Bathroom fitting - can't work out what is reasonable

[Loueytb3]

How much to fit a bathroom?? I've just got a quote from a recommended bathroom shop (local not national) and it is eye-wateringly expensive. We are on the edge of London but still.

So it will involve ripping out all the current bathroom (which is fully tiled), putting in a new bath, new (separate) shower + cubicle, new toilet and sink with under sink units, new mirror, new spotlights, new heated towel rail, installing underfloor heating, fully tiling the walls and floor and painting ceiling and door. There will be some plumbing involved as the sink is moving and we have to upgrade the pipe to the existing sink as it needs to be bigger for a bath.

Anyone want to take a guess?

Am I just being naive in how much such things cost?

Based on quotes we had last year I would say at least £15k.

I'd say, if you are using a place with their own shop - £6-10,000.

For plumbing copper is expensive - if they need to fiddle with the boiler then then you need gas safe (another expense)

Using an IEE registered electrician, which you have to for kitchens and bathrooms - is more expensive

If you use a shop it will have a markup as the cost of the shop itself need to be covered

If you get a tradesman to source your materials there will be a markup on them for time and expenses in sourcing.

You would be better sourcing the products yourself, therefore getting the best prices. Then find a reputable freelance bathroom fitter (with good references) and getting them to to it for yourself.

If you get a good tradesmen, with a good reputation - he will not be available to do it next week!!!!

Was that including the sanityware Marrow?

This is just for fitting. I have a separate quote for fixtures which is equally expensive but can be cut down somewhat.

Obviously I didnt allow for "London"

X-post - ok bluesky then maybe it's not so outrageous as I had thought. Its 6500.

I have got a decorator who we've used in the past and apparently does bathrooms and I am waiting for his quote. He works with a plumber and his son is an electrician. However, it would mean that we have to source everything (which given I know very little about such things is going to be a hassle). He would however be able to start in a few weeks as he will be on site painting. Just not 100% sure of his credentials with bathrooms.

About 6 grand inc materials last time I checked. North west

The thing is you can go crazy and spend thousands literally just on the materials - we have a place up the road and the price of the showers alone would make your head spin. Obviously they are very beautiful but, unless you are planning on spending the majority of your day in the bathroom what is the point of wasting money like that.

The only issue I can see with sourcing yourself is that, if replacing the bath its a bloody big thing to have delivered. Also some companies have long lead times - so you have to order way before you actually want the stuff plus have somewhere to store it, plus be at home to accept delivery.

Most clients like to order stuff themselves these days as everyone is trying to save money. Just bear in mind if you get a tradesman to order for you if he is a business man at all (and paying the tax man) he will be putting between a 10-20% mark up on it (I am uncomfortable that some of Hs friends charge even more than that - personally I feel than anything more than 25% is really unacceptable...although up to clients if they are happy to pay it I guess!)

The other thing to consider is make sure whoever does it has public liability insurance (none of our clients ever do and a lot of businesses are not bothering now in an attempt to save money) Kitchens and bathrooms are two areas where I feel insurance is REALLY important.

How large is the bathroom? It's like asking how long is string.

Tiling costs (excluding the actual tiles) are circa 50 GBP psm in London. Cost of fitting sanityware in the same position is cheap-- 300GBP but if you have to move pipework, it will be considerably more.
The cost each new electrica fixture should be circa 75 GBP. The cost of fitting a towel rail is closer to 100 GBP.

The cost of ripping everything out and getting a skip (assuming they are getting rid of it) will be a min of 600 GBP.

Electric underfloor heating is about 300 GBP. Waterfed is more expensive.

An average sized bathroom measuring 3 x 2 meters would cost about 3.5-4K for what you are describing. If you have to move more than just the sink pipework or if the bathroom is large you can increase that significantly.

And this is why I am doing my own bathroom fitting mostly, and just getting plumber/electrician in where necessary. A lot of it isn't difficult, but it is time consuming. If you're limited on budget, do source your own sanitary ware, and see what you can do yourself (ie remove tiles, dispose of old stuff at tip rather than get a skip), which will be easier with a builder you know already than a shop installer I think.

I actually really like Ikea washstands and basins (taps are a bit crap) and they're very bargainous compared to most retailers.

We are in West London. We've just had a new bathroom put in by a recommended plumber. Fitting was £3500 ish and bathroom fittings another £2-2,500. It's a small room so difficult to work in- they removed old bath, sink, loo, tiles, made the walls good (which took ages), fitted a shower bath and screen, sink, loo, heated towel rail and vanity unit. They also wired in an electric bathroom cabinet with lights and a toothbrush charger, and built a custom wall unit to fit an awkward space. Walls and floor tiled. Your quote sounds quite expensive- but it might be a larger room than ours...

Should have said that sanityware is on top of the numbers I mentioned! A toilet can cost 50GBP or 1,000GBP. That's really like asking how much a kitchen costs. It really depends on what you want to spend / quality etc.

