Small bathroom refit quote

EagerLearner

Hi there hoping you can all shed some light as I have no experience of redoing bathrooms.

We live in Sussex and have a small bathroom which is around 4 square metres of floor space and we have been given this price - work has already started but I'll get to that later:

Remove tiles (around 12sqm) - 150
Plastering and rebuild window sill (as was tiled) - 300
Tiling 11 square metres - 275
Bathroom suite - remove old, install new suite inc new taps, move basin pipes by 15cm and drill new waste hole, make good, move wc pipes slightly - 490
Repair boxing under basin, behind wc, labour and materials - 120
Move shower electric cable by around 15cm and chase into wall - 100 (he says 2 hours for plumber and 2 for electrician?)
install shower screen - 50 ( 2hours he says, which I doubt as it's easyish DIY, so probably won't do)

They charge around 25 per hour for normal work and more for tiling but the above tiling still seems to be 25 per sqm.

We are supplying bath panel, taps, tiles, they are providing the rest like inners, grouting etc.

I am wondering if this is a fair quote, as bathroom is so small? We only planned to spend 355 + VAT, removing rubble ourselves.

Initially he'd quoted 355 just to change bathroom suite over and 1 square metre of tiling, nothing else, but then said wall would need redoing after he removed the bath when he saw the tiles were double layered. We only had a few hours to decide really as the suite had been ripped out so agreed to redo the whole thing. I don't see how the actual refit of the suite goes from 355 to 490 as only change is some boxing in and moving pipes but maybe that's me being naive!

Also he quoted for 11 square metres of tiling but then said this physically would only be side of bath and shower wall, plus a bit where basin is. Now I know our existing room is around 12 square metres of tiles and that's with tiles almost everywhere! He may not be pleased when he sees we have measured up and went to topps tiles to get the prices for tiles - yesterday gave him a draft showing tiles in more places using 10 sqm...the area he's been pointing at and saying is 11sqm is only 6, so I am confused.

Plus 4 hours for chasing the shower cable and 2 hours to put in shower screen seems alot.

He has given a fair timing estimate of around a week as only 1 person can work in there at a time.

Thanks for any advice on this price - we have to buy tiles today so any ideas on that most appreciated also.

Tx

EagerLearner

Hi all just a bump to see if anyone is able to help - many thanks

keystone

On a sight unseen basis £1,500 labour is about right for this sized bathroom. Has he quoted you separately for materials?

Cheers

EagerLearner

Hi keystone sorry for the delay. Materials are included in his overall price like inners for loo, tubing for bath connection, tile adhesive etc.
So we do not have a separate breakdown for cost of materials as such. The plastering has all been done now, and he also has my sketch for tiling, which will be done tomorrow. He tried to justify his difference of proposed charging for 11sqm, vs actual 6 sqm as allowing extra for cutting (5 sqm charge), but surely given that his price for tiling is per square metre I would like to think 'cutting' is included in that.

Is there anything I should be aware of before they start this? Like I am sure I read somewhere you are supposed to fill the bath with water before tiling so the tiles dry at the height of the bath when it is full sort of thing...

keystone

EagerLearner wrote: »

Materials are included in his overall price like inners for loo, tubing for bath connection, tile adhesive etc.

In which case thats a very good price overall. A bathroom this size can easily see off £400 - 500 of materials outside suite, tiles etc.

He tried to justify his difference of proposed charging for 11sqm, vs actual 6 sqm as allowing extra for cutting (5 sqm charge), but surely given that his price for tiling is per square metre I would like to think 'cutting' is included in that.

That is the biggest load of unadulterated BS I've heard in a very long time. Rule of thumb is measured area plus 10% (15% in case of large format tiles) for both area of tiles to be purchased (to allow for wastage) and meterage rate (which should include addy and grout) for quoting. Course it should include cuts. Having said that 6sqm isn't a vast area and you'd be more likely to get a job price than a meterage rate on that sort of area. I wouldn't quibble too much (if at all) though. It sounds like you have got a good deal overall anyway.

