AIBU to think that plumber is overcharging?

It is normal to get an overall quote for the job rather than a daily rate.

I would get a couple more quotes and also ask for recommendation from people you know for a reliable plumber.

Also it can depend on whether you are thinking of sourcing the bath/toilet/sink yourself and just want to pay a plumber for the installation or whether they are providing everything. Also check whether they will dispose of the old bath and so on for you or if you need to do that yourself.

Idk we were quoted £8k for a new bathroom without fixtures

We had around 5 years ago now our bathroom and en-suite done. Plumber also did tiling - floor and some walls. Inc materials eg bath/toilet/towel rads etc (not tiles as we bought those) the en-suite was around 3K and the bathroom 4.5K. He quoted for full jobs and not per hour. Both took maybe a week and a half.

We are in Yorkshire.

I’ve just had the same thing done in my house no tiling included Yorkshire based £1800 and it took 2 days

Well, where I live, this would be pretty cheap. But, get a couple of quotes.

OP I'm not really understanding what you're upset about. You don't know how long it will take? Maybe ask?

How can you have decided he's overcharging you when you don't know how long it takes to do the work? Are you basing this on your partner's estimate?

I wouldn't want to work for you after this, btw, and I'm almost a tradie.

That’s the way most trades look at it. If they finish quicker than expected due to their skill/expertise do they deserve to be paid less? If they take longer should you be charged more?

I think it sounds fine and it will take a lot longer than 4 days!! What’s your DHs experience with plumbing 🤔

Ask him how long it will take roughly .. then you’ve got your hourly rate. I reckon 10 days.

@Sam9769 are you paying for everything else or is he sourcing and supplying? I think that sometimes makes a difference if your supplying they loose money so some make it up through labour cost.

for reference I had my bathroom redone - kept bath and shower in the same place (but new) swapped taps, and shower boarded 2 walls. They removed about 3 layers of tiles and disposed of the bath and old shower. I think it cost me around £3500-£4k about 2022. They were here for over a week, could have been quicker but it was a bit of a squeeze us in job due to the bath leaking

i work in construction project management and don’t tend to get given day rates unless it’s a one day job. It’s not standard to provide day rates for multiple days work in my experience

I'm in the S,E, and 15 years ago paid c.£5k for a similar job. That was " mates rates" and a bargain.

I work with lots of trades and no I have never heard any mention of a daily rate, I do wonder OP if you are scuh the expert why it would not be easier to do it yourself?

or you would assume that for a job of that cost to get more quotes would make more sense first before assuming it is expensive (or not)

Surely the cost of a job depends on how long it will take to complete not on how it looks in the end. Time is money.

He can't be sure how long it will take. He doesn't know what problems he might find when he takes out the old fittings. So he quotes for the job, not an hourly rate.

Sam's right - you are paying for the result. There's risk ( time) , quality etc. embedded in the quote not just time. Think its high? Get another quote. How do you pay your hairdresser, by the hour?

I'm in the SE and the plumber I use charges £280 per day.

I’m married to a self employed plumbing and heating engineer. If he senses that a potential customer will be an absolute bell end he gives them a stupidly high quote on purpose. It’s called the Arsehole Tax.

The only way to know what’s reasonable is to get multiple quotes. Only getting one is madness.

Get another couple of quotes

To him its worth £3k. If it isn't worth £3k to you then find someone else.

Utlimately looking at time taken is only part of the picture. Should someone who takes 6 days to do a job get paid double someone who takes 3 days to do the job? Many would pay more for the person who can do it in 3.

Even stuff like how long are you prepared to wait for them to be available - do they need to bump other jobs to do it in the next month or can you wait until they have availability in 3 months time will effect the pricing.

Just get some more quotes.

I was quoted, about 20 years ago, £10k to replace a shower (including retiling). Just the shower - it was in its own little room (like a converted closet) almost the exact dimensions. This did not include the cost of the tiles! Why? My postcode. I smiled and said no thanks.
I recently paid something close to that but it included completely replacing and moving the toilet, shower and bath around, adding a radiator, moving the door one foot over, retiling with imported Spanish tiles which needed sealing. It did take a couple weeks. I live in SW London (not quite as nice as the address I had before but my house now is worth what that house was then)!

Definitely get more quotes. It may be he doesn’t really want the job so has quoted on the high side. £300 a day is a very reasonable rate - and so I expect he’s quoted so as not to be out of pocket if there are complications. Removing stuff and finding how the last person did all the plumbing could go well - and he could find issues….

There too many variables of what’s involved to know if it’s a fair price or not

So you're supplying the new sink shower toilet. I dont think the quote is too bad at all. What about tiling and flooring. I think you 'd expect to pay 8- 12k for a decent new bathroom. Everything included. Could be a a lot more if you want luxury.

We are doing up a very broken house at the moment. We have had quotes from many tradesmen these last 6 months, the ones we could get to actually come out that is or turned up when they said they would but they all quoted for the job, not by the hour. All of them expensive.

Yes, without knowing how many days it will take, £3k sounds a lot if not doing any tiling and you making good of all the decorating needed after. But, if he is a good plumber, you know of him then yeah, I'd probably accept this but I'd expect a first class job. Finding someone to trust is really hard now, so many people get ripped off, including us already with a roofer.. I read the other day that about 30% of Brits are let down by dodgy tradesmen, the whole industry needs regulating.

Just whatever you do, don't pay him all the money until you're happy. Take it from me, my partner learned the hard way.