Bathroom refit

Brydson86

Well I've had quite an interesting day trying to get bathroom quotes as I'm looking for a full refit. My bathroom is roughly 6ft by 3ft and basically fits the 3 piece suite and no more. Trying to explain this to several companies who are telling me the price starts at 5k has me perplexed.

Does anyone have any general tips on how I can keep the price down. The bathroom really needs done as I've just moved in and it's not been touched in decades. However I'm sure as hell not paying over 5k,even 3k, for such a small bathroom.

Any tips please send them my way. Being an absolute diy novice I am contemplating doing this on my own! 🤔🤔

Doozergirl

That's how much a bathroom costs, done properly. A bathroom refit is a proper building job, not a simple thing.

By all means, spend less, do it yourself, but don't expect a long lasting job with decent materials and skilled trades for much less than you have been quoted.

Doozergirl

6ft by 3ft? A bath is 6ft by 2.5ft. You wouodn't be able to stand in there.

Brydson86

Ok 6x3 was a rough guess. The bath basically takes over half of the width of the room.

If that's how much the room costs then I appreciate that advice. This is my first home and given the quotes I thought maybe I was calling the wrong people.

Aleem

I feel your pain. I £5000 is a lot of money when you're on a tight budget.

Recently I had 2 bathrooms done, and I sourced the tiles and fittings myself. I had a bathroom fitter tile and and install everything for £1500 plus materials for the large bathroom and £1800 for the smaller one (this required some extra joinery work).

I saved a lot by planning well in advance and sourcing my own fittings, and I didn't go for the non-branded stuff you can buy on Amazon/eBay because I know it's a false economy; they tend to need replacing after a 2/3/4 years, whereas decent quality stuff should last a lifetime if looked after.

I scoured Amazon Warehouse (UK and German website) for damaged box items, and eBay for new items. Some stuff, that I wanted, but couldn't find on Amazon or eBay I googled for the best prices and made sure I paid on a credit card for the extra protection in case there were problems.

All the taps and showers are either Hansgrohe or Ideal Standard. To give an example of the savings, I got an Ideal Standard Attitude waterfall tap that was around £120 at the cheapest store, I got for £50 in perfect new condition from Amazon Warehouse. I got a hansgrohe Raindance E 250 Air overhead shower that generally sells for £300 for £80, again in brand new, unmarked condition from the German Amazon Warehouse website.

Just to add, I did my previous bathroom refit myself (except tiling); I sorted all the pipework - concealing in wall for a semi-pedestal basin and concealed shower valve. It was my first time doing work to this extent, although I had done the odd soldered pipe joint before. It all went well and once the tiler had done the tiling, I fitted the bath, shower, basin, toilet and radiator.

It took a lot of planning and working out how to do things because it was my first time, but the end result was better than a lot of professionally fitted bathrooms I've seen. It just requires some confidence.

Silvertabby

It's not so much the size, it's the cost of the fittings and the labour.

With a room that small, have you considered a shower cubicle instead of a bath? I know some people will say that they have to have a bath, as they like a good soak - but feeling claustrophobic isn't relaxing!

ashe

Hi there,

I've also got a small bathroom which just fits toilet, bath and sink. No room for anything else other than a small radiator.

We recently paid £1659 labour and parts but that included a towel rail that he sourced, a kitchen sink and tap that he sourced and fitted and an extra bath tap he sourced and fitted.

We supplied tiles and just got b&q £10 per sqm and we are really pleased with how they look, suite we got from Victorian plumbing for £230

Overall very pleased with the transformation from avocado 70s suite to grey tile with dark grouting. Girlfriend loves it.

We do r have a shower - just a mixer tap - if you dont either and you are wanting one fitting, you may find it's the electrical work to add this that's pushing it up

Aylesbury_Duck

Brydson86 wrote: »

Well I've had quite an interesting day trying to get bathroom quotes as I'm looking for a full refit. My bathroom is roughly 6ft by 3ft and basically fits the 3 piece suite and no more. Trying to explain this to several companies who are telling me the price starts at 5k has me perplexed.

Does anyone have any general tips on how I can keep the price down. The bathroom really needs done as I've just moved in and it's not been touched in decades. However I'm sure as hell not paying over 5k,even 3k, for such a small bathroom.

Any tips please send them my way. Being an absolute diy novice I am contemplating doing this on my own! 🤔🤔

I think you have two options. Tackling the job yourself to save money or saving until you can afford what sounds a reasonable price. Doing the former can be rewarding but I promise you that by the end of it you will appreciate why a good professional charges what they are charging.

What's "wrong" with the current set-up, other than perhaps it being tired and not to your taste? You may be able to refresh the look of it relatively cheaply and by DIY if the problems are cosmetic. Re-grouting around the tiles for example, re-doing the seals, painting the ceiling, new light fitting, etc. If there are more fundamental problems such as chipped or cracked sanitaryware, broken tiles, old plumbing and so on, you may as well have the lot done in one go. Having done a complete bathroom myself many years ago, I wouldn't do it again. I learned a lot, but learning on your own job is a recipe for frustration, cuts and bruises, frequent trips to the DIY store and nothing ever fits where it's supposed to!! On the plus side, in addition to plumbing and tiling skills, I also acquired a whole new vocabulary. Most of it unusable in polite society.

Polly05

Shop about some more.
Maybe search bathrooms on Facebook as there seems to be a lot of small companies doing it and putting before and after photos on Facebook...