Getting a new bathroom, where to start? How to save money?

Sportacus

I'm looking to replace bath and basin, and add a shower cubicle, will definitely involve some re-tiling and decorating.  Not sure where to start, had a look at local bathroom showrooms online but they all look too fancy and probably really expensive (I notice they provide no prices on the website).  I just want a normal bathroom suite for a normal person.

Would it be best to start with finding a bathroom fitter, and have them quote the labour and recommend where I should buy the suite from? I did this with my kitchen and it worked out well.

Ebe_Scrooge

That's one way of doing it.  As always, try and get recommendations from friends/neighbours/local Facebook group if you can, far better than some random person from Check-A-trade or whatever.

For a bog-standard (if you'll pardon the pun!) bathroom suite, places like Wickes, B&Q, Screwfix etc. have "basic" stuff for a good price if you don't want anything fancy.

How handy are you at DIY?  A straight like-for-like swap for bathroom furniture is not difficult - it's only when you start re-routing pipework and drainage that it gets a bit more involved.

But if you're going to get someone in to do it, you can ask them to recommend places to buy from - any decent plumber will have one or more stockists that they regularly use.  Or you could even say "Could you get this one from Wickes", for instance.  Ask for a price - there's a chance that, depending on where you buy from, they can get it cheaper than you can if they get a trade discount.

ChilliBob

Having done an en suite and a family bathroom in the last few months (the latter finished yesterday)...

Bath, basin and shower tray should not be expensive for half decent stuff - stone resin tray if you can. 

Where the cost can really escalate, in my view:

Tiles - 20£ sqm vs 80 makes a big difference!
Shower glass - some is very cheap, some silly expensive... Try to get 8mm glass thou, feels more sturdy and nice to use.
Vanity - some prices are ridiculous here, and I'm not convinced they're miles better!

But yeah, a decent fitter will likely have good contacts, and may even pick the bits up for you

rob7475

If you're going to use a bathroom fitter, try and get them to source the items. If you source your own, you may find the fitter isn't interested if there's any problems down the line.

If you're having it re-tiled, maybe consider the PVC panels you can get. Personally, I don't really like them but they can work out much cheaper than tiles as it's less work for the plumber so you save a bit on labour charges.

Try and find a local recommended fitter rather than using a DIY store's own fitters.

Depending how confident you are with DIY, you could do it all yourself and save a fortune. The last bathroom I did in a house I was renovating to sell cost me about £1k. That was for a full bathroom suite, shower, tiled floor and half walls, heated towel radiator and underfloor heating etc.

danrv

rob7475 said:

If you're having it re-tiled, maybe consider the PVC panels you can get. Personally, I don't really like them but they can work out much cheaper than tiles as it's less work for the plumber so you save a bit on labour charges.

I’m currently fitting these DIY. They’re going over the bath so a fair bit of careful measuring and cutting down involved. A plane is very useful for fine trimming.
For a seperate shower cubicle they’d be ideal as it’s what their designed for.

Agree, can save a fortune if you can DIY. In my case £5k but it’s taking a long time.