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Room Decision SystemWater & drainage

Supply, fixtures & bathroom layout

Water in: supply, isolation, heating, and where the fixtures go.

Each decision below is shown three ways — what it changes in use, which way it moves the cost, and how it looks. Price direction only. The responsible supplier confirms the quotation after measurement and specification.

Room

Specialists: Plumbing & wet works

Design concept showing water & drainage realised in a room
Design concept

Shower or bathtub

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Shower onlyEssentialLow
  • Bathtub with a shower overLow
  • Freestanding bathtubSignatureHigher
  • Separate tub and showerBespokeHigher
See what each option changes
Shower only
In use
The fastest to use, the least water, and it frees the floor area a tub would take — which in most Sarawak bathrooms is what makes the rest of the layout work. Nothing to clean but the floor and the screen.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Leaves the floor open and the room reading at its full size — the tiling and the screen carry the look rather than a large white object.
Bathtub with a shower over
In use
Both functions in one footprint — the practical answer where there is only room for one, and the usual choice where small children need bathing. Showering while standing in a tub is the least comfortable of the options and wants a grab rail.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The tub edge and its screen dominate one side of the room — practical, familiar, and the least composed of the four.
Freestanding bathtub
In use
A tub that stands clear of the walls is the one fixture in the room people choose for pleasure rather than function. It needs clearance on every side to look and work right, and floor-standing taps to reach it.
Cost impact
Higher — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The clear centrepiece of the room — it reads as furniture rather than sanitaryware, and the floor running beneath it is what sells the effect.
Separate tub and shower
In use
Neither function compromises the other: a proper standing shower for every day, and a tub kept for when it is wanted. It needs genuine floor area, which usually means borrowing it from an adjoining room.
Cost impact
Higher — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The most generous arrangement — the room reads as a bathroom designed rather than fitted, with each zone given its own space.

Bathroom layout

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS specifies
  • All fixtures along one wallEssentialLow
  • Two walls in an LLow
  • WC in its own compartmentSignatureModerate
  • Twin basinsBespokeModerate
See what each option changes
All fixtures along one wall
In use
Basin, WC and shower share one wall, so supply and waste run in a single chase — the shortest pipe route, the least structural disturbance, and the simplest layout to service later. Best suited to a narrow room.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Reads as one working wall with a clear floor in front — the room feels wider than it is, and the opposite wall stays free for a mirror or storage.
Two walls in an L
In use
The wet zone turns the corner away from the door, so the basin stays dry and usable while someone showers. Needs waste falls in two directions, which is why the floor build-up is set before tiling.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Separates the room into two readable halves — a dressed basin side and a tiled wet side — without any screen or door doing the work.
WC in its own compartment
In use
The WC gets a door of its own, so one person can use it while another is at the basin — the single change that makes a shared bathroom workable for a couple or a family. Wants its own extract, or the compartment traps odour.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The room reads as a small suite rather than one box — the compartment door becomes a deliberate detail, often in the same finish as the vanity.
Twin basins
In use
Two basins remove the morning queue entirely, but they need roughly double the run length to be genuinely usable — two basins crammed onto a short counter leave neither with anywhere to put anything down.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A long symmetrical counter with paired mirrors — the most hotel-like arrangement, and the one that most rewards a generous wall.

Isolation & shut-off

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Mains stop onlyIncluded
  • Per-fixture stop valvesEssentialLow
  • Labelled manifoldSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Mains stop only
In use
One main valve serves the whole home — a single tap repair means shutting off the water to everything.
Cost impact
Included — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Nothing added.
Per-fixture stop valves
In use
An isolation valve at each fixture, so one tap or WC can be serviced without cutting supply to the rest of the house.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Neat chrome stops under each fixture, out of sight behind doors.
Labelled manifold
In use
A central labelled manifold feeds each run separately — the easiest system to diagnose, isolate and maintain over decades.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A tidy manifold board in a service cupboard; every line labelled.

