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Original poster

Renovating en suite shower cost

32 replies

MyrtleLion · 12/01/2025 17:59

We want to completely renovate the ensuite. 1.85m x 1.8m. New shower, toilet, sink, radiator and cupboards. New floor, new walls, new ceiling and lights and new extractor fan.

Our plumber said we should buy everything and he'll fit it in two weeks.

How much should we be paying for labour and roughly how much for the products?

Is it cheaper to get a plumber who will buy the products and fit?
Is it worth getting a bathroom designer? or will they be way more expensive?
We don't want bottom of the range products but we don't want to spend a fortune either.

I feel at a loss.

OP posts:
Original poster
MyrtleLion · 13/01/2025 20:53

Iliketulips · 13/01/2025 19:43

Slightly different, we're about to have a new bathroom - £6700 including toilet, vanity unit, bath, making good under existing tiles with moisture board, tiles, tiling, filling in cracks on ceiling, flooring and painting. Our lights and extractor fan are fine for us.

We were originally going with Wickes, but had an awful lot of messing around. They quoted £6300, but weren't doing any painting, so £6-7k seems to be going rate for us. Designer company quoted £10k.

That's more reasonable, but apart from the ceiling (though a dead spotlight is impossible to remove) we will rip out the floor and walls (all tiled). New (japanese) toilet from £550, quadrant shower and taps/overhead drench plus handheld, sink, demisting lighted mirror. Cupboard for sink, box in toilet, add cupboard above - room height is 2.4m. New extractor fan, hand towel holder and toilet role dispenser, new bowed rail radiator.

OP posts:
Original poster
MyrtleLion · 13/01/2025 20:55

Justsaywhatyoumean123 · 13/01/2025 20:44

@MyrtleLion
I would make an extractor fan a priority - you can buy them really cheaply in somewhere like screwfix/wickes otherwise the mould problem will come back.

That sounds like a fairly straightforward job labour-wise, especially since there’s no pipework involved if all the taps and toilet flushes are staying in the same place. Don’t let them charge you for more than 4 days of work if it’s a straight swap.

If I were you, I’d aim to keep the total cost around £5k-6.5k, which I think is very doable. Here’s a rough breakdown:

  • Plumber (4 days max): £1000–£1500
  • Tiler/handyman (3 days): £600
  • Suite:
  • Toilet: ~£150
  • Bath: ~£300
  • Taps: ~£300
  • Countertop sink: ~£100
  • Furniture for countertop sink - £300
  • Total for suite: ~£1150
  • Seperate Shower or shower in bath: ???
  • Tiles: Cost per square metre depends on what you choose, but shop around for bargains.

Hope that helps! 😊

Unless you live in an area where labour is very scarce and hard to source - I've noticed rural places are tricky

Edited

No bath as its not big enough. A quadrant shower.

Plumber said two weeks to remove everything, tile the walls and plumbing and electrics. My issue is once the old tiles come off, it will be black underneath and will need to dry out before he can tile/put up a board.

OP posts:
Crazymadchickenlady · 13/01/2025 20:58

We ordered (and got delivered ready for the plumber) the shower, wall panels and connectors, the shower tray, the toilet, sink and wall cupboard. We kept everything where it was so no need to move pipework. The plumber brought the new plaster boards and wood for the framing. He ripped everything out and built the base of the shower and got a friend of his to plaster everything (ceiling and walls) The plumber then installed the shower boards and all the toilet, sink, shower, shower door etc. I did our own tiling above the sink and painting. It came to about £4500 but it was a couple of years ago now. I got the shower panels from www.rubberduckbathrooms.co.uk

Justsaywhatyoumean123 · 13/01/2025 21:07

You could knock the tiles off the wall yourself. Chisel and hammer? Save yourself some cash.

Crazymadchickenlady · 13/01/2025 21:13

Think we also agreed to get rid of the rubbish though that was a load of hassle so don’t think I’d do that again! The plumber wasn’t really interested in designing the en suite. We had to do that, order it all and tell him what we wanted where.

Original poster
MyrtleLion · 13/01/2025 21:32

Crazymadchickenlady · 13/01/2025 21:13

Think we also agreed to get rid of the rubbish though that was a load of hassle so don’t think I’d do that again! The plumber wasn’t really interested in designing the en suite. We had to do that, order it all and tell him what we wanted where.

That's what we've had to do and it really bothered me. I'm not creative in that way. We both work in STEM.

I'm happy I've got a designer now and for only £160 or so.

We are not going to do the work ourselves. DH is 60 and I have osteoarthritis and I'm worried we would break something.

OP posts:
Crazymadchickenlady · 13/01/2025 21:53

Good idea with the designer. We did that with the kitchen though I’m still happy with the bathroom I designed. It was a lot of work and looking at websites and measuring what would fit and what we liked. It was also a lot of hassle getting everything delivered and storing it ready for the plumber to fit.

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