intelligent material choices, not budget-version compromises. Marble-effect porcelain instead of real marble (visually indistinguishable on a vanity worktop, lower per-square-metre cost, more durable in a bathroom environment). Brushed nickel instead of brushed brass (warm finish without the price-per-fitting and tarnish-management of solid brass). Full-height fitted joinery in marine-grade ply rather than solid timber (carcass cost is half, finish is identical post-paint). Smart choices — not budget choices.
Twenty working days from strip-out to handover. Four dense weeks, no buffer, every trade scheduled to the day. The 24-hour tank flood test sits as a hard hold-point in week 2.
Original bathroom and adjacent box room stripped out to studs, joists and original brick. Internal wall removed, 75mm flush steel section dressed into the ceiling void at previous wall position, plastered to continuous ceiling. Joist survey complete. Soil pipe rerouted to new WC position with 1:40 fall. Hot and cold supplies run to bath, twin basins, WC, walk-in shower. Electrical first fix: bathroom-zoned circuits, supplementary bonding, cabling for backlit mirrors and fitted-wardrobe lighting. UFH manifold positioned and pipework laid.
UFH-compatible self-levelling screed poured Monday over the cured first-fix layer. Schluter Kerdi tanking applied across the wet end of the room and 1.8m up the walk-in shower walls Tuesday. Linear drain set with 1:80 fall. Tuesday afternoon: 30mm standing water flood test introduced. 24 hours later (Wednesday afternoon): water level unchanged, photographs taken, tank passed and signed off. Tile install started Thursday on walls.
Large-format marble-effect porcelain installed across walls and floor. Continuous pattern-matched at internal corners, mitred external edges with polished arris. Bay-window cill return in matching porcelain. Plaster to non-tiled walls and dressing area, two coats of mist coat plus topcoat. Wardrobe carcasses (marine-grade ply) installed to three walls of the dressing area, vapour barrier dressed behind each carcass run before fitting.
Freestanding stone resin bath positioned in bay, brushed nickel bath filler installed. Twin vanity built up, porcelain worktop fitted, basins set, brassware connected. Wall-hung WC and concealed cistern completed inside tiled duct. Frameless walk-in shower screen fixed to plywood-reinforced backing, pivot door hung. Backlit anti-fog mirrors mounted, IP-zoned electrics commissioned, three lighting circuits balanced and dimmable. Wardrobe doors and drawer fronts hung, motion-sensor lighting commissioned. Humidity-sensed extract commissioned, RH performance measured. Snag walkthrough Friday afternoon. Handover Friday at 4.30pm.
The technical detail behind a master suite delivered at £26,000 by smart specification, not budget compromise.
1700 × 750mm stone resin freestanding bath, double-skinned thermally insulated, matt white finish. Positioned within the south-facing bay window with 200mm clearance to internal cill. Brushed nickel floor-mounted bath filler with diverter and hand-held shower handset.
Frameless 10mm tempered glass: fixed panel plus pivot door. 18mm WBP plywood backing reinforcement built into stud wall behind bracket footprint. Linear drain at rear, fall 1:80 across shower footprint. Brushed nickel overhead rainfall head plus separate hand-held shower on rail.
1200 × 600mm marble-effect rectified porcelain, large-format. Continuous pattern-matched across walls, floor and bay-window cill return. Mitred external corners with polished arris. Colour-matched flexible grout, sealed at completion.
Twin vanity with marble-effect porcelain worktop (not real marble), 20mm thick, mitred bullnose front edge. Twin under-mount white ceramic basins. Vanity carcass painted soft warm white, built up on a 60mm hardwood plinth. Brushed nickel push-open drawer fronts.
Schluter Kerdi 200 sheet membrane across wet-end floor and 1.8m up walk-in shower walls. Proprietary corner pieces and pipe collars. 24-hour static flood test passed and signed off before any tile installation. Project file copy retained.
Wet UFH system across the bathroom zone (excluding dressing area), 12mm pipe at 200mm centres, 50mm screed cover under porcelain. Single-zone control via Heatmiser Neo Smart thermostat. Surface temperature limit 27°C. Heated towel rail dual fuel: wet system plus electric element.
Full-height bespoke fitted wardrobes to three walls of the dressing zone. Marine-grade ply carcasses (not MDF) with vapour barrier dressed behind each carcass run. Hanging rails on two walls, drawer banks with soft-close runners on the third. Motion-sensor LED interior lighting.
Humidity-sensed extract fan over the wet end with 30-minute run-on timer, sized for 8 air changes per hour at peak. Silent ducted operation. Commissioning measured peak 58% RH after shower, decay to 45% within 12 minutes. Documented and signed off.
An 11m² combined master bathroom and dressing suite delivered against a four-week fixed-price contract, with no variation orders, a 24-hour tank flood test passed before tile, the internal wall between two original rooms removed and the resulting clear span dressed cleanly into the ceiling, and the family bathroom downstairs in continuous use throughout. The freestanding stone resin bath sits in the bay window of the former box room, taking the south-facing morning light. The walk-in shower zone with frameless pivot door does the daily work. The dressing area at the bedroom-facing end has full-height fitted joinery in marine-grade ply with motion-sensor lighting and a measured peak humidity of 58% RH that decays to 45% within twelve minutes of the last shower.
The clients reported six weeks after handover that the most-used part of the suite is the dressing area — "we'd lived without one for nine years and didn't realise how much it would change a morning routine until we had it." The freestanding bath in the bay window has been used for a long bath every Saturday morning since handover. The brushed nickel fittings have settled into the soft warmth the spec was chosen for. None of the wardrobe carcasses have moved a millimetre.
We had three contractors quote. The other two both said the wall reconfiguration would need a structural survey before they could commit on price — possibly a variation, possibly not, we'd have to wait and see. Building Group did the structural survey at the quote stage, came back with the wall confirmed non-load-bearing, and put the reconfiguration inside the fixed price. That was the moment we chose them. Once on site they were unfussy and fast. The wall came down on day three. The flood test in week two had photographs in our project file before tiling started. The dressing area we'd thought of as a nice-to-have has turned out to be the part we use most. The bath in the bay window is the most enjoyable place in the house on a Saturday morning. Four weeks, the price they quoted, no surprises. We'd use them again without hesitation.
If you're thinking about combining a bathroom with a dressing area, reconfiguring two rooms into one suite, or refitting a tired master bathroom into something more deliberate, we'll come out for a free design consultation, do the structural survey at quote stage, and put a fixed-price design-and-build proposal — with the wall reconfiguration costed in, not flagged as a variation — on your kitchen table within ten working days.
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