Extra Shower - As expensive as it sounds?

Idiophreak

Hi All,

Buying a new build at the mo...whilst it has a shower in the en-suite, the family bathroom just has a bath with no shower over.

We asked the builders for quotes on getting a shower put in above the bath so that guests can shower, the missus can do her hair in the bath and so on.

They came back with two quotes:

To put a regular electric shower in and tile up from where it is at the moment (half way up) to the ceiling on the 2 walls (just the length and width of the bath), they wanted 1900+

To switch out the regular taps for a shower/tap combo and again, tile up the rest of the wall, they wanted 1100+

Neither of those prices include a screen or curtain rail etc.

Now, my thought is that they both (especially the second one) seem completely insane...Is this actually the case, or would I be paying this much to get it done afterward anyway?

I'd have thought the second one (probably acceptable for our needs) would have been < £500...Or am I living in cloud cuckoo land again?

Anyone got any rough ideas how much this should be costing? We're living in the oxford area...

Many thanks in advance!

diable

If the water pressure is good enough and your diy skills ok then you can do it yourself. Hansgrohe have a shop on Ebay selling discontinued and display shower/bath mixers at a reasonable price (5 year waranttee) and byretech http://www.byretech.com/ do reasonably priced shower rails if you need a solution for an awkward bath layout (I have their curved rail it gives a lot more space in the bath) slap up some tiles and if you have change from £400 you can donate the rest to my dept free wannabe fund ;o))

ukjoel

They are having a laugh and either dont want the work or more likely the builders have said £500 but the developers have thought they can screw you over.

I would wait until you move in and then get it done. The water and waste will be in place so all they need to do is channel the electrics through and fit the shower. Any damage from the channeling will be tiled over and a tiler wouldnt charge more than a couple of hundred quid to do a job like that.

I think the builders doing it there could do it for £500 but probably budget a grand to do it after the event.

If they dont want to do it - get someone else to or speak to the builders on site independently - amazing what they may offer to do for £300 in a recession.

I know builders who accidently built an extra bedroom onto a place one of my mates was moving into. This was a total mistake in fairness but what I am saying is there are a lot of showers sitting around on site and sometimes a few hundred quid to the right person means one could be put in your bathroom by mistake....

J

Idiophreak

ukjoel wrote: »

If they dont want to do it - get someone else to or speak to the builders on site independently - amazing what they may offer to do for £300 in a recession.

That's not actually a bad idea...They might have someone there interested in making a quick couple of hundred squids...

Thanks both for your replies - I didn't think I was being too tight fisted, but thought it best to check.

I am seriously considering having a go myself, actually...it can't be that hard...It's just that the house is so new and shiney at the moment - I don't want to hurt it

27col

Yes, they are having a laugh. Get them to leave the tiling off of that wall and just supply the tiles. All you need is a mixer based shower system fitted to the bath in stead of the standard bath mixer.. If they will not do that, then let them finish it how they intended, and either do it yourself when you move in, or, as has been suggested. Have a word with the chap who is doing the bathroom. I would have thought that he would jump at the chance of some extra money. The whole thing is a very simple addition to the normal specification.

rev229

The developer will ask you to pay well over the top our wanted us to pay the 100.00 for there permission to build a conservatory when we move in. My husband said no and they where fine about it. The on site builders will be more than happy to earn extra at the weekend, lots of them on our site did private jobs at the weekend. It will definately cost a lot less then you have been quoted.