Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Is this the most ludicrous plumber's quote EVER?

56 replies

LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 21:49

Sorry, need to let off steam. We are doing up a house and it is taking ages and going way over budget. Ok, you say, tell me something new.

Well, we have had a job to get plumbers round at all, let alone send us quotes for the work. Finally one did. Roughly as follows:

Bathroom: fit two basins, bath and bidet.
Remove saniflo loo.
Route WC waste inot void under stairs, through 18" wall into ground floor shower room = £3650 inc VAT

Shower room: fit basin and loo
fit shower tray and sliding door enclosure and square up existing wall for shower tray - £2230

Kitchen: connect sink and taps and add isolating valves for washing machine and dishwasher - £485

This lot comes to close to £6.5k. We don't have it. I could weep.

OP posts:
CarGirl · 17/02/2010 21:50

where abouts is the property?

Heated · 17/02/2010 21:52

That's on the slightly steep side imo.

Very roughly where are you - perhaps we can recommend someone to you?

101damnations · 17/02/2010 21:53

We paid under £500 for a new loo,basin and bath to be fitted and shower to be plumbed in-less work admittedly,but no where near what you've been quoted,even if you tripled it.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 21:54

Oxfordshire/Cotswolds borders. It is a four bedroomed cottage in a dilapidated state. We are not rich. I just feel like he is taking the *iss

OP posts:
CarGirl · 17/02/2010 21:56

def expensive, a bit far from me to recommend calling our plumber. Have you tried those websites where you put in the work you need doing and then they ring you?

IneedacleanerIamalazyslattern · 17/02/2010 21:57

It does sound ridiculous but when I was getting a new bathroom put in we got quotes as well and as we were shifting around the layout the plumbers we seen gave us 2 quotes as they wouldn't completely know how much work was involved until they seen what was under the floor in way of pipes etc.
The 2 quotes were £500 if all the pipes were in the right place for where we wanted things and well over £1000 at least if they had to do all the other work as well.
Thankfully in the end when he ripped up the floor all was ok and is cost us £500

101damnations · 17/02/2010 21:58

Try the Screwfix website.If you go onto the talk section,there is a thread for plumbers.You could post on there and ask other plumbers what they think would be reasonable and possibly find someone else.I used it to check the quotes we were given.

We are currently refitting a kitchen and have had tradesmen virtually falling over themselves to quote and get the job-there is a shortage of work at the minute.We've found it the same with plasterers,tilers,fitters and carpenters-a big difference from a few years back when no one wanted to quote.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 21:58

We had to have a new roof and some new windows and a new chimney. That cost £13k when it was orginally going to cost about £6k. We just don't have enough money to spend £6.5k on a plumber when we have spent money buying the bathroom stuff and a kitchen (the house is a shell). I just don't know what we are going to do. I have a 14 month baby and another one on the way, and I have already been made redundant. We aren't living there at the mo (obviously) but we are losing money all the time we don't live there.

OP posts:
Heated · 17/02/2010 22:00

Darn, not near any plumbers near to us or family.

Maybe put a request in a thread title?

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 22:01

I will try Screwfix but can I tell you, we have struggled to get ANY workmen to look or quote. They obviously have plenty of work around here. We need an electrician too, but still waiting even for quotes to come through.

This plumber actually came through a website such as the one Cargirl suggests

OP posts:
CarGirl · 17/02/2010 22:04

I would do 1 bathroom so you can actually just move in.

When I had my eldest I didn't have a kitchen until she was 7 months old and she was formula fed - you just cope!!!!

MattBellamysMuse · 17/02/2010 22:05

That's really, really taking the piss.
We had our bathroom done last year. He fitted new freestanding bath, basin and separate loo, routed plumbing for/fitted new basin in loo. Also fitted tongue and groove cladding in main bathroom, including building a false wall to hide the pipework. The total was £720 excluding materials.
We are in south west London, so not a cheap area.
The year before we had new taps/waste fitted in the bathroom of our old house, including isolation valves (different plumber this time) and that was £120.

