Shower Installation & Repair Folkestone

Shower installation and repair in Folkestone

Most disappointing showers are not faulty. They are the wrong shower for the water system feeding them, and no amount of repair work will change that.

So before we recommend anything we establish what you have got: mains pressure, stored hot water, gravity fed off a loft tank, or an unvented cylinder. That single check is the difference between a shower you enjoy and one you put up with for the next decade.

Which shower actually suits your system

Electric showers heat cold mains water on demand, which means they work with any system and are the dependable choice where pressure is limited. Output depends on the kW rating: 8.5kW is modest, 10.5kW is noticeably better. Higher ratings need a suitable electrical supply and cable, so an upgrade is not always the straight swap people expect.

Mixer showers blend stored hot and cold. Excellent on a combi boiler or an unvented cylinder where both feeds arrive at mains pressure. Poor on a gravity fed system unless pumped.

Power showers have a pump built in and exist specifically for gravity fed systems with a cold water tank in the loft.

Digital showers give precise temperature control and remote start, and need either good mains pressure or a pump depending on the model.

Why so many Folkestone showers underperform

Two local reasons come up again and again.

The first is height. The tall Victorian and Edwardian properties along the Leas, up the hill in Sandgate and across the older streets of Dover often have a top floor sitting only a short vertical distance below the loft tank. On a gravity system, that distance is your entire water pressure. A second floor shower in one of these houses will always be weak until the system changes.

The second is hard water. The supply across Folkestone and Hythe is hard, and scale builds inside cartridges, hoses and shower heads steadily. A shower that has got worse gradually over two or three years is usually scaled rather than broken.

Shower pumps

If you have a hot water cylinder and a tank in the loft, a pump is the honest answer to weak pressure.

Twin impeller pumps boost hot and cold together and give a balanced feed, which is what a mixer shower needs. Single impeller pumps boost one side only and are for specific situations.

Two things get skipped by installers working quickly, and both cause problems later. A pump needs a proper Essex or Surrey flange connection on the cylinder, otherwise it draws air and hammers itself to death. And it needs siting where the noise will not carry into a bedroom, because these are not quiet.

See why is my shower pressure so low and what causes low water pressure at home.

The permanent fix for a weak shower

A pump treats the symptom well. Converting to an unvented cylinder removes the problem entirely, delivering mains pressure to every outlet in the house rather than just the one you pumped.

It is a bigger job and it needs a good incoming mains flow rate to be worth doing, which we test before quoting rather than after. Where the flow is not there, we will tell you, because no cylinder can compensate for an inadequate supply pipe.

For larger households in Saltwood and the bigger detached properties around Hawkinge and Ashford, where two showers may run at once, this is usually the right long term answer. See hot water cylinders.

"Daimen came to fix a new shower for us. He previously fitted a new radiator. I've found him reliable and friendly, and he did a great job on both occasions."

David Rosenthal, Google review

Shower repairs

Flow that has weakened gradually. Scaled cartridge or blocked head. Cheap to sort and the most common call we get.

Runs hot then cold, or fluctuates when a tap is used elsewhere. The thermostatic cartridge is failing. On a combi it can also mean the boiler is struggling to modulate down at low flow.

Electric shower cutting out mid shower. Usually the thermal cut-out doing exactly its job because the element has scaled. Resetting it repeatedly is not a fix.

Will not get hot at all. On an electric shower, a failed element or solenoid. On a mixer, worth checking whether you have hot water elsewhere first, because that changes the diagnosis entirely. See hot water repairs.

Dripping head or leaking valve. Routine work, and worth doing before the constant damp causes problems in the enclosure.

Failed diverter between head and handset.

Leaks below a shower

A stain appearing on the ceiling underneath a shower is frequently not the shower at all.

Four things cause it: the seal between tray and wall, the tray waste connection, failed grout or silicone letting water track behind the tiles, or a genuine pipework leak. They look identical from below and they are four different repairs at four different prices.

We trace which it is before lifting anything, because replacing a perfectly sound tray does not fix a failed waste seal. Where nothing is visible, that becomes a leak detection job.

And before assuming the worst, it is worth ruling out condensation, which produces similar staining in poorly ventilated bathrooms. See bathroom condensation or plumbing leak.

"Daimen replaced a shower tray for us that was really tricky to do. He was really helpful, had good ideas and fully explained the costs, which were fair. Daimen turned up when he said he would."

Clive Burgess, Google review

Trays, enclosures and wet rooms

We replace trays and enclosures, reseal where the silicone has failed, and install level access and wet room showers.

A wet room lives or dies on the tanking. The whole wet area, floor and walls, gets sealed with a waterproof membrane before any tiling, with a formed fall to the drain. Skipped or done badly, water goes into the structure and the first sign is a ceiling stain eighteen months later. We photograph the tanking before it is covered and give you the images.

For accessible installations, see how to plan an accessible bathroom. For full projects, see bathroom fitting.

Buying a shower

Buy it yourself and you pay retail rather than our markup on retail. Tell us the space and we will give you a specification of what will actually perform on your system, so you do not order something the house cannot run.

If you are planning a wider refit, should you move plumbing during a renovation is worth reading before anything is ordered.

Where we work

Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Seabrook, Saltwood, Hawkinge, Capel-le-Ferne, Lympne, Lyminge, Elham, Sellindge, Dymchurch, New Romney, Dover and Ashford.

Common questions

Why is my shower weak when the taps are fine? Almost always a gravity fed system, where pressure comes only from the height of the loft tank. A pump or an unvented cylinder are the two real fixes.

Will a bigger shower head improve things? No. A larger head spreads the same flow over more holes and usually feels worse. Fix the pressure, not the head.

Can I swap my electric shower for a mixer? Only if your system can feed it. On a combi or unvented cylinder, yes. On gravity fed, not without a pump.

How long does an installation take? A like for like swap is usually half a day. A change of type, or a new position, takes longer because of pipework and possibly electrical work.

My shower has got worse over a couple of years. Is it broken? Probably scaled rather than broken. In this area that is by far the most likely cause and it is usually an inexpensive fix.

Call +44 7915 255984 for shower installation or repair in Folkestone.