big bathroom renovation, best company or tradesmen?

[susan1984r]

which bathroom specialists do yourselves recommend? Planning on renovating whole toilet, flooring removing bath, to be replaced with large shower cubicle, new w/c, sink, tiles / shower panels etc.

Usually, independent people.

I would ask people I know in the area I live.

Ask colleagues. Ask on your road WhatsApp group, or neighbours you chat to. Ask friends. Ask other parents to chat to (if you have dc). Definitely go on personal recommendations.

Local independent kitchen/bathroom firm who had a small boutiquey looking shop on our high street. I thought they looked out of our reach but asked them to quote anyway and it was thousands less than expected for what we asked for (switching a bedroom with a bathroom and vice versa).

They were a lovely husband and wife team- she did the design/purchasing/admin, he supervised a small team of people they employed. We had the same guy for 2 weeks with regular visits from the husband/wife team to check we were happy. The finish is immaculate and I still can't get over the price! They did absolutely everything with no subcontracting too- only difference was my dad did the electrics because he's an electrician- but just fitting a new light and extractor, nothing that would have had a huge bearing on cost!

So definitely don't discount the local independents!!!

are they in edinburgh by any chance? l think l might check website like mybuilder or checkatrade. thoughts?

Find a local Facebook group and search for previous recommendations, or ask there - you'll see which independent tradespeople are recommended again and again.

I found my amazing plumber this way and he and his apprentice did our entire bathroom - ripping everything out and starting from scratch

Sorry South Coast so nowhere near!

I agree with asking on a local facebook page- plenty of people recommended them to us.

My dad is a tradesmen and thinks websites like checkatrade are crap- good tradesmen are fully booked through word of mouth and don't need to advertise. He's booked up 6 months in advance with no online presence, There's also ways for them to get any negative reviews removed or could just get mates to post so it's not really a great tool.