new bathroom suite desperately needed, can I reduce any of the costs????

cal1_2

Hi Everyone
I'm new to this fantastic website and wondered if anyone could advise me please? We bought our house and said we would replace the bathroom suite. It is a browny/khaki (baby poo!!!:o ) coloured suite and it has floor to ceiling tiles in a matching colour with bright orange flowers! It is hideous!!:eek: It is a four piece suite, ie bath, sink, toilet and bidet!

As I said, we knew we would replace the bathroom suite sooner rather than later, unfortunately my husband chose to replace me and our two lovely children for a younger model instead of the bathroom:rolleyes: This has left us with a bathroom that has gradually deteriorated and since he left last year the hot tap on the sink has stopped working and the hot tap on the bath has to be turned on using pliers (? spelling). The cold tap on the bath drips continually. The bathroom is quite small, to give you an idea of size the bath touches three walls, with just a bit to spare! It is fully tiled in. It doesn't have a front panel just (you've guessed it) tiles! There is nothing on the floor except for a rug so the kiddies feet aren't cold when they get out of the bath.

I have looked around with my dad who has very kindly said he will buy us a cheap white bathroom suite (don't know what I'd do without him!) but I'm very worried about the cost of having it fitted. I just want a straight swap but without the bidet (the bidet has proved very handy for storing the kids bath toys in but has never been used properly!;). How much would I reasonably be expected to pay and how long should it take to be fitted?

I need to try and keep costs to a minimum (I have had to take on 3 jobs to maintain a standard of living for me and the kids because ex refuses to help) so am prepared to graft as well!!! (not easy when you have 3 jobs + 2 kids, aged 9 & 5!!) but where would I start? Do I start by taking all the wall tiles off myself? Would this keep costs down? We do have a toilet & sink downstairs and my lovely neighbour next door has said the children could have baths there! She is such a lovely lady and we are very lucky to have her as our neighbour!!!:D

The job is:-
to take out old bathroom suite
take all the wall tiles off from floor to ceiling
(presumably!) re plaster the walls
re tile the walls half way up
put a new bathroom suite in
lay the flooring

We live in just outside Burnley in Lancashire. Have asked for word of mouth recommendations to no avail! I know you get what you pay for but really do need to keep costs as low as possible. I will check the local telephone book but thought you guys may be able to give me some good honest advice re cost. I need to work out how long I will have to save in order to get the bathroom fitted! I don't want to take out a loan and get further into debt! That wouldn't do would it!!?
Thank you for taking the time to read this, all thoughts & replies are greatly appreciated!:A

BobProperty

cal1 wrote: »

.......The job is:-
to take out old bathroom suite
take all the wall tiles off from floor to ceiling
(presumably!) re plaster the walls
re tile the walls half way up
put a new bathroom suite in
lay the flooring

.....

Remove old suite and put in new one about £300. 1 long day if you are lucky but has to fit in with the plastering, tiling and flooring.
Take tiles off, you can probably do that, but be careful they are very sharp and how are you disposing of them? A fully tiled bathroom will create a reasonable amount of rubbish.
Tidying up the plaster may require a plasterer and could cost a day's work if it's bad. Ask Nelly on here.
Tile half height and flooring - a day or slightly less maybe but don't be surprised if you have to pay for a day's work again if you get someone in.

This is all guesswork as you don't know what you'll find when you start ripping things out and I am assuming you do not want a shower as you never mentioned one.

vansboy

Sorry to hear of the prediciment you're in, Cal.

Just a thought - do you NEED to tila all around, even just half way? If you're having the old tiles off & need to re-skim with plaster anyway, can't you paint more of the walls, instead of re-tle? It'll save a few £$£, but probably not much.

& I'd also say for someone else to take the old tiles off, it's not a huge job, usually, but not one you should do. They'll use a power chisel & be done much quicker than you. Won't bash your knuckles & cut yourself either!!

VB

ormus

you can remove the tiles yourself ok. get a hammer and a bolster chisel. and wear builders gloves!
just bag up the rubbish and take to the tip. a good few runs possibly.
pity you dont live a bit closer to me, i know a good plasterer and a few plumbers. im not sure they would travel that far for a small job?

catkins

Where in the UK are you?

ormus

the OP is in burnley.
im in M6 postcode.

donnalove

hiya

why don't you get some good tile paint and primer and paint the tiles you have instead of all the work and mess taking them off.

cheaper as well

we did this when we changed our bathroom.



donnalove
xxx

BobProperty

donnalove wrote: »

.....why don't you get some good tile paint.....

Maybe because IMHO there's no such thing

cal1_2

Thanks everyone for getting back to me!:T It is very much appreciated!! I will have a go at taking the tiles off myself I think (!?) i'll check first to see how much extra someone else would charge. I had wondered whether the tiles that are already on could be tiled over but nobody has mentioned this so this is probably not a possibility.
Anyway, thanks all for you great advice. I'm determined to have a nice bathroom this year!!:A
Cal x

ormus

some peeps have tiled over existing tiles, but i wouldnt do it.

girlsmum

Before you take the tiles off get some quotes and arrange a date, or you might end up in more mess than you wanted in the first place.