shower room refit

frankie1star

Could someone help me with the refitting of my shower room.

I would like a complete refit, but someone came round today and they asked me what my budget was. I told him I knew I didnt want to spend 20k (joke) but would 5k be a reasonable amount to get a good quality fit. It would include shower tray and enclosure, sink and loo, with taps, shower control and tiles and removal of existing, plumbing and electrics already in place. He thought if I were careful with tiles it would be enough.

I stressed to him that I would like it as the room (developed 5 years ago) hadnt lasted well, and I didnt want to have to refit it again in five years, so wanted a quality job. I dont know if I am explaining this particularly well, but please ask questions or make suggestions.

Fairwinds

Whats the question?

frankie1star

well I suppose what I need is advice really. I am getting other quotes, and ideas, but what should I look for specifically, what should a tradesmen include, i.e antibacterial silicone, anything else I should look for or ask....as you can tell not so experienced in these matters

jollyme

What was your quote? Are you saying £5k?

frankie1star

havent received a quote yet, but I presume he was going to base the quote on the budget. If I choose not to go with someone who specialises in bathrooms but someone who is a diyer what would be the pitfalls?

olias

For £5K you could have a palace!!!!!!!!

Your best bet to save money would be to source the main things yourself-
cloakroom suite - £200
shower enclosure - £500, with maybe another £500 for base/valves/mixer/showerhead etc
tiling can be as cheap or expensive as you want - and count on about £40 m2 to fit
light fittings - cheap as chips in the DIY sheds
flooring - it's such a small area you can afford to push the boat out - I had solid sealed oak in my last bathroom refit and it cost <£200 because it was less than 4 m2
Then you only have to pay for a plumber and sparky and if everything is staying in the same place this shouldn't cost much.
To be honest even getting someone to do the lot shouldn't cost more than £2500 - £3000

Don't ever tell a tradesman that you have X amount budget, he will make sure the job costs that much. You are much better getting a brochure from somewhere like bathstore.com and pointing out the suite you want and saying 'how much will you charge to fit that.

Hope this helps

Olias

frankie1star

thanks Olias, I must admit I was reluctant to say a budget, but to be honest with you it was a figure plucked from mid air. I like your reckonings, as they are more inclined with what I was thinking, although I do want quality items, do your figures allow for that?

olias

Hi,

I reckon you can source quality fittings cheaply without too much problem.
I mentioned www.bathstore.com because I have used them before and been well impressed, they are reasonably priced, always having great sales, have branches all around the country, are very good quality and have everything from old fashioned to ultra modern (I have nothing to do with the company!! just been very impressed when I have used them before.

Tiles are best sourced from a tile warehouse type place which you can usually find in the estates where you have B&Q/Currys etc etc. They tend to have a massive range and pile em high and sell em cheap. If you would rather go to a high street name then Wickes always have decent reasonably priced tiles

What you need to be careful of is the tradesmen sourcing the fittings and adding their mark up, when it's something you can easily do yourself. They will probably try to do this, but stand firm and you'll save probably 20% on this cost.

Don't rush into anything is the key - have a look round the DIY sheds and places like bathstore and price things up roughly. Also try to get a reccomendation - do you have a friend or relative who has had work done recently (doesn't have to be a bathroom - could be a kitchen or utility or even central heating). Hope it goes well!

Olias

Doozergirl

olias' figures would allow for a decently spec'ed shower room in my opinion, absolutely.

frankie1star

well a palace it is then, because the shower room is fairly small, just allowing for shower tray, loo and sink with some walkabout space, but would like to maximise the space as best as possible

27col

I suspect that, whatever figure you quote as your budget, this will be, by some strange quirk, the exact figure that you will be quoted. I would have thought that deciding what you want first, and then seeing if you can afford it, is the way to go. If you then find that you cannot afford what you think that you want, then you have to re-access what you want.
I have just noticed that olias has said exactly the same thing as I have, about telling the installer what your budget is.