Shower installation in London
Fitting a shower is usually simpler than people expect, and the complications almost never come from the fitting. They come from the shower having been bought before anyone asked what water system the house runs on. A mixer, a thermostatic bar valve and a digital shower all behave differently on a combi boiler than they do on a gravity-fed tank, and Ninja Plumbers would far rather have that conversation with you before the box arrives than after it has been opened.
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What this includes
- Mixer and thermostatic shower installation
- Digital and concealed-valve showers
- Showers fitted over a bath, with a screen
- Like-for-like replacement of a failed shower
- Moving a shower to a new position
- Rainfall and dual-outlet heads, where the flow supports them
- Enclosures, trays and waste connections
Worth knowing first
A little of this might mean you do not need to call us at all — we would still rather you knew it.
Your water system decides which showers will work
There are three common setups in London homes. A combi boiler heats water on demand and runs everything at mains pressure. A gravity-fed system has a cold tank in the loft and a hot cylinder in a cupboard, and its pressure comes from the height between the two, which is usually modest. An unvented cylinder is a sealed hot cylinder running at mains pressure. A shower that is excellent on one of those can be a disappointment on another — a large rainfall head on a gravity system is the classic example. If you are not sure which you have, photograph the boiler or the cylinder and send it over before you buy anything.
Mixer, thermostatic or digital
A mixer shower blends hot and cold, and that is all it does: run a tap elsewhere in the house and the balance shifts, so the temperature shifts with it. A thermostatic shower holds the temperature you set and shuts down rather than running hot if the cold supply drops away, which is why it is the sensible default and why it matters if there are children or older people in the house. A digital shower does the same job through an electronic control, with a separate processor box usually hidden in a loft or cupboard — that box needs somewhere sensible to live and a power supply near it.
Like-for-like is a small job, moving it is not
Swapping a failed valve and head for new ones on the same wall is straightforward, and it is often the only work needed. Moving the shower to a different wall means new pipe runs and, more to the point, a new waste run with enough fall to drain properly. That is the part that decides whether the move is simple or awkward — particularly over a solid floor, or in a flat where you cannot drop the pipe below the joists.
Over a bath, and over a neighbour
A shower over the bath is the most space-efficient answer in a small London bathroom, and it needs no tray or enclosure, just a screen and well-sealed edges. What it does need is care where the bath meets the tiles, because a bath flexes very slightly as somebody stands in it and a rigid seal there eventually splits. In a converted flat with a neighbour below, that seal and the waste connection are the two things that end up showing on their ceiling if they are rushed.
What affects the price
Most of the cost of fitting a shower depends on the water system behind it, and on how much wall, floor and pipework has to be opened up to put it in, rather than on the shower you choose.
Bar valve or concealed valve
An exposed bar valve sits on the surface and connects to pipework already in the wall, which keeps disruption low. A concealed valve is set into the wall itself, so the wall has to be chased out, the valve fitted and the tiles made good.
Matching what is already there
If the new valve fits the same pipe positions as the old one, the swap is quick. If the centres differ, the pipes behind the tiles have to be moved, and old tiles are often impossible to match, so keep any spares from the original tiling to hand.
Whether a pump is needed
On a gravity-fed system, a shower that needs more pressure than the tank gives means fitting a pump. That adds the pump itself, a place for it, suitable pipework from the cylinder and an electrical supply, which our electricians can add on the same job.
Tray, enclosure and waste
Changing only the valve and head leaves the tray alone. A new tray or enclosure brings its own waste connection. Where the trap cannot sit below floor level, the tray goes up on a riser kit, and a larger enclosure needs solid walls or extra fixings.
The price is agreed before any work starts. We take card and cash.
Common questions
Can you fit a shower I have already bought?
Yes, and plenty of people do it that way. Send the model over before the visit so we can check it suits your water system and see whether the new valve will cover the existing fixing holes.
Will a new shower fix weak pressure?
Usually not by itself. A new valve cannot create pressure that was never there. On a gravity-fed system the answer is often a pump, which is covered on the shower pumps page, and where the incoming mains supply is the weak link, our low water pressure page explains what actually helps.
What about an electric shower?
Different thing, and it has its own page. An electric shower heats cold mains water itself and needs a dedicated electrical circuit, which makes it the usual choice where there is no useful hot supply to work with. See electric shower installation for that.
Can you take the bath out and put in a walk-in shower?
Yes. A tray and glass panel where the bath used to be sits within this job. If you want a level floor with no tray at all, that is a wet room — it needs tanking and a formed floor fall, and it is covered on the wet rooms and walk-in showers page.
Does a new shower need an extractor fan?
A bathroom with a shower really needs mechanical extraction, and building regulations require it in a newly created bathroom. If there is already a working fan, it can usually stay. If there is none, or it is too weak to clear the steam, our electricians can fit a new one with a way out through an outside wall or the roof, which is worth planning alongside the shower rather than afterwards.
How soon can we use the shower after it is fitted?
It depends on what was involved. A valve swap on an existing tiled wall can often be used once it has been tested, with a little care around any fresh silicone. Where new tiles, grout or a new tray have gone in, the grout and sealant need time to cure before they get soaked, and the product instructions set how long. Using it too soon is how a new seal fails early.
More bathroom work we take on
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Bathroom Installation
A single fixture swap through to a full strip-out and refit, priced up front.
More on Bathroom Installation -
Shower Repair
Weak flow, wandering temperature, no hot water or a leak — diagnosed and repaired, usually without a new shower.
More on Shower Repair -
Bath Installation
One bath out, another one in — or the bath out and a shower in its place.
More on Bath Installation -
Toilet Installation
A new toilet fitted, an old one swapped, or a WC moved to somewhere it has never been.
More on Toilet Installation -
Wet Rooms & Walk-In Showers
Level-access showers and full wet rooms, with the tanking and falls that decide whether it leaks in five years or never.
More on Wet Rooms & Walk-In Showers
Need shower installation in London?
Describe the problem and give us your area, and we’ll tell you the price before anyone starts work.