Bathroom & kitchen renovation plumbing in Christchurch

What we do on a renovation

• Rough-in. Hot, cold and waste set out to the plan before the linings go on — the stage that decides whether the fit-off goes smoothly or becomes a fight.
• Relocating fixtures. Moving a toilet, shower, bath or sink to a new position, including re-running wastes at the right fall.
• Fit-off. Tapware, mixers, showers, vanities, toilets, baths, sinks and wastes installed once the linings and tiling are done.
• Kitchen plumbing. Sink and waste, dishwasher and fridge connections, filtered water outlets, and the gas side if there's a hob going in.
• Gas alterations. Moving or extending gas runs for a new hob or fire, certified on completion. Same trade, same visit — you're not co-ordinating two contractors.
• Hot water changes. Renovations are the natural moment to move or upgrade a cylinder, or switch to gas continuous flow while the walls are open.

The part people underestimate

On a renovation, the plumbing decisions get made early and cost the most to change late. Where the waste runs, whether the fall works, whether the existing pipework can carry another fixture, whether the cylinder can supply a second shower — all of it needs answering before the gib goes up, not after the tiler has finished.

We'd rather spend half an hour on site at the planning stage than be the trade telling you at fit-off that the shower mixer can't go where the drawing says. If you're working with a designer or a builder, get us in early. It's the cheapest visit on the whole job.

Old Christchurch houses, and what they hide

A lot of renovation work in this city is on housing stock from the 1900s to the 1960s, much of it repaired after the earthquakes. Opening a wall regularly turns up:

• Galvanised pipe still in service, narrowed by decades of internal rust. It looks fine from outside and flows like a straw.
• Three generations of pipework joined together — galv into copper into PEX — with the joints between dissimilar metals quietly corroding.
• Wastes with barely any fall, or fall running the wrong way, made to work by luck and gravity.
• Undersized supply that was adequate for one bathroom and won't run two.

None of that is a disaster, but it's much better found at rough-in than discovered as a leak behind new tiles. We'll tell you what we find and what it means for the budget, straight away.

How we work with builders

We turn up on the day we said, we do our stage and get out of the way, and we leave the site tidy enough that the next trade isn't cleaning up after us. If the programme moves, tell us — we'd far rather reschedule than arrive to a site that isn't ready for us.

Renovation work is quoted, not charged by the hour, so you know the number before we start. Variations get talked about when they come up, not added at the end.

Consents

Like-for-like fixture replacement generally doesn't need a building consent. Moving fixtures to new positions, adding a new bathroom, or altering drainage usually does. We'll tell you which side of the line your job falls on at quoting stage — and we work to the consented drawings where there are any.