MeNext / Catford
Bathrooms and kitchens in Catford.
Catford is one of the areas I work in. Much of it is the late-Victorian and Edwardian terrace that went up once the railway arrived, and those houses have their own habits behind the tiles.
Catford, and the houses in it
Catford and its neighbour Hither Green grew with the railways in the late nineteenth century. The best-known example is the Corbett Estate, where Archibald Cameron Corbett built rows of terraced houses on land he bought from North Park Farm. South of the town centre, Bellingham has the Excalibur Estate, laid out after the Second World War and by 2011 the largest surviving prefab estate in Britain, and further south again is the Downham Estate.
Catford is also where Lewisham Council sits, in Laurence House, so it is the council you deal with for a skip licence if the skip has to stand on the road.
What that means for a bathroom or kitchen
In a terrace of that age the bathroom is usually upstairs at the back, sometimes squeezed into what was once a box room, with a suspended timber floor under it. That floor is the first thing I look at. If the joists have been notched for pipes over the years, or a leak has been left, it is dealt with before a single tile goes down, because tiles on a floor that moves will crack.
Kitchens in these houses are often in the back addition, where the walls are thinner and damp tends to show first. I look at what is behind the old units before I price the new ones. It is the same order I use everywhere: look first, strip out, first fix, plaster, set out and tile, floors, joinery, then fit and hand over.
How a job runs
Every job runs in the same order: look first, strip out, first fix, plaster, set out and tile, floors, joinery, then fit and hand over. You can see each stage on my own jobs in the order of the work, and sixteen of them in the book of work.
Questions people ask in Catford
Do you work in Catford?
Yes. Catford is one of the areas I work in, along with Lewisham, Peckham and Orpington. I travel further across South East London and Kent for the right job.
Do I need a skip licence in Catford?
If the skip has to go on the road rather than your drive, yes, from Lewisham Council. When I checked the council's page in September 2026 it was £88 for 30 days. I include the skip and the licence in the written price so there are no surprises.
Can you fit a bathroom in a Victorian terrace with a small back bedroom?
Usually, yes. The layout depends on where the soil pipe can run and what the floor joists will take, which is why I come and look before I price anything.
Who does the gas and electrics?
Gas work is done and certified by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and electrical work by an electrician. I run the job and the order they come in.
Postcodes: SE6. Council: Lewisham Council. Local history from Catford on Wikipedia · Hither Green and the Corbett Estate on Wikipedia.