Cheap bathroom renovation - possible?

[Samb79]

We had quite a nasty leak from the bath, damaging the ceiling below. Because the previous owners thought it was a fabulous idea to put the bath in an alcove, it means that the bath will have to come out to repair the pipe. The alcove bath is a shoddy job anyway and I’ve wanted to get rid since we moved in, so was hoping to replace it with a shower.

However, the insurance, after excess, will only be around £600. This is also going to have to pay for plasterboarding and plastering the downstairs ceiling.

What can I do? Any advice on extreme budget bathrooms?!

I'd get quotes in for a like for like replacement and go back and renegotiate with the insurance company.

Victoria Plum do fantastic stuff. We bought our whole bathroom for 1500 but had free standing bath and walk in shower. Vanity unit and toilet and posh taps. They do have very budget suites which look great!

Go back and renegotiate with the insurers. Get actual quotes for the work and submit those - don't let them fob you off with a desktop valuation on your claim.

And ensure you claim for 'trace and access' as well as the remedial works - that's the aspect of the cost involved in accessing the leak and reinstating any damage caused by that access, not just the damage from the leak.

It's not the suite that costs really, it's the fitting and any tiling you may want. To plasterboard the ceiling downstairs you may be looking at a couple of hundred, are you wanting it all in for £600 I don't think that's realistic unless you're fitting yourself?

The plastic wall panels instead of tiling are cheaper because you're not paying much to have it fitted (£35 for a 1M panel is about cheapest). Showers tend to get more expensive the higher the wattage as they pump more water through so more power, but you can pick a really cheap 8-8.5watt up for about £65. Depending on the size of the room, we've bought cheap off cut of vinyl flooring from our local floor shop for £30 before, they normally have a pile of them somewhere in showrooms.

Depending on shape of your cubicle/tray/door needed you may be able to pick up both for about £200-250, but don't forget the waste, plumbing items etc.

Gumtree/local Facebook shout out/freecycle someone may have bits of old bathroom suites/tiles/vinyl flooring they're removing they'll give you, but bear in mind transport costs.

Thanks all for the advice. Initially it just seemed impossible, but with some creative friends who are also very handy in the diy department I think we might be able to do it. I think the plastering will have to be separate, I don’t realistically think we can manage it out of the 650.

I’ve had a very happy day searching eBay for bargains and corner cutting. We are going for shower panels rather than tiling, vinyl flooring and eBay bargains. Can’t wait to see the finished product!!

Surely this is what home insurance is for?? Why aren't you getting back the cost of actually repairing it?