Like I am sure I read somewhere you are supposed to fill the bath with water before tiling so the tiles dry at the height of the bath when it is full sort of thing...

What I do is tile up from a batten approx ½ tile height from the top edge of the bath (exact distance depends on how the rest of the room lays out) the remove batten and tile down to the edge of the bath cutting each tile appropriately.

The filling it with water thing is about sealing the edges and nothing to do with tiling it. If its a plastic bath then you fill it 3/4 full before applying silicone sealant so that the sealant is nearly always in compression. Its when you put it under tension that it can split. If the bath has been installed properly there should be minimal movement anyway so its a bit belt and braces.

HTH

Cheers

EagerLearner

Hi everyone just a quick update. The job with contractors was £1350 inc VAT in the end. This was mostly labour and included removing old suite, taking down old tiles, plastering, fitting new suite, putting shower & suite back, final boxing in behind toilet and under sink.

It did not include - buying tiles and materials for this, all the tiling, getting rid of debris. We bought tiles, grout, and taps plus sealant etc and did the work ourselves as they said their tiler had 'broken his arm' (this probably because we sussed them out on tiling cost). Also they should have gotten another tiler in but we had to either find one or do it ourslves and time was running out. As it is, just for the labour they took 9 weeks when should have been 4 inc tiling!

So we spent an extra £85 on flooring, £180 on tiling and materials, £160 on taps, £50 on shower screen = £475.

Not that it matters much but I still like to know for next time, does the labour cost of £1350 still seem ok on this basis?

keystone

EagerLearner wrote: »

As it is, just for the labour they took 9 weeks when should have been 4 inc tiling!

:eek::eek::eek:. The complete job should have been done and dusted in 9/10 days by one man!

Not that it matters much but I still like to know for next time, does the labour cost of £1350 still seem ok on this basis?

Errm no not really even considering its VAT inclusive (you DID get a VAT invoice didn't you?) considering the amount of work they had quoted within the original price of £1500 that did not get done.

Cheers

EagerLearner

Hi keystone,
Thanks for your comments, yes we did get a VAT invoice.
They bought a toilet cistern for us which was in that price, £100 and also a £12.50 part. He said I could see any invoices for goods purchased but when the job was finished I asked to see the invoices, to make sure I wasn't charged VAT on the goods then VAT again on the whole invoice. Surprise surprise when I mentioned not wanting to pay the VAT twice, he then said he would not send me the invoices.
Anyway overall it took 9 weeks even though they had access anytime when we were at work, there were always delays and I admit around 5 working days were lost due to the taps we had bought were faulty so we ended up buying new ones locally.
The new ones we got locally he tried to charge me £165 buying them himself (standard bath mixer filler tap, standard sink mixer). I then got prices myself for a shower and bath mixer filler tap and standard sink mixer, for £139 all in. He later explained this away by sayin gthe extra cash was 'insurance as if the taps went wrong they would go back to the supplier as many times as necessary to get it right'.

Anyway I'm waffling, essentially they stripped the old suite, plastered and then put fittings back... The only work in their quote that they did not do was the £275 tiling, and didn't do it in the 3-4 weeks they'd verbally quoted.

[Deleted User]

EagerLearner wrote: »

He later explained this away by sayin gthe extra cash was 'insurance as if the taps went wrong they would go back to the supplier as many times as necessary to get it right'.

The things they come up with :rotfl:

Hopeful_5

Glad you got it all sorted to your satisfaction (except perhaps for the costs) in the end, EagerLearner. Nine weeks though, I'm upset because my bungalow renovation has now been going on for fourteen weeks and still a good few to go. My builder did say about four/five weeks ago that he didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be in for Christmas, sure not gonna happen now .

I'm dreading the bathroom, just don't know anything about shower thermostats etc.

Hope

bobbins007

whatever they do for you i suggest witholding a portion of the overall fee for 30 days to allow for them coming back to fix all the leaks they leave the first time round.