Bathroom refit- £12,000???

keystone

So now I'm getting the impression that £3½k+ was for supply and fit rather than just fit. If so thats more like it tbh. Still OPs £4.4 for just fitting it is still totally absurd.

Sorry, wasn't touting for a trade either. LOL.

Thats OK then we haven't broken the rules.



Cheers

googler

For total renewal of our 8x10 bathroom;

Removing 3 piece suite w bath, two walls of tiles, floor tiles, towel radiator, and bulkhead behind old WC and basin, essentially stripping the room back to bare walls.

Installing shower tray cubicle, electric shower, shower panels (no tiles), towel radiator, full wall of vanity units w inset basin and concealed cistern WC, splash back tiling, plyboard and floor tiling, skirting board and door facings.

Took 10 days excluding painting of walls and skirting, which I did.

The plumber was on £25 per hour, and did the tiling as well. The joiner did the vanity units, plyboard on the floor, and assisted plumber with shower cubicle and other 2-person tasks. He charged an all-in rate which I'll have to look up and report back. They brought plasterer in when required.

The labour charge quoted here, assuming 10 days work, would seem to indicate a daily rate of 440, at 7 hours daily, that's 62 per hour, which would equate to almost 2.5 of my plumbers being on site full-time ...

EDIT

Plumber was £1225 for his labour and all the miscellaneous pipes and fittings he supplied

Joiner was £1800 including supply of all the plasterboard, battens, plyboard for the floor, and fittings he used.

Some days the joiner was there, some days the plumber, some days both, according to what was required. There weren't both there full time. This is possibly the advantage of hiring independent trades - if one isn't needed a particular day, they can organise their own other jobs to fit in - whereas the national company will probably send two or three guys who'll be on site the whole time, and you'll pay for that.

Plasterer did a couple of walls - £270

Electrician installed consumer unit for shower, ran cable from that to bathroom (3 floors), installed switch and shower - £200

Total £3495

Hope this helps.

OldFartPlumber

You poor Londoners - I did my bathroom for £600 . Six Hundred . After a lifetime in the building trade - I DESERVE the house we enjoy . LOL . Must`ve saved £ thousands over the years , without house price inflation - I could have been a " Professional " then had to pay tradesmen for decades . I was just an underachiever @ school

jellie

OldFartPlumber wrote: »

You poor Londoners - I did my bathroom for £600 . Six Hundred . After a lifetime in the building trade - I DESERVE the house we enjoy . LOL . Must`ve saved £ thousands over the years , without house price inflation - I could have been a " Professional " then had to pay tradesmen for decades . I was just an underachiever @ school

So only a tradesperson is allowed to enjoy their home?

The 'professionals' you seem to despise are the ones who helped pay your wages - without them paying for your services, you would not have been able to have the house you are now able to enjoy.

It goes both ways - you have paid for professional (and non-professional) services, directly or indirectly, and they have paid for yours. It's how the world works.

googler

OldFartPlumber wrote: »

You poor Londoners - I did my bathroom for £600

that tells us nothing. Did you have tiling, flooring done? What was the scope of your work?

keystone

OldFartPlumber wrote: »

You poor Londoners - I did my bathroom for £600 . Six Hundred .

Look ducky, in 1975 £600 would have bought you about the same as £ 3½k today. Isn't it about time you updated it?

After a lifetime in the building trade - I DESERVE the house we enjoy . LOL

Of course you do but there really is no need to shout.

Must`ve saved £ thousands over the years , without house price inflation -I could have been a " Professional " then had to pay tradesmen for decades . I was just an underachiever @ school

Have you been drinking?

Silly old fart. LoL.

Cheers

keystone

googler wrote: »

that tells us nothing. Did you have tiling, flooring done? What was the scope of your work?

You really must learn to treat the elderly with a little more compassion.

Cheers

laptop80

£12,000? For a 6' x 6' bathroom? It's quotes like this that make me doubly glad I fitted my own bathroom and kitchen.

As long as you're reasonably competent & you have the time to do so, I've found that doing it yourself (excluding electrics etc) will often get you a better job - you can take the time to get it perfect, whereas some (but not all, obviously) contractors will be tempted to slap it in so they can get on to the next job. With a bit of practice, things like tiling are perfectly do-able by amateurs, you just need to take the time to properly prepare and set out.

