Cloakroom and downstairs toilet refits

What makes cloakrooms tricky

A cloakroom has almost no slack. A basin a few centimetres too deep stops the door opening fully, a toilet with a long pan leaves no room for knees, and a radiator in the wrong spot blocks the only clear wall. Understairs rooms add a sloping ceiling, and many hallway cloakrooms were squeezed in long after the house was built, so walls are rarely square.

Pipework is often boxed in clumsily or run along the surface, and the room may share a wall with the kitchen or the front door, which matters when it comes to noise and draughts. None of this is unusual. It just means measuring properly before choosing anything.

Compact toilets and short-projection basins

Projection is how far a fitting sticks out from the wall, and it is the number that matters most here. Compact and short-projection toilets are made specifically for small rooms, and corner basins or slim hand-rinse basins free up the space in front of the pan. A small vanity unit underneath adds storage for spare rolls and cleaning products without taking floor you need.

Taps matter too. A wall-mounted tap or a basin with the tap hole to one side lets the bowl sit closer to the wall. At the survey we measure the door, the pan position and the clear floor area so the fittings you shortlist actually fit.

Wall-hung toilets in small rooms

A wall-hung toilet with a concealed cistern can be a strong choice for a cloakroom. The floor runs clear underneath, which makes the room look bigger and far easier to mop, and the cistern sits inside a frame behind a false wall. That false wall can double as a shelf. Our guide to wall-hung toilets and concealed cisterns explains the frame, access to the flush mechanism and where they suit best.

The trade off is depth. The frame and boxing take a little space from the back of the room, so in the very smallest cloakrooms a compact close-coupled toilet can still be the better fit.

Tiling and wall finishes

A cloakroom does not need tiling floor to ceiling, but the wall behind the basin and the area around the toilet take the most splashes. Many homeowners tile those to half height and paint above with a moisture resistant paint, which keeps cost and cutting down while still protecting the walls that need it. Tiling the full room gives a cleaner look and is easier to keep fresh.

Because the room is small, every cut is visible, so setting out matters. A tiler will centre the pattern on the basin or the window rather than starting in a corner. If you want help choosing, see our tiling service, which covers ceramic, porcelain and stone.

Ventilation

Even without a shower, a cloakroom needs fresh air to clear odours and stop condensation settling on a cold outside wall. An opening window helps, but many downstairs toilets have none, and an extractor fan is then the usual answer. Our ventilation guide explains how fans are sized and why a room that smells stale is often a room that is not being ventilated.

Flooring

Porcelain floor tiles are the hard wearing choice and cope well with the occasional wet shoe from the hallway. Running the same tile from the hall into the cloakroom can make both spaces feel connected. Whatever the surface, the floor underneath must be sound and level first, particularly where a timber floor flexes.

What affects a cloakroom refit cost

Because the room is small, the price is driven less by size and more by what the job involves. The main factors are listed below, and we set each one out in the written quotation after the home survey.

• Whether the toilet is close-coupled or wall-hung with a frame
• How much of the room is tiled, and the tile chosen
• The condition of the walls once old tiles or boxing come off
• Whether pipework needs tidying or re-routing behind new boxing
• Adding ventilation where none exists
• Access, for example understairs rooms with sloping ceilings