Mummy are you putting in your own bath? If so make sure you fill it with water before putting silicone round to seal or you will f*ck it up the first time you fill the bath properly to use it

Yes, if I were putting in fitted baths I would. As it is I am putting in two free standing baths, and they're less complicated, other than having to make sure the cast iron one is earth bonded. You can get to the waste and taps SO easily.

If anyone has any top tips on tiling a shower alcove and fitting a shower door, I would REALLY like them. I am super scared, but can't afford to get someone in to do anything more than fit the electric shower.

Ahhh Id like a freestanding, I know H would put me one in - but I have a rather wonderful storage space under my bath that I am not sure how I would do without.

Tiling I really wouldnt attempt personally, but then im a perfectionist if I knew something wasn't right it would haunt me. You do know cutting tiles isnt easy and the equipment/blades to cut them are expensive (shockingly) If you know you are going to need part tiles I think H starts from the centre so that it balances (he has a part tile both sides rather than it looking uneven) He also is not keen on the quick dry grout as you need time to work - he uses the spacer things too so that all the grout lines are even you must be mad, id rather pay someone

I have a tile cutter from last time I did a kitchen, and all my cuts should just be metro tiles cut in half, so ok on the big scoring, snap board thing. My sister's best mate is a tiler and she's going to give me some tips, but I just don't have 50sqm for someone else to tile. It's in a bathroom I will probably never use too, so not sooo bothered so long as it doesn't leak. Apparently I should tank behind the tiles and seal the door on the outside of the shower. I'm so buying an updated Reader's Digest DIY guide.

Ooh mummy you are giving me hope that I might be able to get a new bathroom without shelling out a fortune. We are going to be moving soon and I have ambitions for a Victorian style bathroom but there is no way I can afford the cost of labour. I quite fancied having a go at the tiling and ripping out the old suite myself, and just getting a pro in for fitting the new bath, sink etc, but am nervous about making a big expensive mess of the job! Please tell me it's not that difficult, just requires elbow grease and the Readers Digest and a bit of confidence....

We had a quote (from local bathroom company) of 11.5K all in (5.5K sanitarywear and materials, 5.5K fitting) for slightly less work than the OP (no underfloor heating and keeping existing toilet).

We're instead sourcing the stuff ourself and are paying a pair of plumbers (360 for 2 men, per day) to do the work. There is a huge mark up on baths/showers etc - the items the showroom specc'd and were charging us 5.5K, we have purchased IDENTICAL at 2.5 K. (www.comparethebathroom.com have been a fantastic supplier - I could not recommend them more highly). Overall the bathroom will cost 5-6K.

My builder got a plumber in to fit our suite in our en suite. It was a couple of hundred quid for one days work as the pipework was all there. Tiling isn't all that difficult if you take your time, use tile trim at the edges if need be and use spacers. If you were doing victorian, I would be tempted to go free standing, oval shower rail over the bath and then do tongue and groove panelling rather than tiles. It's what we're doing in the family bathroom, as I need to box some pipework in and you can conceal it nicely with wood panelling. Couple of coats of gloss and it's pretty water resistant. It does take more time than you think and trial and error sometimes on plumbing, but it's very doable.

It's a reasonable size bathroom - 3.3m x 2.1m and it is going to be fully tiled which is going to take a while to do. There is no chance we can do any of it ourselves, no DIY skills other than basic painting and 3 young DCs mean no time. And anyway DH is completely out of action with his leg in plaster for the next couple of months.

The thing I'm worried about if we source stuff ourselves is the delivery of it all, just as you've said BlueSky - where are we going to put a bath for example? Or large shower screen panels. However, its possible that if the decorator is here already we might be able to get him to take delivery.

Thank you for the tip on public liability insurance as well, I'll check that out.

I do understand that we are paying for the company's overheads as well but its trading that off for the convenience of them project managing it all. At least I know that their quote is not completely bonkers for an outfit with shop, although its clearly a little on the high side compared with others. They have also got good recommendations which go a long way.

neep thank you for the recommendation of compare the bathroom - will have a look at their website.

On the freestanding bath - I was thinking of having one put in. Is that a bad idea with small kids? Are we just going to have water everywhere? DH is less keen and I'm wondering now whether its worth convincing him...

We've been bathing the kids in our en suite - bare plaster walls at the moment and the splashing has been minimal. My two were much worse in our built in bath tbh.

I love free standing baths SO much. SO MUCH. We have a short slipper bath in our en suite, so it didn't feel too imposing in a smallish space, and it is the most comfortable lovely wovely bath in the whole world. Although when we get our six foot cast iron victorian bath out of the garden and into the kids' bathroom, I may feel differently.

Really MummytoMog?? Is that because they tend to have higher sides?? I would love to be able to convince DH.

I think so, it certainly feels deeper.

Just got the other quote in and it is £5k. And that is without the overhead of the shop. I was hoping it was going to be a bit cheaper than that.