Replacing a shower with a bath - ballpark cost

[Thursday37]

We're (probably) buying a house that has a large shower but no bath. Whilst we rarely have baths our 2 year old does, so we will probably have to replace the shower with a bath unfortunately! At the moment we are spoilt with a large walk in shower and a separate bath, but a smaller bathroom is a compromise on an otherwise lovely house.

It's a shame as the bathroom is new and nicely done, but does anyone have a rough idea what the cost might be? It wouldn't be moved so water and drainage in the same place, we could probably keep the actual shower and just replace the tray and screen for the bath with a screen.

Is it price of bath plus a few hundred in labour? Or am I looking at £k here? All the examples on google seem to be replacing bath with shower!

We looked into this when we moved about two years ago and it was relatively easy to do - the builder said it should be done in one day so likely labour cost of £200ish. This was after investigations that showed that the original water pipes for a bath could be accessed easily and reconnected without too much faff. In our case the cost of retiling the bathroom around it would have added another day or so labour. In the end the lockdown got in the way prevening us getting the man in and I dont think we can be bothered now!

Or, the cheapest option would be to persuade your daughter to take showers?! In many European countries they don't have baths, so presumably their children shower from and early age, but I'd be interested to hear from anyone in those countries.

@FindMeInTheSunshine

Or, the cheapest option would be to persuade your daughter to take showers?! In many European countries they don't have baths, so presumably their children shower from and early age, but I'd be interested to hear from anyone in those countries.

They may well do so, but most small children love playing in the bath and it usually relaxes them before bedtime. And from experience, since I’ve had to do it - unless you’re invariably showering at the same time, showering a small child is a wet PITA.

We lived abroad for many years, in company-provided accommodation, where just a shower was standard. But I soon insisted on a bath (with shower over) for us and little dds. I couldn’t give a toss what people ‘in other countries’ do.

We now have little Gdcs who love their baths, inc. at our house. We have 2 baths with showers over - best of both worlds IMO.

I've just fine this but it required much more work - the door had to be moved and the toilet and sink swapped places.
Some plumbing, new tiling plus the actual bath at a minimum. Also you may have to check your joists can take the weight of a full bath. Mine had to have the floor reinforced.

@fleurtt

We looked into this when we moved about two years ago and it was relatively easy to do - the builder said it should be done in one day so likely labour cost of £200ish. This was after investigations that showed that the original water pipes for a bath could be accessed easily and reconnected without too much faff. In our case the cost of retiling the bathroom around it would have added another day or so labour. In the end the lockdown got in the way prevening us getting the man in and I dont think we can be bothered now!

There's no way on planet earth a shower tray and cubicle can be removed and a bath resited, replumbed, and panel fitted in a day.

Not unless your days are 72hrs long.

@ukborn

I've just fine this but it required much more work - the door had to be moved and the toilet and sink swapped places. Some plumbing, new tiling plus the actual bath at a minimum. Also you may have to check your joists can take the weight of a full bath. Mine had to have the floor reinforced.

It’s downstairs (old thatched cottage) so the floor is fine, there was originally a bath there in the same place until very recently.

My friends’s son had showers from when he was very young and it wasn’t an issue, but my toddler is used to baths and loves the play element so I think we are going to need to reinstate the bath for her. Just want to try and retain as much as we can to keep costs down.

I did the reverse for my mum about 8 years ago, so bath to shower. Small bathroom and we replaced everything but the toilet. Re tiled the whole room and put in an electric shower. That cost about £4k and took weeks.

The problems start when you start to remove existing tiles, there's often damp behind them.

I live abroad where few people have baths but a lot of folk have folding baths for young kids. A bit like a minature metal framed padding pool.

I have a small one bedroom bungalow and I want a basic bath and front panel fitted in , and the plumbing to the bath, does anyone have an idea of how much this would cost for me, there is no need for any tiling, just fitting and plumbing in a basic bath.

I've just had a quote to replace my bath, which is an acrylic 'b' shaped shower bath - it was £490 labour and materials.

We did pretty much the same a
few years ago. Removed the shower cubicle and put in a bath, leaving the original shower on the wall with the bath under it.

Cost was £1200 ish I think, but it was quite an expensive bath.

We needed some new tiles to fill the gaps too. I struggled to find matching ones anywhere. Luckily the plumber somehow managed to find some. Otherwise the whole bathroom would have had to be re tiled.