Ask three builders how long a bathroom takes and you will get three different answers, because the honest one is: it depends on what you are ripping out and what you are putting back. Most bathroom renovations in and around Hull take between one and three weeks on site, but the planning before anyone lifts a tool matters just as much. Here is a realistic breakdown so you can plan around it.
A straight like-for-like swap, where the new suite goes back in the same positions as the old one, is the quickest job. With no surprises behind the tiles, this is usually 5 to 8 working days including tiling and finishing.
A full renovation, where the room is stripped back to bare walls and floor, plumbing is rerouted, and everything is replaced, typically runs 2 to 3 weeks. If you are converting a bathroom to a walk-in shower room, adding underfloor heating, or moving the soil pipe, plan for the upper end of that range or slightly beyond.
The first day or two is strip-out: removing the old suite, tiles, and flooring, and getting the waste away. This is also when any hidden problems show themselves, so it is the most important stage for the final timescale. Days two to five are usually first-fix plumbing and electrics, which means pipework and cables going into walls and floors before anything is covered up, plus any plastering or boarding.
The middle stretch is tiling, and this is where people underestimate. A fully tiled bathroom can take 3 to 4 days including grouting, because adhesive and grout need proper curing time. The final few days cover second fix: fitting the suite, connecting the shower, sealing, flooring, and finishing touches like towel rails and the extractor fan. Silicone needs around 24 hours to cure before the shower is used, so the room is not usable the moment the last fitting goes on.
The most common cause of delay is what is found during strip-out. In older Hull housing stock, particularly pre-war terraces around the Avenues or older semis in the East Riding villages, it is common to find rotten floor joists under a leaking bath, crumbling plaster behind tiles, or old lead or imperial pipework that needs replacing. Fixing these properly can add 2 to 5 days, and it is time well spent rather than tiling over a problem.
The other big one is materials. If a tile or shower enclosure is on a long lead time, the job either waits or gets done in two visits. A good builder will not start the strip-out until everything needed is on site or confirmed for delivery, because a bathroom sat half finished waiting on a basin helps nobody.
If it is your only bathroom, ask your builder to keep the toilet connected overnight for as much of the job as possible. On most refits the toilet only needs to be fully out of action for a day or two, and a decent tradesperson will plan the work around that rather than leaving you without facilities for a fortnight.
It is also worth agreeing working hours and dust management up front. Strip-out days are noisy and messy whatever anyone tells you, so if you work from home, those are the days to plan around.
Decide everything before work starts: tiles, suite, brassware, flooring, even the grout colour. Mid-job changes are the single biggest self-inflicted delay, and swapping a shower tray once the waste pipe is set in the floor is a genuinely expensive change of mind.
Get a written schedule from your builder showing the main stages and when other trades, such as the electrician for Part P certified work, are booked in. A firm that can tell you which day the tiler arrives has planned the job; one that says it will take as long as it takes has not.
Usually not fully, but on most jobs the toilet can stay connected overnight for all but a day or two. If it is your only bathroom, tell your builder before quoting so the work can be sequenced around it.
Almost always because of what turns up during strip-out, such as rot, damp or failing pipework, or because materials were not on site before work began. Agreeing a contingency plan and having everything ordered in advance removes most of the risk.
A little, typically 4 to 6 working days, but not half the time. The same trades and the same curing times apply, and working in a tight space can actually slow tiling down.