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Bathroom Plumber · Brentwood & Essex

Bath Repairs & Bath Replacements

Baths can often be repaired, resealed or upgraded without requiring a full bathroom renovation — a new waste, a fresh seal, replacement taps or a new bath panel can transform a tired bath in a single visit. When a swap does make sense, FFT Plumbing & Heating handles full bath replacements across Brentwood, Chelmsford and the wider Essex area, including freestanding tubs and traditional Victorian roll top installations.

  • Repair-first approach — keep the bath you've got working properly
  • Leaking bath investigations: waste, overflow, tap base and seal
  • Bath waste & overflow replacements
  • Bath tap upgrades (standard, monobloc and freestanding)

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Signs your bath needs replacing

Most baths can be repaired, resealed or upgraded without a full bathroom renovation — but these are the signs it's worth pricing up a replacement instead.

Cracks, crazing or flexing

The bath base moves underfoot, or hairline cracks have appeared in the enamel or acrylic.

Leaks that keep coming back

Resealing and waste replacements haven't held — the bath itself has likely moved or split.

Stained, scratched or yellowing surface

Years of wear that no clean will lift — a new bath is usually cheaper than reglazing.

Wrong size or layout for the room

You want a different shape, a freestanding bath, or to swap a bath for a walk-in shower.

Bath leak problems we repair

Most leaking-bath calls in Brentwood and across Essex are fixed in a single visit — the leak is rarely the bath itself.

Leaking baths

Trace and repair leaks from the waste, overflow, tap base, panel or silicone seal.

Bath waste replacements

Worn or leaking waste and overflow assemblies swapped for a clean, watertight finish.

Bath resealing

Failed silicone stripped out fully and reapplied neatly — stops most bath-edge leaks.

Bath panel replacements

Cracked acrylic panels or tile-ready panels swapped, including waterproof tile-backer board.

Modern bath upgrade options

A new bath, new taps, a fresh panel and a neat reseal can completely refresh a bathroom without touching the tiles, toilet or basin. Here's what we install most.

How a typical visit goes

  1. 1
    Send a photo or call
    WhatsApp a picture of the bath, leak or fitting — we'll often know the part needed before we arrive.
  2. 2
    Diagnose on-site
    We isolate the leak or fault, confirm the cause and advise honestly whether repair or replacement is the right call.
  3. 3
    Repair or replace
    Most bath repairs are completed same-visit. New baths are pressure-tested, sealed and left clean.

Tap replacements

Standard pillar taps, monobloc mixers, bath/shower mixers and freestanding floor-mounted taps.

Like-for-like bath replacements

Straight swap of an existing bath in the same position — usually a one-day job.

Modern straight & shower baths

P-shaped and L-shaped shower baths to combine a bath and shower in a tight space.

Freestanding bath installations

Modern slipper and double-ended freestanding tubs with first-fix copper feeds through the floor.

Roll top & Victorian baths

Traditional steel, cast iron and Victorian roll tops — including bespoke pipework and oversized tap-hole solutions.

Bath upgrades

Reposition, re-tap, re-panel and reseal an existing bath to refresh it without a full bathroom refit.

Freestanding & roll top bath installations

Freestanding tubs and Victorian roll tops are one of our specialisms — heavy baths, first-fix copper through the floor, relocated wastes, and bespoke fittings for oversized tap holes. It's a different job to a standard bath swap, and it's the job we love.

  • Layout consultation before any pipework moves
  • First-fix hot & cold copper feeds run through the floor to the bath position
  • Toilet or basin relocation with new core holes if the layout demands it
  • Careful manoeuvring (including car-jack alignment) for heavy steel and cast-iron baths
  • Bespoke solutions for oversized traditional tap holes
Completed original Victorian roll top bath installation in a bespoke Brentwood bathroom
The finished installation brought the customer’s vision to life with the bath positioned to suit the room rather than pushed hard into the corner.

Repair first, replace only when it makes sense

Most bath leaks are a waste, a seal or a tap base — not a £-hundreds new bath. We say so.

Roll top & freestanding specialists

Heavy traditional baths need first-fix pipework, careful manoeuvring and bespoke tap solutions. That's where we live.

Left clean, sealed and pressure-tested

Every bath job is pressure-tested and silicone-finished before we leave — no mess, no callbacks.

Recent bath projects

A couple of recent bath jobs across Essex — bespoke Victorian roll top installation and DIY-bathroom first-fix bath work.

View all recent projects →
Completed original Victorian roll top bath installation in a bespoke Brentwood bathroom
Brentwood (CM13) Bespoke multi-stage installation

Victorian Roll Top Bath Installation — Brentwood, Essex

Challenge: A Brentwood customer had always wanted an original Victorian steel roll top bath and wanted the finished room to feel properly bespoke rather than forced into a standard layout. After discussing several installation options, we agreed the bath should sit slightly away from the corner to suit both the room proportions and the customer’s style. That decision created extra plumbing work: the toilet needed relocating to create the right clearance, a new core hole had to be drilled for the revised pipework, and new hot and cold copper feeds had to be first-fixed through the floor for freestanding bath taps. Because the bath was an original steel model, it was also extremely heavy and needed to be manoeuvred into position carefully without damaging the floor or the bath itself. On top of that, the existing tap holes were larger than modern standard fittings, so a straightforward off-the-shelf installation was not possible.

Result: The finished Brentwood installation combines original Victorian character with modern plumbing performance. The roll top bath now sits exactly where it best suits the room, the relocated toilet gives the bath the clearance it needed, and the custom pipework and tap detailing deliver a secure, high-end finish tailored to the customer’s exact requirements.

New bath installed with first-fix pipework for an exposed thermostatic shower valve in a Basildon bathroom renovation
Basildon Specialist first-fix stage

DIY Bathroom Renovation — Bath, Exposed Thermostatic Shower Valve & First Fix, Basildon

Challenge: The customer was tackling their own bathroom renovation but wanted the specialist bath plumbing handled professionally before the room was plastered and tiled. The new bath had to be set perfectly level in position, an exposed thermostatic bar shower valve had to be first-fixed into the wall with hot and cold supplies chased neatly into the brickwork, and every measurement had to be planned so the valve, bath taps and finished tiled walls all lined up correctly. The customer also wanted a tiled bath panel rather than a standard plastic panel, which meant building a solid, fully waterproof substrate ready to be tiled directly.

Result: The customer was left with a fully prepared, watertight first-fix ready for plastering and tiling — exposed thermostatic shower valve pipework set true and level, bath in position, and a tile-ready bath panel that gives the finished bathroom a high-end, bespoke look once the DIY work is complete.

Bath repairs & replacements — questions answered

Need a bath plumber near you? Let's sort it.

WhatsApp a quick photo of the bath, leak or tap — we'll usually know the part needed before we arrive.