Bathroom Renovation Quotes – Essex, need advice

[Poppie2023]

Hi all,

I’m trying to get my bathroom done and the quotes I’m seeing are mostly quite high. I’m just outside London in Essex (not D Essex). Many companies are quoting £10,000+ for labour only, and some of these are just rough estimates. Are these prices normal?

I’ve also had a couple of lower quotes — one verbal at £3,700 (recommended by a structural engineer, no written quote yet) and another casual one around £5,800. These smaller builders tend to give quotes over text or on the spot, nothing formal.

I’ve tried going via word of mouth, but people just don’t reply, so I’m feeling a bit stuck. I assume the good ones are just busy and in demand.

Does anyone have reliable builders or bathroom fitters in Essex they can recommend, or tips on navigating these quotes? Any help would be really appreciated.

Anyone?

We’re in Essex as well. We just had en-suite done by KBS design. It was 11k but that’s for everything - labour, materials etc. We had complicated case as pipes needed moving. Look them up on FB.
Very professional quote, they designed it all for us, provided catalogues to select fittings (3 huge books to choose from not some cheap 💩 form b&q) great communication and can’t fault workmanship, all on schedule. I would highly recommend them.

Thanks @GrinchPink I think I’ve heard of them or at least scrolled them during my research. Thank you so much.

I’m just outside London in Essex (not D Essex)

Sorry, but what is D Essex?

No help im afraid. I was quoted £7.5k for a small shower room. Costs are just huge!

Sorry, not deep essex 😂

You’ve more helpful than you realise. Thank you.

Just paid £18k for a large bathroom in Sussex 🤯. Everything is more expensive than 10 years ago in our old house

I've just paid 5k for a shower cubicle in the north (where I assumed it might be cheaper). So expensive but looks fab.

Same here in cambs. Shocked at prices. Tiny shower room minimum price 7k. Some company wanted 12k labour only - its the smallest room ever.

DH's cousin is a builder near Ingatestone, but he has so much work on, that he prefers not to travel, so can pick and choose.

We've recently renovated and used a local, independent bathroom/tiling/plumbing shop. They recommended a tiler who was brilliant. You could try asking in your local plumbing shops/builders merchants or ask on nextdoor.com. If you get quotes, check what is included. We were doing an entire house renovation, so not just a bathroom. We organised our own skips and other bits which I think saved some money.

Also check exactly what they will/won't do. Our plumber connected the toilet and pipes, but wouldn't put the shower screen on for example. In my mind, I assumed that was something a plumber would do- because its in the bathroom. I don't know if that is the norm, but best to check.

I'm in Kent and labour cost to do a 2.6x1.5 TINY ensuite is costing me 4.2k. Which i think is reasonable, considering.
It's the plumber we've used for past few years and he brings in the electrician and tiler.
No moving of pipes or walls, but building in some niches and fitting wall hung toilet and sink, new shower, half tiled walls etc.

North west so much cheaper. Large bathroom fully tiled ( previous house) cost around 10k fully tiled 5 years ago. En suite 8.5k 3 years ago.
Downsized and refitted our small shower room in our bungalow for around 7.5 k recently. For that and the en suite we used a local family firm who supplied exactly what we chose from a showroom and catalogues.
He recommends fitters but for our latest one we had our own builder and bathroom firm owner gave a good discount as returning customers. He measured and gave excellent advice to make the most of a tiny space. Labour here is around £180 a day or you can get a price for the job.
Good luck.

Not in Essex - on the south coast. Last year we had a complete renovation. It took a long time to finally get someone we trusted.
our quotes ranged from £3000 to £12000 all excluded sanitary ware. Other than labour the biggest outlay was tiles at over a thousand for floor to ceiling.
We took advantage of the free design service from B& Q it came with all measurements and 3d design. Very handy.
when asking for quotes be very specific about what you want. I wanted concealed pipework and those who said they couldn’t do it were immediately binned off.
Make sure quote includes disposal of old suite.
Query everything. One quote included replacement of floorboards, I emailed to query why and never heard back from them. I did have them replaced as my installer discussed how bad they were with me and I agreed.
incidentally we used Plumbworld. Highly recommend.
Good luck it’s a minefield out there.

I've had two family bathrooms done in the last couple of years, both came out in the region of 10k. Hertfordshire. Completely ripped out also changed some of the underlying plumbing to move things around.

I bought the tiles, bath, sink etc myself (mainly because I'm a control freak) and my plumber did the rest.

Definitely shop around, ask on a local facebook group for recommendations

We’ve just been quoted £10k just for the labour for a mid sized bathroom in the SW. Not even any fixtures, fittings, tiles etc. in that. Madness.

In the end I’m doing it DIY. It’s taking a long time but I just can’t afford what I was quoted. With the plumbing and electrics subcontracted, I reckon it will cost £2k in materials for the fit out and £2.5k for the fixtures/fittings/suite/screen/tiles etc.

But I had a lot of tools and solid DIY experience- plus I use CAD at work and could draw it all up/do the design myself. It might be better if you get a free design service? In which case Youll need to get the details/heights of all the drain points/water supplies/electrics etc to help get a workable design

For the fitting… How handy are you? Im self taught DIY so it’s about taking your time and being willing to learn / get your hands dirty.

I’m near the south coast and have been getting quotes for 2 bathroom refits. Quotes (incl. labour and materials for both rooms) ranged from 8k to 11.5k. Budgeting another 10k for fittings, tiles etc. I seem to be lucky based on lots of other posts!

@LittleGreenDuck @missspent @Kindnesscostsnothingtryit @MrsBlondie the prices for labour alone are just insane. 😳 But your contribution to this post has really helped me to understand that I’m not alone with these prices. I think I’ll need a stiff drink when parting with the finances 🤣and may get a lodger short term, to claw back some of it ! 🤣

@7238SM thank you for your helpful advise, I’m at the fatigued stage of my search now. I’ve seen so many plumbers, bathroom fitters, Builders and contractors that I’ve confused myself. I’m planning on shortlisting now. But if were to do any more searches, I will defo take this advise. Regarding skips, I’ll defo look into that. Did the fitter clear the debris using the skip or did you?@Fiddlesticks1 I’ll check out the b&q free design and thanks for your advise @GrinchPink I’m going to contact KBS , how did you find choosing through the catalogues?, did you get to view items in person? how was the quality? I assume the company places the order. Also, if there are issues after the bathroom has been fitted i.e. quality etc, damage, do you have to deal directly with the company that deals with the sanitary wear or the company that fitted the bathroom? Thanks

@bickering I admire and envy your skills but unfortunately for me, health and the condition of the property just won’t allow me. The bathroom design idea sounds like a plan.

Regarding skips, I’ll defo look into that. Did the fitter clear the debris using the skip or did you?

All the trades used the skip and took their rubbish out to it. Its another thing to double check though.

Sometimes if there was packing/cardboard boxes I'd tell them to leave them. I'd then sift through, remove all the crap such as drink cans, plastic off cuts and leave the cardboard/cans in our recycling. I felt there was no point filing the skip with things I was already paying the council to collect.