Downstairs Cloakroom Refit Quote (With Pic)

[AchillesLastStand]

I need to get my downstairs cloakroom refitted because it’s a mess and Im in the process of getting some quotes. It’s not a massive room but it’s currently plumbed as a wet room (we had the shower attachment taken out when we moved in because it was leaking). I basically want a toilet, sink, a new brighter light fitting (there’s no window) and something doing with the walls and floor. I was told retiling would be expensive so I was quoted for PVC panels for the walls and vinyl for the floor. Anyway the quote had come in at £7,300 with a local bathroom company. I thought I could get the room done for £4k, £2k for materials and another 2 for the labour. Is this unrealistic? I’m in the West Midlands. A photo of the room I want refitting (ignore the mop, that will get a new home when the room’s done!) Thanks

Maybe I'm out of touch but it sounds hugely expensive for such a small room and not even tiled, are you going really up market with the fittings? What's wrong with the current sink and toilet? New taps, new toilet seat? Are you putting in spot lights or just a stronger light? Are you going to fix the shower, that should be easy. I would have thought £4,000 would be top whack.

If you aren't having a shower then you don't need to have the walls tiled or panels put in, just a few tiles for a splashback for the sink. Just get the walls skimmed and painted,

Agree you only need the walls skimmed and painted. However the walls may be a mess once the tiles come off - it’s possible panels could be a cheaper solution than skimming if this is the case. (I don’t know what panels cost).

It looks like the floor has been angled to drain towards the drain (ie it has a wet room subfloor) so there will be a little extra work in taking this up and putting down a new subfloor. Not a major job though. Basically taking up the old wediboard/marine ply and putting down a new layer of mdf. But adds a bit to the cost.

Are you aiming to change the position of the toilet and sink? Moving toilets can be a pain (and therefore expensive) if you’re trying to run the soil pipe to a new location especially if there are joists in the way.

My preference would be to have walls skimmed and painted.I agree we don’t need all the tiles. No, we’re not having anything moved around. I’m trying to keep costs down as much as possible. At the moment we have tiles missing from the floor, a redundant shower installation, taps that have corroded, a broken toilet seat, and an inadequate light fixture. I asked for a new one to be installed where the old one is again to keep costs down. All I want is a room that’s presentable for guests to use. I didn’t think it was going to cost as much as this.

If you’re not moving anything then I really don’t think it should cost that much. Get another quote or 2.

Suggest asking a small building company rather than a bathroom company- I think the bathroom cos add a % for the extra service of designing and telling you what to buy but it really doesn’t sound like you need it here. You can find your own sink, loo, lights and flooring online I’m sure and buy it yourself or via builder. Ask neighbours/local friends for recommendations for builders.

Try and find a local plumber who can do this refit. I’ve had 3 bathrooms replaced in the last few years. I sourced everything & just paid for installation. Look at Ikea for your vanity/sink/tap. Find tile warehouse type place for end of line bargains. Local plumbing supply shop for toilet etc.
ours worked it at well under £6k per full bathroom refit (including all fixtures, new plasterboard, plastering, tiling & electrics). We did the painting ourselves.

New taps and toilet seat, new light fitting and painting you could probably do yourselves. Then it's just floor tiling, pull out the rest of the shower bits, make good and skim. I might just fix the shower, even if you're not intending to use it, it might be very handy sometime and it may be cheaper to fix than to rip out and make good.

I’m thinking of having a go at removing the tiles myself. I’ve never done it before but I really don’t like the idea of PVC panels on all the walls when they aren’t necessary. I would do the painting myself, I have lots of experience painting. I have a plumber coming tomorrow to quote me for installing a new toilet and sink and removing the shower pipes.

You will definitely need a competent plasterer to sort out the walls after tiles have been removed. Trust me they will be a mess (unless your tiles weren’t attached very well!)

I’m just outside London and paid £8k for a full en-suite bathroom supplied and fitted just before Christmas. So I think £7k for a basic toilet sounds very expensive, although some of the quotes we had were ridiculous, I think Wicks was the most expensive at £12.5k.

Plastering seems to cost about £500 even for smaller spaces but once that’s done you can probably diy most of it, paint, change toilet seat and perhaps taps, lvt floor can be self fitted on doesn’t cost too much. Even if you want to change the fittings they don’t need to cost much and you’ll pay £300 a day approx for the fitting from an independent person

We have just had our en-suite completely refitted, tiled, the full works. Cost us £3800 total

sounds incredibly cheap. Was it a local plumber that did everything for you?

That's far too expensive! I've just finished my shower room and all in it came to about £2k. Admittedly I did it on your cheap because it's a back up bathroom. I bought the shower, toilet and shower panels (I didn't have room for a sink) and my builder, electrician, plumber and plasterer did the work as part of a larger project. It took longer than expected because I fitted in with the trades.

Would it be priced more because it's a wet room? Would you be happy with an enclosure?

Yes he is a local plumber who my friends recommended. We used high end fixtures too. Sometimes if who you know ☺️