Plumbing service access

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Sealed inIncluded
  • Access panels at valves & trapsEssentialLow
  • Full maintenance accessSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Sealed in
In use
Pipes and valves are tiled or boxed in — cleanest at handover, but any future leak or service means breaking finishes open.
Cost impact
Included — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A fully sealed, seamless finish — until something needs fixing.
Access panels at valves & traps
In use
Discreet access panels at the stop valves, traps and the water heater — a leak or a service is a panel off, not a wall out.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Near-flush access panels, colour-matched; barely noticeable.
Full maintenance access
In use
Service voids and removable kickplates give full access to the whole wet run — the easiest home to maintain over decades.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Removable kicks and panels that read as part of the joinery.

Water heating

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Instant point-of-useIncluded
  • Storage tankEssentialLow
  • Central / heat-pumpBespokeHigher
See what each option changes
Instant point-of-use
In use
A compact instant heater at the shower — cheap and space-saving, but limited flow and only one outlet hot at a time.
Cost impact
Included — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A wall unit in the bathroom.
Storage tank
In use
A storage heater gives steady hot water to several outlets at once — needs a spot with service access and a safe overflow.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A tank in a service area or ceiling void, out of the living space.
Central / heat-pump
In use
A central or heat-pump system serves the whole home efficiently — the most planning, and the best running cost over the years.
Cost impact
Higher — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A plant location and insulated runs; nothing shows in the rooms themselves.

Water supply & points

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Existing supply reusedIncluded
  • Hot & cold to every fixture, plannedEssentialLow
  • Plus filtered & instant-hot pointsSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Existing supply reused
In use
Reuse the existing cold and hot runs — cheapest, but old pipes may leak or under-deliver pressure, and adding a point later means chasing open a finished wall.
Cost impact
Included — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Nothing new on show; the existing tap and mixer positions are kept.
Hot & cold to every fixture, planned
In use
Hot and cold roughed to every sink, basin, shower and appliance and positioned before tiling — no cold-only compromises and no later wall-chasing.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Taps and mixers land exactly where the layout wants them; no surface pipes.
Plus filtered & instant-hot points
In use
Dedicated points for a filter, an instant-hot tap or a softener are planned in — convenient and future-proof rather than retrofitted on a tee later.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A clean under-sink set-up; the extras are concealed, not add-on boxes on the counter.

WC system

Specifiable · quotation requiredCoordinated by ELS · supplied/installed by an approved specialist · quoted after validation.
Specialist tradeELS coordinates
  • Floor-mounted close-coupledEssentialLow
  • Back-to-wall with a concealed cisternSignatureModerate
  • Wall-hung on a carrier frameBespokeHigher
  • Washlet or bidet seatSignatureModerate
See what each option changes
Floor-mounted close-coupled
In use
The cistern sits on the pan and everything is reachable, so a fault is fixed without opening a wall — the easiest of the four to live with and to repair. The floor joint and the pipe behind it are the parts that collect dust.
Cost impact
Low — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The familiar silhouette, with a visible cistern and a floor joint — functional rather than composed.
Back-to-wall with a concealed cistern
In use
The cistern hides inside a duct, so there is no gap behind the pan to clean around — a genuine daily improvement. Access to the valve is through the flush plate, which means the duct must be built to allow it.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
A clean wall face with only the pan and a flush plate showing — noticeably tidier than a visible cistern.
Wall-hung on a carrier frame
In use
The pan is carried on a steel frame in the wall and the floor runs unbroken beneath it, so the whole floor mops in one pass — the easiest WC there is to keep clean. The frame has to be set before the wall is built; it is not a later change.
Cost impact
Higher — specialist quotation required
How it looks
The pan appears to float with clear floor beneath — the most contemporary reading, and the one that makes a small bathroom look larger.
Washlet or bidet seat
In use
Adds warm-water washing to any of the pan types above, but it is an electrical appliance in a wet room: it needs its own protected socket positioned during first fix, which is the part that cannot be retrofitted neatly.
Cost impact
Moderate — specialist quotation required
How it looks
Slightly deeper than a plain seat with a control at one side — a visible appliance rather than a neutral fixture.

Each decision's badge shows who supplies it. A real figure belongs only to what ALUMAX supplies; appointed-trade works — electrical, air-conditioning, ceiling, flooring, painting, data and security — are quoted by the trade, and loose items are the owner's own purchase. ELS specifies and coordinates throughout. Cost is a relative direction only, never a price; maintenance is described in each option's “In use”.

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Supply, fixtures & bathroom layout — Water & drainage | Room Decision System | ELS