AIBU to think that plumber is overcharging?

You’re too hung up on his daily rate. You know what the job will cost!

Get 3 or 4 quotes. Then compare. I dont think trades have a daily rate. Does this include the goods? I mean, goods, labour, vat. Probably right.

Oh and ps I’ve reported your post 👍

And you sound like the exact type of nightmare customer that my husband would give a high quote to because he wouldn’t want to work for you. HTH

That's literally what "the market dictates" means.

Why do you need to know though? You want a job doing and he’s told you how much it will cost for him to do it, you say yes or no 🤷‍♀️

On this job 3k!!

I had my bathroom refitted 3 years ago. Nothing had to be moved, it all went where the previous stuff was.

New bath with shower over, basin in vanity unit, toilet, retiled 2 walls, fitted new laminate flooring; £5,600 all in.

If the quote is too high then the potential client will simply decide not to do the work. So it is not just about what the market 'dictates', it is also about what people can afford and are willing to pay.

Which is precisely how markets work. The seller offers whatever he has to sell, the buyer decides whether to buy at the price asked. The price will be determined - or dictated - by the market, as in the balance of supply and demand.

''@BoredZelda
What’s reasonable is whatever the market dictates the price will be.''

Too simplistic.

If the quote is too high then the potential client will simply decide not to do the work .

So it is not just about what the market 'dictates', it is also about what people can afford and are willing to pay.

But he can give a rough guide.

What’s reasonable is whatever the market dictates the price will be.

Right now there is a major shortage of trades, and no shortage of work. It doesn’t matter what I paid last year, or what anyone else paid last month, what matters is, what is the current rate locally. £300-400 per day is a rule of thumb, but often these are two person jobs, most will have a labourer with them so £500-600 per day isn’t out of the ordinary. The complexity of the job matters, is it a small room in a top floor flat of a Victorian tenement, or standard room in a new build semi detached.

The only way to tell if it is a good quote is to get at least two others as a guide. If you are unable to get other quotes, then it makes no difference whether you think it’s reasonable or not, it’s the price you have and your choice is take it or leave it.

By the sounds of it you don’t have much experience of using tradies if you haven’t even asked how long the job will take so it must be said, do not pay anyone anything up-front for the work. If they need materials, buy them yourself.

For any significant work in your home like this, you should ALWAYS get 3 quotes from different tradespeople. That way you can gauge whether the prices are similar. I don’t always go with the lowest quote either, it’s one of the factors I take into account, along with how much he/she inspires confidence, shows expertise and whether they have been personally recommended by someone I trust.

Yeah I wonder if the OP is salaried or paid per hour. It's pretty standard in jobs that require skill and experience to be paid according to your overall work, not how long you're at the job for.

We had our ensuite refuted about 5 years ago. Replacing shower with a shower, otherwise the same as you. It was just over 5 grand, including materials, so about 3 grand labour. It took about a week with a few hours in the second week finishing off. We got several quotes, he wasn't the cheapest, nor the dearest.

I have had a lot of work done recently and everyone has quoted for the job. I just decide whether I am willing to pay that amount to get the work done, not whether their hourly rate is cheap.or expensive.
In my experience a quote for the job is the norm, not an hourly rate. Unless for an emergency plumber.
In terms of whether £3k is a lot, in the SE, I would probably expect to pay about that I think.

I bet we have another one who demands "someone who doesn't cost the earth"

In other words, someone who doesn't want to pay the rate for the job. Typical Mumsnet. There's a distinct whiff of 'tradesman, know your place' about a lot of posts here, not just on this thread.

People forget that a self-employed tradesman's rates have to cover all his overheads, not just the time spent on the job. NI, pension, holiday pay, business insurance, time spent on admin, costs associated with his vehicle, tools and equipment, hire of a lockup possibly, and so on.

I bet we have another one who demands "someone who doesn't cost the earth"

You're not completely wrong, but you've gone too far with your expectations too.

He should give you an estimated number of days, both so you can plan and so you can assess value/shop around and compare. The quote should also be clear and detailed as to what it does/doesn't include (but ime this is rare that trades bother).

You're not entitled to know his day rate or a blow by blow breakdown of what everything costs and how much profit he makes or how much he earns. You can guess or infer it from his estimated days though for your own comparisons.

There are a lot of trades out there who have no idea about consumer law and give vague 'the price is the price' quotes that will eventually bite them in the arse now that people can easily get clued up on statutory rights thanks to ChatGPT etc. On the other hand, there's just as many clients who have unreasonable expectations and demands, and have no idea of costs, value, or workmanship. The reality is both sides could improve and meet somewhere in the middle most of the time.

I recently paid £3.3k for retiling a shower, fitting a new tray and new shower unit. Left a load of rubble in the plughole that I'm still picking out with a special device I had to buy and a poor finish in places around paintwork. A lot of plumbers pluck figures from out of the air. We won't have the mental energy or money to deal with the rest of the bathroom for another year.

It’s quite simple- he’s offered a price and you either take it or leave it. Many trades/services price by the job rather than the hour. Surely that makes sense as then you know exactly what you are paying. I don’t think it’s an unreasonable price and I don’t think you are being ripped off. If that’s too much (in your opinion) then find someone else! I’m not sure why you are so fixated on his day rate?

Always get at least 3 quotes and then you’ll know what’s reasonable for your area. He could be overcharging because he doesn’t want to do the job!

You do sound like a nightmare customer.

To come to a client's house takes time. To work out a quote takes time, and the skill and experience that it takes to do a job well comes down to much more than £x an hour.

If you don't like the quote, shop around.

I think it depends on your area our medium sized bathroom in Kent was £5000 including parts and labour but excluding actual suite and that was rip out, skip hire, electrics, plumbing, tiling (not including tiles), with the suite and tiles on top we paid just shy of £9k but the professional finish and our relationship with the man just WOW. Fully trusted having him back to do our kitchen. I would shop around and find someone you’re comfortable with price isn’t everything.