General Chat

Has anybody had a bathroom fitted recently?.. My sister has had three quotes ranging from £2.500 and £3000. Just want to see if others think this is a reasonable price. The bath, sink and toilet is being bought separatley by my sister and will be placed in the same position as the existing one, fitter will be putting in the power shower and screen above the bath, tiles on all walls (medium sized room) vinyl flooring. The cost is way over what we thought it would be. We would be interested to hear what you think.

The tiling will be quite a long job for which she will pay by the hour probably. Does the price include the price of the tiles? Is that just labour costs in other words?

Hi Ann, the price includes everything except the bath,sink,taps and toilet.

Inc VAT??? That's 20% of the price.

If there is a radiator in there, that will have to be drained and lifted off the wall!

As Ann says, even though its less than a day to rip out the existing suite, unless your sister has another toilet they can use, they'll have to plumb in the new one on the same day.

Tiles will have to be chipped off, possibly the plaster will have to be replaced. That is a highly skilled job as is tiling if it's done properly.

She might get it cheaper if she asks about a cash discount, or employs a jack-of-all-trades builder who has all the necessary skills.

An hourly labour charge of £50 isn't unreasonable depending on where you live. Assuming a working day of 8 hours, and 5 days work, it doesn't take long to add up.

Hi Detective, No radiator in there and there is another toilet. I think maybe she may have to shop around for the tiles/shower/flooring herself and look for a recommended jack of all trades to do it, She was quite prepared for a quote up to £1800.00, very chastising!

If it includes power shower, tiles and vinyl flooring I would think it is reasonable. Worth bearing in mind that, if it doesn't include VAT the £2500 quote will be £3000

Advise your sister not to use the trade websites where you can find a jack-of-all trades. Try to find someone who is recommended by word of mouth and can show you legitimate portfolios of work that they have already done. I speak from experience and it was very costly and heartbreaking. Some of the websites also charge the tradesmen to provide information on the work you require and your contact details.

thanks YG and Ann, your input has been helpful x

If you use the new large tiles it will cut down the labor for tiling quite a bit as it takes the same time to put up a large tile as a standard one.
Quote looks quite fair - obviously you are not in London. You are? Wow.

Haribo - our plumber refused to put 6" sq tiles on walls - insisted it would make the room look small (which it is anyway) and I needed large tiles. I gave in - he was right.

He asked what flooring I was thinking of - I hadn't decided - soon told he would only lay ceramic floor tiles and they needed to go down first before he began fitting shower. So I had better get out there and choose some!!! He informed me that having floor completely tiled ensured a waterproof floor.

I gave in and he was definitely right.

Why did I defer? Highly regarded as a plumber/central heating - looked after us for 25 years - and unfortunately he was always right.

Definitely the tip about larger tiles works - and so very glad we had floor tiled - both worth thinking about.

We partly renovated two bathrooms about six years ago.

We kept one bath & the shower screens, got new vanities, toilets & tiles (walls & floors).

It cost more to get the tiles laid than the cost of the tiles! The plumber wasn't cheap either.

Make sure the bathroom gets a waterproofing treatment BEFORE anything is done.

Also, look for a grout sealer....... wonderful stuff! Just the regular cleaning of the bathrooms, no more scrubbing the grout with an old toothbrush. There are a few sealers available, either in a bottle so you have to use a very small paintbrush, or a spray can, no need to spray everything, just a light spray on the grout is enough.

Quite agree on the larger tile idea, I persuaded o.h. to do it in his tiny bathroom and it does make it look lots bigger.

I am sure there will be several plumbers/bathroom fitters who would quote a cheaper price as work is probably harder to come by now, and don't just get one quote anyway, get three and watch the attitude of the chap who comes round to measure up.

Good luck, hope you get what you want at an affordable price

Lizx

Do not know where she lives, but that quote is really cheap.

Here in London it could easily be double.

And if too cheap, then I would wonder at the workmanship

Always used to ask workmen for references and if they had any photos of previous work done.

Is there a "Check a Trade in the Area"? they are pretty good (Ask at Town Hall or CAB. Also if you wish you can Tile over existing ones with the larger type, and it would be a good idea to have in line taps to each water pipe(,hot and cold).

I am very lucky. My son is a tiler and has just done our downstairs shower room which our disabled daughter uses. He has put her a new shower, toilet and sink in. Levelled the walls, under floor heating and fully tiled. She loves it. He does a brilliant job. :-D

some one i know will only use mybuilder.com

she says that you post what you need doing and work men/tradesman will
quoted there charge and you can pick who you would like to do the work

http://www.mybuilder.com/?gclid=CL6f9Z2c57oCFcXKtAodAF8A9Q


Sylvia
can i swop your son with one of mine :-D please
i have 4 and not one of them no how to change a flipping light bulb :-(

This link dates from July 2012, so prices will probably be a bit higher, but it will give you an idea. Note that VAT isn't included.

http://local.which.co.uk/advice/cost-price-information-bathroom-fitter

Dame Shelly
You could borrow him if he lived near you but I need him back because he is quite handy to have. He is also very good at working on cars. His own and other peoples. Only thing is, he does them outside our house and makes a mess. Other son is a joiner so if you want to borrow him, let me know. :-D

Sorry, not been around to reply for a while, Thanks for all the useful tips/info, it really has helped....by the way, she lives just outside London, Stevenage. I will be advisin my sister to get 4 or 5 quotes, from my own expierience, I had quote
differing up to £900.00 for five days building work on my house.