MrsL123 · 17/02/2010 22:06

£485 to do a sink and taps is ridiculous wherever you live. He probably just doesn't want the work. The 'going rate' around here for a straight forward bathroom or kitchen refit (e.g. just replacing like-for-like in the same place) is £80 an item. We've recently got a quote for replacing our toilet, basin, bath and electric shower (over the bath), and swapping the radiator for a heated towel rail and it was £400 labour, plus about £50 for the parts. That isn't particularly cheap either - others quoted less, but we liked this guy better (he was the only one to suggest running the basin waste straight out of the wall instead of just boxing it in again). He's also quoted us £80 an item for our kitchen plumbing (e.g. sink and taps is one item, integrated dishwasher another). Anything extra that needs doing, like when we move the radiator in the kitchen, he'll just charge us by the hour (£40).

Have you requested quotes from the likes of B&Q? I'm sure they offer a fitting service if you buy the items from them. Same goes for any of the bathroom shops really - for £6,500 I'd want the bathroom and shower room fully fitted out, tiled floor to ceiling and project managed, never mind the plumbing!

morningpaper · 17/02/2010 22:08

Why are you doing up this house when you don't have any money? Can't you not sell it and rent or buy elsewhere? This sort of project is enormously stressful and expensive.

Amandoh · 17/02/2010 22:10

My DP almost fell off his chair in shock at your quotes!

He runs a building company and says that he'd charge roughly half that if the client was supplying all the sanitary ware, taps and shower fittings.

Does your quote include tiling, flooring and decorating?

My DP also carries out professional claim preparation for building dispute adjudications. If you're in the SE (London, Surrey, Kent) he would probably be able to have a look and give you an idea for a reasonable price for the work with no obligation to use his company.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 22:10

The gear we bought came from the Bathstore. They gave us a list of plumbers who were used to putting in their stuff. The only one who came round kept us waiting three weeks for a written quote when we got fed up and eventually chased him, and he said he was busy and didn't fancy the job

I really do despair.

OP posts:
MattBellamysMuse · 17/02/2010 22:11

I forgot to mention our guy also removed the radiator and replaced it with a heated towel rail.
He charged us £120 a day.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 22:17

Morningpaper, I find your remark a bit demoralising, tbh. It needed doing up from scratch. Our budget (carefully prepared by me) included £1500 for plumbing (labour only), which was not unreasonable. When we bought it, I had no idea I was going to lose my job We have not been at all silly or precipitous with our planning, thanks, and had allowed for unforeseen expenses (which was why we were able to afford a £13k builder's bill instead of a £6k one. But I do think £6.5k is ridiculous and it blows my budget.

Amandoh - it doesn't include any of those things! Or carpentry or boxing. That's kind of your DP but we are out of his zone, in Wext Oxfordshire.

OP posts:
Amandoh · 17/02/2010 22:17

Sorry, I missed the message where you said you were in Oxfordshire. It's a little too far for him but he said he'll ask a couple of contacts tomorrow if they know any plumbers or electricians in your area.

MattBellamysMuse · 17/02/2010 22:20

Ladythompson, try not to get demoralised. £6.5k is ridiculous. Don't pay that under any circumstances. there must be a plumber somewhere in your region who can do the work for a realistic price. Keep ringing round and don't give up.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 22:21

Amandoh - that would be so helpful - thanks. It's not that I don't want to give people the proper rate or anything. But I just feel like this other guy was putting the boot in.

OP posts:
morningpaper · 17/02/2010 22:23

It is hard to tell HOW unreasonable the quotes are, but if it is literally 'a shell' then TBH it doesn't seem extravagant. Those sound quite large jobs TBH (are they replacing existing basins/bath/bidet or installing where there are no existing ones? Why replace the saniflo loo with a non-saniflo one?)

Agree that sticking to one bathroom might be a good idea for now.

Original poster
LadyThompson · 17/02/2010 22:25

Thanks MattBellamysMuse - I will start again tomorrow. I was just so careful with making sure we had enough money to play with. It is mine and my DP's first actual house together (we have been living in his bachelor pad and it is not ideal) and this particular house was very hard won and took a long time to go through. It's 200 years old and will be lovely one day, and I just can't believe what a struggle it is even to get people to look (five plumbers have been round out of about 15 called, and only this one has actually sent a quote).

OP posts:
morningpaper · 17/02/2010 22:25

Is he basing it on a day rate BTW? Does he Show His Calculations?

Mistymoo · 17/02/2010 22:29

Are your prices labour only? If so those are ridiculous prices.
DH reckons the hardest part is teh hole in wall. 4/5 days max for the whole job. £1500 tops and thats for a non-cheap plumber.

The kitchen would only take 1-2hours tops!