Is £800 realistic for a new bath and tiling?

[Jungleblur]

I have a tiny, slimline bath which is really uncomfortable. I’ve been dying to change it for years but I can’t afford a whole bathroom refit. Would it be reasonable to expect to be able to buy a new bath, have it fitted in the same spot as the old one then get the space around the bath retiled for £800? There’s also an over the bath shower, not sure if I’d need a new one of those fitted too. I’ve never had any building work done before so I have no idea what to expect, there’s more I’d like done but I think I’d be happy enough with just this for a good few years.

I can't help you with tiling costs, but are you aware that people sell bathroom stuff like this on Facebook marketplace at really low prices? I have seen full bathroom suites for under £150.

Sometimes they are not even used. Folk order the wrong size and leave it too long to return, etc.

New bath & new tiles plus fitting probably not.
but as ^^ says look for cancelled orders on FB marketplace or gumtree to bring the cost down.

If you mean £800 in total to purchase a new bath, new tiles and pay someone to remove and refit, then no, I don't think that's realistic I'm afraid.

What would be a realistic price then? As I said, I have no idea. I’ve found a bath I love for £150, and the tiles I like will cost £180 for the area I’d like to cover. Google says that it would cost about £150 to get a new bath fitted (including removal and disposal of old bath) and that tilers charge an average of £40 per m2 (it’s a 5m2 area).

How much more would I be looking at?

It depends to a certain extent what area you're in, but labour rates have sky rocketed in recent times. The only way to know for sure is to get some quotes.

You need to factor in taking off old tiles may end up needing plastering depending how they come off.

A minimum labour charge of £8000 plus.
I pay my subbies between £200-£600 a day and I make money on them.

Fgs £800 not £8000.

I’m not sure about tilers charging per m2… I think they’re more likely to charge per day/half day.

A skip will cost you £200 and I don't know another way to get rid of something as big as a bath.

You need to factor in removal, skip, possible plastering, repairing existing pipe work etc.

Most trades charge day rates, so unlikely to quote per sqm or just to remove a bath.

For the bath, you could arrange a licenced waste collector, or offer it for free collection on FB, to save on skip fees.

but materials and labour have gone up so much. I recently had a walk in shower changed to a bath, and 3 lengths of copper pipe and two connectors cost £80 - he gave me the receipt!

If it's an acrylic bath you can cut them up to fit in a car. Although when we had our bathroom done we paid a man with a van to take all the waste (someone legit with a waste disposal licence, not some random guy off Facebook). Even that was £200.

November last year - shower tray removed and replaced, tiles replaced with panels (so no grout) and a new shower door - £1500. Labour was the most expensive part and it took one day.

Not in Oxfordshire

It all seems so cheap. Best to contact a couple handyman/tiler in your area and get quotes.

I think you’ve under- estimated as well. You need to add in costs to remove and dispose of old tiles and tub.

For disposal of waste (depending on whether you have outside space or not) you can buy Hippo bags which you fill then phone Hippo to arrange collection. We got a big one to takeaway all our bathroom bits and a good deal of other stuff. Brilliant

I think it's doable if you can find a handy man rather than a plumber, tiler + plasterer and maybe rip out yourself. Should be simple enough if all the pipework is in the right place and good condition. Does the bath you've seen include the taps, if not budget for those too.

Oh! When you contractors along for quotations, don't tell them you've no idea. Do a bit of research and memorise some suitable questions. Also find out if they will just be working on your project or running 2 or more jobs at a time. Naturally suspicious I am. When they say 'just got to buy x,y,z, and they're gone for ages..................

Check your local council for waste collections, ours is particularly good and I know we're lucky in this regard but they'll collect 5 bulky items every 2 months for free, then charge £5 per collection if you need more.

I think more like £1200-1500. Would you need new taps or reuse old ones? Decent bath tap will be £120+.

We had some work done in our bathroom several years ago which required getting to a pipe for a connection behind tiles so removing some tiles and replacing. Labour was £700. We are SE London/ Kent borders.

No £800 total is not realistic.
You haven’t included the price of tile adhesive and grout too.
Also plasterboard if the old tiles come off and it needs replasterboarded in behind the new tiles . The big sheets of waterproof plasterboard are expensive.
I would say the tilers labour alone would be around 800 -1000 minimum then add all additional materials on. And as others have said , waste disposal. Where I Am its £100 to hire a mini skip.
Also you will a plumber separately to take the bath out / disconnect your water / refit pipes and taps etc if it’s a different sized bath the waste pipes etc might need moved
So cost up a plumber for the plumbing part