Is this quote for home improvements fair?

denisse

Hi there,

We are looking to do some renovations and decorations in a flat we have just bought in London. The works we are doing are:

• Bathroom: remove old wall cabinets; install a shower head for the bath and move the bath mixer and taps (pipework reconfiguration needed); tile to half-height; install shower screen.
• Shower Room: retile shower enclosure and install shower screen; tile to half-heigh all around.
• Paintwork: 2-bedroom flat, around 80 sqm. The main colour is light grey or similar and 1 feature wall in both bedrooms and the living room.
• Electrical: install 4 spotlights in the bathroom and remove a hanging lamp; install 8 spotlights in the living room; install shaver outlet in the bathroom; install additional electrical outlet in the kitchen.
• Woodwork: Paint all woodwork in white; fix french wooden doors that are swollen and jammed.

The first quote we received was for £7,500 including labour and materials. Unfortunately, the tradesman wasn't able to provide a breakdown of the cost per room or per labour/materials.

Does that sound like a reasonable price?

Thanks!

Undervalued

I am sure it could be done for a lot less! Do you have an idea of the cost of the materials and fittings you want? Things like shower screens, taps and indeed tiles can vary hugely in price depending on style and quality. The labour however will be much the same to fit cheap items as it is for expensive ones.

Almost certainly if you sourced all the items and were able to find a plumber, electrician and decorator who were willing to work labour only at sensible hourly rates the total cost would be a lot less.

However, if you only want to deal with one person, who then arranges everything else and manages the project then the figure you mention may be about right? It will also vary quite a lot from area to area depending on demand.

Finally does £7.5K include VAT or is there another £1.5K on top?