Trades for a bathroom

bluemrchimp

Sorry if this is a really simple question but I’m trying to work out the most cost efficient way to do the labour for a bathroom. I don’t think I want to pay a builder a fat margin to organise the trades seperately but I have no idea which order to do things in to minimise disruption (as far as possible: I know it won't be easy especially as we only have this one bathroom) and waste. It’s only a small bathroom. The jobs I think that need doing are:

• Remove old tiles (the whole room: 20 m2 worth)
• Install extractor fan (none present at moment)
• Install shaver socket in wall (no existing cabling)
• Remove old suite
• Plaster all walls to make good
• fit new bath and taps (in same place as old bath)
• fit new toilet and cistern (in same place as old toilet)
• fit new basin and taps (in same place as old basin)
• fit new chrome towel rail
• Tile relevant walls (about 10m 2 in total)
• Fit vinyl floor.
• Paint room (will DIY this bit)

So what I want to know is:

(a) Does anyone know what order to order the trades in?

(b) In South London can anyone reckon a ballpark figure for the labour for this?

(c) Is it worth the hassle?

Thanks so much in advance!

phill99

I would suggest that your list is about right in terms of work flow. However, I would suggest some slight amendments:

Remove old tiles
Install extractor fan
Install shaver socket in wall
Remove old suite
Plaster all walls to make good
fit new bath and taps
Do first fix for wc, sink and towel rail
Tile relevant walls
Fit new toilet, cistern, basin, taps and towel rail (ie second fix)
Paint room
Fit vinyl floor

bluemrchimp

Brilliant, thanks! So it would be:

Electrician
Plasterer
Plumber
Tiler
Plumber again?

Do people think it's worth it?

crazyguy

Would it not be a cheaper to pay one person to the whole job, surely if you hire in 5 trades people it will be more expensive as opposed to just one !

phill99

crazyguy wrote: »

Would it not be a cheaper to pay one person to the whole job, surely if you hire in 5 trades people it will be more expensive as opposed to just one !

I don't think you necessarily get the best finish by having one guy do it. I know good tilers that are lousy plumbers and vice versa. Plus Electricians need a Part P Cert to work on bathrooms.

googler

Try and get the various tradesmen to bring in others that they've worked with, and who they would recommend, and who they get along with.

You don't want them falling out, nor falling over each other in such a small space.

Get them to decide the order to do things. Unless you know exactly what each trade will be doing, don't try to micromanage them

loracan1

Are you residing in the property at the moment? It's a while since I had the bathroom done but with only one it was imperative to have the toilet taken out and replaced in minimum time - new floor had to be fitted in between. He took it out in the morning, floor relaid and new toilet installed in the evening. He was installing a boiler at the same time so was on site. It was okay to manage without a bath for a week or so.

We also used a tiler he'd recommended, ended up having to get him to chase him up but did get a really really good job done.

Oldsoak

I install bathrooms for a living but am qulified in tiling and plumbing. My advice would be to go to a bathroom centre and get them to recommend a tradesman or company to do th install. In my own case (I'm up north), I work with another fitter and we sub out the plastering and electrics so that the customer only has to deal with us and we get stuff done in the right order. As I don't trade under my signature I can tell you that I will be doing a job in Dartford soon as it is cheaper for me to do it than employ local tradesmen. Might be worth a few calls?

HelpMePls_2

I would disagree that because someone is great at one thing, they are bad at another. The builder I use does complete renovations, from the bathrooms (all that's involved bar gas works as he's not qualified), to kitchens, decorating etc). All works are done to a very high standard, I would call him a Master-of-all-trades - Jack of-none.
It's much easier to get one co. in to do it all!

The_Blue_Hatter

One local company or tradesperson every time for me. You may pay a little more than getting people in individually but it can save alot of hassle. Imagine if you have to book everybody 6 weeks in advance (not strange for decent trades) and the plasterer (for example) lets you down last minute or finds extra work he didnt realise was there. Using individuals this could cause massive problems, using a company they will have to sort it out instead of you. Using one company also has the advantage of if something needs adjusting/changing its easier to get them back if you havent paid all money up front.

In summary, unless you personally know individuals that do these trades I would always use a small local firm (and of course get quotes from 3 or 4 of them).