Pool tiling in Bath, where bathing has a long history.

Hotel spas, schools and homes

Bath has drawn visitors to its waters since Roman times, and today it is a World Heritage city with plenty of hotels, guest houses and day spas. Many of them run small pools, plunge pools, spa baths and steam rooms that work hard all year.

Beyond the hotels there are university pools, school pools, health clubs and private pools in the villages and countryside around the city. Each one wears differently, so we ask how the pool is used before we suggest anything.

Working inside listed and Georgian properties

A lot of Bath's pools and spas sit inside older buildings, some of them listed. Access can be tight, through narrow doors, down stairs or along corridors that guests still use. We talk through how materials and waste will come in and out before work starts, and keep the work area tidy and contained.

Where a building has its own conservation requirements, the owner or their adviser leads on that. Our part is the tiled finish, done carefully and in the order that suits the building.

• Delivery routes and parking in a busy city centre
• Protecting floors and walls along the access route
• Agreeing working hours around guests and neighbours
• Ventilation and dust control in enclosed spa rooms

Spa areas wear in their own way

Steam rooms, spa pools and warm plunge pools put joints and adhesives under constant heat and moisture. Failing grout in a steam room often lets water behind the tiles, so a patch repair may not be enough on its own. We look for why the joints went before deciding between targeted repairs, an epoxy regrout or a retile.