To think £175 is a lot for

[Cheeseandapple]

A plumber to replace a leaky bath tap, and put back 2 tiles? He's also providing a shower hose but Id need to buy the tap and shower head which would come to £150-£200. Never hired a plumber so might be a spot on quote but seems a hell of a lot.

I think that sounds pretty normal I’m afraid, plumbers are expensive!

Sounds a lot to me.

That's definitely a lot for the areas of Yorkshire I've lived in

It sounds in the average range to me, the higher end, but not an obscene amount.

However, I will say I am in London and used to paying London prices for plumbers and the like.

It is absolutely and utterly ridiculous, but that is the standard price. The problem for plumbers will come in a couple of years time, when 8 billion people have trained as a plumber.

That sound a lot to me to. We paid for a replacement tap and fitting last month and it cost £215 inc vat. I think the labour charge was £95 + vat. That’s in Cambridge.

Sounds at least twice what I'd expect to pay in south Wales.

Meant to say, that’s a lot if you’re just paying for the fitting.

It'd be worth getting a couple more quotes for comparison.

Why is it £150-£200 for a new tap and shower head? Are they very specific or do you just have expensive taste?

Shower hoses are very cheap too. Buy it yourself.

I think it's expensive. My plumber charged £80 to change the kitchen tap and the taps in downstairs loo.

Sounds like you;ve already separated the price of materials from the plumber's fee? A hose should be quite inexpensive so if the price is mainly for the work then get an idea of the time involved - a lot of plumbers list their call-out fees and their hourly/daily rate on their websites so you could then do a price comparison. But what you want done could as easily be handled by a handyperson or a general builder/decorator so it may be you can save money by using someone other than a plumber. I've tacked this kind of stuff onto other decorating or minor building work and it didn't cost that much.

How long do you think he'll be there for? I've just paid £690 for a plumber for 1.5 days for that's roughly £400 a day, £200 for a 1/2 day?(he paid for some materials, but probably £90 max)

Maybe he charges in 1/2 days as with travel he can only fit so many smaller jobs in a day. If you think too expensive for your area get more quotes.

Say for example your plumber wanted the equivalent of £28K/year in a normal job that's £2333/month gross or £1866 net.

They're self employed to have all their own costs, as well as covering sick pay, pension, holiday.

Estimate the monthly costs of running the business as
van + equipment = £400
liability insurance = £50
accountancy = £100
advertising = £150

So around £700 month in costs

They only get to charge for time on site not including travel time plus their admin time. So in a working week of 40 hours they will be billing for around 20 hours

So that gives around 80 billable hours a month to cover the salary plus costs. This is £37/hour but on top of that they need to cover their non working periods and pension so it becomes £50/hour.

If it's going through an admin function they need to cover admin costs.

Estimating your job at 2 hours gives £100 + Vat so £120 plus some materials. But that's not at London rates.

Ah, but you aren't paying for the materials or his time. You're paying for his training and experience in knowing what to do and how to do it.

I paid a plumber £220 to replace two radiators. The price included him buying the new rads. Took him a coup,e of hours. I thought hpthat was a great price.
My DD paid an electrician £130 for a job involving finding the cause of the power tripping out and fixing it. He came for an hour early Saturday evening, said that it was in the lights circuit, left some emergency lamps and returned the next morning. Took him another 5 hours to trace and repair the fault. Again, thought it was an absolute bargain.

Standard rate here is £60/hour for small jobs, so I guess I'd expect half a days work for that kind of money. This is South East.

Where are you based? Normal for London / SE I'd say.

Reasonable, I'd say. That isnt a 2 minute job, thats a good couple of hours, so say half a days money - you're actually getting away cheaply.

I had a plumber in to replace the tap and shower head in the bath and the basin tap, cost £100, obv I bought the taps. I thought that was ok tho a mate was shocked at the price, but you always get people claiming to have a partner who can do it in five mins or a mate who charges £20. btw the taps cost £50 in total ie for sink tap and bath cum shower. But I'm not very fussy about that kind of thing.

I guess £175 is ok for London?

I pay ‘in kind’. Saves me a fortune.

Hes royally ripping you off for the work.

Shower head and hose you can get at B and Q for as little as £30 unless yours is a soopa doopa shower in some way. You can get a bathroom tap for as little as £25 upwards.
I got a bath tap replaced for £50, doesn't take long at all, is yours difficult for some reason? I would be getting more quotes.

@Cautionsharpblade My mind is boggling :-)

I once asked a plumber why they were so expensive considering it's just knowing water flows downhill.
He said "Because it ain't all water".

Sounds ok to be honest. Do you know how much doctors get for 5 minutes?!

No its too much, I've paid £90 for 2 bathroom taps with fitting and £13O for the kitchen mixer tap with fitting.
The tiles you can stick back on youself.
One tap and a shower head wont come to £150-£200, go on the screwfix website and get something cheaper. get some more quotes in as well. You are being ripped off.