The bathroom I ripped out and replaced was fitted by a tradesman who was paid to do it - on the face of it looked a reasonable job but when you looked more closely you saw corners had been cut, e.g. tiling on to untanked regular plasterboard in the shower enclosure, mitres that weren't quite right. Aquapanel cement board isn't all that expensive and is just as easy to fit (just screw it on to batons) but the difference it makes to the job in the long-term can be immense (e.g. your backing board won't disintegrate with the result of your tiles falling off). I have a vested interest in getting jobs like this in my home right in the long-term; this particular guy clearly didn't and thought he would save a little money on materials (or worse, he didn't know he was doing a bad job).

Other little touches, like 3-way mitres, really finished the job off. I'd never done them before but it's not rocket science, you just need to take more time than a professionial tradesman who is well practiced would do. A good tiler will do them, but it's amazing the amount of sloppy jobs you see where they don't bother.

The idea that it would take you 2 days to rip out a tiny bathroom or that you'd gouge/destroy the walls taking tiles off is nonsense. A bolster is not a tool you need to be time-served to use - the tiles will probably just pop off with a tap using a hammer and bolster. Depending on the age, condition and composition of the walls / strength of the adhesive you may find that some of the surface unavoidably disintegrates when you remove the tiles anyway. Replastering / making good any bits of damaged wall won't take you long and this is something a professional tiler would need to do anyway - all taking extra time that you would have to pay for, for what isn't a particularly skilled task (remember you are tiling over this plaster, it doesn't need to be perfect as though you are painting it, just flat).

For £12k you would want to be absolute certain that everything would be perfect, and even then it is a big price. The reality is that you can pay this sort of money and still get a poor job. I'm sure you can get a quality tradesman to do the job for a lot less, but if you fancy doing some of the work yourself don't be put off - with a bit of time and patience most people could do it.

keystone

laptop80 wrote: »

The idea that it would take you 2 days to rip out a tiny bathroom or that you'd gouge/destroy the walls taking tiles off is nonsense.

Umm no it isn't. I've seen people take 4 or five days faffing about in an effort to save money. Not everybody is as dextrous as you with a bolster and lump hammer. I've also seen more than one clever clogs go though a buried water pipe with a bolster leading to inevitable and obvious results. Dismissing my post as nonsense is complete and utter nonsense.

A bolster is not a tool you need to be time-served to use - the tiles will probably just pop off with a tap using a hammer and bolster.

If the tiles just pop off with a light tap they weren't put up properly in the first place and the chances are that the only thing holding them up was the grout. Anyway a brick bolster is not the tool of choice to remove tiles. I can strip a bathroom of properly fixed tiles in under two hours.

I'm sure you can get a quality tradesman to do the job for a lot less,......

Inevitably. £4.4k installation coast is absurd.

but if you fancy doing some of the work yourself don't be put off - with a bit of time and patience most people could do it.

No reason why people shouldn't have a go but that time and patience can often add up to an awfull lot of pound notes and please don't tell me its free because it isn't.

Cheers

laptop80

keystone wrote: »

Umm no it isn't. I've seen people take 4 or five days faffing about in an effort to save money. Not everybody is as dextrous as you with a bolster and lump hammer. I've also seen more than one clever clogs go though a buried water pipe with a bolster leading to inevitable and obvious results. Dismissing my post as nonsense is complete and utter nonsense.

If the tiles just pop off with a light tap they weren't put up properly in the first place and the chances are that the only thing holding them up was the grout. Anyway a brick bolster is not the tool of choice to remove tiles. I can strip a bathroom of properly fixed tiles in under two hours.

Inevitably. £4.4k installation coast is absurd.

No reason why people shouldn't have a go but that time and patience can often add up to an awfull lot of pound notes and please don't tell me its free because it isn't.

Cheers

4 or 5 days to gut a small bathroom? Were they trying to scrub the tiles off the wall with a toothbrush? If they are old tiles you're removing, which often they are, then a bolster will probably be fine. If they're stuck really well or you are in a hurry you could always use an SDS with the proper attachment, which I'm guessing as a professional tiler may be your preferred method as speed will be more important to you than a DIYer. I'd never recommend using an SDS to someone who has no idea what they're doing as it could be a recipe for disaster.

Re: cost, if you're taking time off work to do it then, no, it clearly isn't free. But if you are doing it in what would otherwise be leisure time, e.g. evenings and weekends instead of sat watching the telly, then yes, the labour cost is nil. (If you need to buy tools you would need to factor that in, of course.)

I'm not saying don't use tradesmen - good ones are worth their weight in gold - but just pointing out that there is the option for people who want to save money.