Comparing quotes when I'm not sure what I want

Snakey

It looks like an ancient yellowing prototype version of that, yeah - having clambered up to take a look it has a little dial for relative humidity and another that says Timer. I've never seen it switch on by itself though, so perhaps it's broken. When I switch it on manually and put my hand next to the fan bit I feel absolutely no air movement. Maybe next time I'm bored I'll stick a screwdriver in it and see what happens when I stir up its inner workings, see if I can avoid buying a new one.

Hmm... if I don't need to tile the whole thing, and a suspended ceiling/recessed lighting isn't the super cool thing that they said it would be, and I go for cheapish materials instead of some mega-wonderful hansgrohe shower etc, perhaps I could get this down to something quite reasonable and have my knock-through after all. AJMCK seems to have managed something almost identical (and also at London prices) so perhaps the other thing is to get more quotes.

AJMCK, out of interest, how long did it all take? The builder said to me four weeks and I'd need to stay somewhere else for a week of that as the water would be off/there'd be no loo.

Advantage of the knock-through would be that it would be marginally easier to insulate the solid walls in the hallway/side of bathroom, as there wouldn't be a doorway coming right off the outside corner like there is now. (That said, I am only partway through looking into this insulation since it looks massively expensive - was hoping I could get a grant but apparently not. So it may not happen.)

Owain_Moneysaver

Snakey wrote: »

Advantage of the knock-through would be that it would be marginally easier to insulate the solid walls in the hallway/side of bathroom, as there wouldn't be a doorway coming right off the outside corner like there is now. (That said, I am only partway through looking into this insulation since it looks massively expensive - was hoping I could get a grant but apparently not. So it may not happen.)

Solid Wall insulation board is about £15 a square metre (+ VAT). Stick it to the wall with glue, tape and fill the joints.

Lizling

I had another very, very similar load of work done in my bathroom too.

Wall removed between bathroom and loo
One doorway blocked up
Basin moved to where the bath was
Big shower put in where the basin was
Loo left in the same place, but new one fitted
Fully tiled floor and around the shower; half tiled everywhere else
Extractor fan put in
No false ceiling or recessed lights though.

It cost about £6000 and I'm in London. That was the middle quote of 3 (excluding the absolutely mental one I got from a bathroom shop of £7k on just the materials :eek:). It's mid-range fittings - smart looking but not the expensive brands. The shower was £70 from ebay but everything else was supplied. The finish is ok, but there is one bit of tiling I'm not quite happy with and really the shower screen needed to be bigger than what they sold me.

There were all sorts of complications though and they would have charged more if they'd realised half of it. In the 2nd builder's words, their whole design and quote was 'a complete balls-up'.

trailingspouse

If the work doesn't absolutely have to be done immediately, I would suggest you hang on a bit. This will give you time to learn about plumbing/electrics/tiling etc etc, decide what you really want and can afford, and also save up a bit more money.

It's a huge learning curve. Take every opportunity to find out what you need to know - ask questions at bathroom showrooms, google, use one of the design services (Homebase will help you design your bathroom for free). This is all research, and you will begin to build up a better and more realistic picture of what you can do.

And don't worry about wasting tradespeople's time - use them as a resource, and listen to their advice. If there's anything you don't understand ASK. It's only a stupid question if you don't ask it.