Best Home Renovation Ideas For Glasgow Tenement Flats

What Makes A Tenement Different

Glasgow's sandstone tenements are some of the best-loved homes in Scotland: high ceilings, big windows, thick walls and generous rooms. They are also well over a century old in most cases, and they were not designed around modern bathrooms and kitchens. A few things shape every job.

• Shared parts. The close, the stair, the roof and the main waste pipes (the soil stacks) usually belong to all the owners together. Work that touches them needs agreement.
• Timber floors and old plaster. Floors are rarely level, and the walls are often lath and plaster (thin timber strips with plaster over them), which does not always take kindly to new fixings.
• Small service rooms. Bathrooms and kitchens were squeezed in long after the building went up, so they tend to be narrow, with pipes boxed in where they happened to land.
• Access. Everything comes in and out through the close and up the stair, and parking outside is often restricted.
• Planning rules. Many tenement streets in the West End, the Southside and Dennistoun sit in conservation areas, and some buildings are listed.

None of this is a reason not to renovate. It just means the survey matters more than it does in a modern house.

Bathroom Ideas That Suit A Tenement

The typical tenement bathroom is long and narrow with a window at the far end. These ideas work well in that shape.

• Swap the bath for a walk-in shower. In a flat where the bath is never used, a long, low shower tray or a level floor with a glass screen makes the room feel twice the size.
• Keep the toilet where it is. The toilet connects to a shared soil stack. Leaving it in place, and moving the basin or shower instead, keeps the job simpler and avoids work on shared pipework.
• Use wall panels on tall walls. Tiling to a tenement ceiling is a lot of tiling. Full-height waterproof wall panels go up faster, have no grout to clean, and cope better with old, uneven walls.
• Choose a wall-hung or slim vanity unit. Seeing more floor makes a narrow room feel wider, and you gain storage the old pedestal basin never gave you.
• Get the floor right first. Old timber floors often need lifting, levelling and a plywood layer before anything is fitted on top.
• Take ventilation seriously. Thick walls and one small window mean steam lingers. A good extractor fan, ducted properly to the outside, protects the new room and the cornicing next door.

If you like period character, a traditional bathroom with metro tiles and a patterned floor suits a tenement beautifully. Our bathrooms page shows the styles we fit, and the Glasgow bathrooms page has more on how we work in the city. Most bathrooms are fitted in 3 to 6 days by trusted installers.

What Is Under The Floor

The part of a tenement renovation nobody photographs for the brochure is the part that decides how well it lasts. When an old bathroom or kitchen comes out, it is common to find old lead or iron pipes, joists cut into by earlier plumbers, and boards darkened by leaks that were never noticed.

Putting that right while the room is empty is far cheaper than finding it later. A proper survey should lift a board or two where it can, check where the pipes run and tell you plainly what might be found. Be wary of any price given without someone looking under the bath.

Kitchen Ideas For Narrow Rooms And High Ceilings

Tenement kitchens come in two types: the small galley off the hall, and the big kitchen with a bed recess that many owners have opened up into a living kitchen.

• Build upwards. With ceilings this high, tall units and a second row of top cupboards give you storage for the things you use twice a year, and free up the worktop.
• Use the recess. The old bed recess takes a run of tall units, a fridge freezer and ovens neatly, or a small dining nook.
• Keep a galley simple. One clear run, light doors, slim handles and an induction or gas hob with a good extractor. Our small kitchens page has layouts that work.
• Work with the chimney breast. Shallow units or open shelves either side look intentional. Fighting it never does.
• See it first. Our kitchens are designed in 3D, which is genuinely useful in an awkward room, because you can see how doors and drawers open before anything is made.

A shaker door suits the age of the building, and a plain modern slab door suits the height and light. Both are on our Glasgow kitchens page. A kitchen typically takes 10 to 14 working days to fit. Any work on a gas hob or boiler must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and electrics by a qualified electrician.

Windows: Keep The Look, Lose The Draughts

Original sash and case windows are a big part of why tenements look the way they do. They are also, very often, why the flat is cold and noisy. Rattling sashes, single glazing and gaps you can feel a breeze through are the usual complaints.

Modern sliding sash windows keep the same proportions and the same up-and-down opening, with double glazing and proper seals. For upper floors, a tilt and turn window is worth a look too, as it opens inwards so you can clean the outside from inside the room.

Two checks before you order:

• Planning. In a conservation area or a listed building, the council may control the style and material of replacement windows. Check with Glasgow City Council planning first. We can supply the product details an application needs.
• Ownership. In most tenements each owner looks after their own windows, but check your title deeds or ask your factor.

Fitting usually takes 1 to 3 working days. There is more on our Glasgow windows page. Our windows come in uPVC and timber-effect frames.

Front Doors: Flat Door Or Main Door

Which door you can have depends on where it opens.

Main-door flats have their own front door to the street, so you can treat it like a house. A composite door gives you a solid, secure, well-insulated door in a traditional panelled style, in colours that suit sandstone. There are also options on our Glasgow doors page. A new door is normally fitted in a day.

Flats off the close are different. A door that opens onto a shared stair usually has to meet fire-resistance rules, because the stair is everyone's way out. Tell us at the survey that it is a flat entrance door, and confirm the requirement with your factor or Glasgow City Council Building Standards before you order anything.

The close door itself, and any door entry system, is shared, so that is one for the owners together.

Permissions And Neighbours

A short list of people to speak to before work starts saves a lot of trouble later.

• Your factor or the other owners, for anything touching shared parts: soil stacks, the roof, outside walls, the close.
• Glasgow City Council planning, if the building is listed or in a conservation area and you are changing windows, doors or anything visible from outside.
• Building Standards, if you are moving a bathroom or kitchen to a different room, altering drainage or taking out walls. Some work needs a building warrant. The council will tell you whether yours does.
• Your neighbours. Tell them the dates. Agree where a skip or van can go, and keep the close clean. Noise travels through a tenement, and goodwill matters.

What To Do First And How To Pay For It

If you are doing the flat in stages, this order usually makes sense:

1. Anything that keeps water out or in: roof repairs with the other owners, leaks, old pipework.
2. Windows, because they change how warm and quiet every room is.
3. The bathroom, then the kitchen, as these involve the most mess and the most trades.
4. Doors, flooring and decoration last.

On cost, a full bathroom in Glasgow typically lands between £5,500 and £8,000 fitted, and kitchens start from around £6,000, with most between £8,000 and £15,000. Tenement access, floor levelling and old pipework are what push a job up or down within those ranges.

Finance is available to spread the cost, with a new bathroom from £22 a week, subject to status. Various deposit options are available.

Quick Answers

Can I move the toilet in a tenement bathroom?

Sometimes, but it connects to a shared soil stack, so it is the hardest thing to move. Most good layouts keep it where it is.

Do I need permission to replace tenement windows?

You may do in a conservation area or a listed building. Check with Glasgow City Council planning before ordering.

Can I have a wet room in an upper-floor flat?

Yes, in most cases. The timber floor is strengthened and fully waterproofed first, which is what protects the flat below.

Who pays for shared pipes and the roof?

Normally all the owners, as set out in the title deeds. Your factor can confirm how costs are split in your building.

How long does a tenement bathroom take?

Most are fitted in 3 to 6 days. Floor levelling or old pipework can put a job at the longer end.

Are wall panels or tiles better in a tenement?

Both work. Panels are quicker on tall, uneven walls and have no grout. Tiles suit a period look. Many people mix the two.