New bathroom NOT using a company?

IvyFlood

We’re going through the process of getting quotes for our bathroom. It’s a small room (less than 5m2) and it’s a complete rip out and replace job.

So far we’ve only approached design studios/bathroom showrooms and we’ve been quoted 12.5k-15k. Now, I’m guessing the price includes a cut to them for the ‘service’ and I get they have overheads etc but I know exactly what I want so feel I don’t need the ‘design’ element of it.

But my worry is that if I approach a stand-alone plumber/fitter, will I be able to explain to them what I want for a successful finish without any drawings or plans etc? Is it likely to save much on cost?

Also, guessing I’d have to source my own suite & furniture? And organise the other trades; tiler, electrician etc.

Or if anyone has any advice in general about getting a new bathroom it would be much appreciated!

ashe

We had a builder do ours who also did plumbing 

we sourced our own suite, tiles, flooring and furniture after he gave us recommendations on bath size, sink size etc. ours included moving a toilet and moving a sink. He supplied things like pipes, grout, adhesive etc 

we saved quite a lot but sourcing your own stuff does have some pitfalls e.g if something break they may blame the part then you have to have it removed, claim warranty, have it refitted etc 



Below is what it was like before we moved in. It looks better than it is, and we hated it - the "tile" is all pvc panelling fake tile effect, vinyl  flooring had no underlay so cracked all over, waterfall taps on sink and bath that overshot basin / bath and no mirror in front of sink. Left wall totally wasted. 

We had big electric mirror cabinet put in and a 800mm wide sink / cabinet and moved the loo and it's such a better use of the space. We have a shower in the en suite 

Brie

Find someone local who has had work done recently and ask for recommendations.  When I've had stuff done I keep a record of who did what - especially if they are subcontractors - so that I know who to ask for help when it's needed at some point. 

When we had our bathroom done by a large DIY type company they sent out a plumber to check that everything was going to work ok.  Now neither me or the OH are DIY types but this guy knew less about building than we do.  So OH called up the company and told them no way was he going to be doing any work for us.  They sent out a second chap who was lovely, pointed out where we were being oversold by the company, advised which bits to cancel, what tiling would work best etc.  Quick, prompt, tidy.  If I'd known him in advance I would have cut out the company.  

If you do go through a company though check what is being quoted for.  Ours was simply for the fittings.  And chap was paid separately & directly based on time spent.

IvyFlood

ashe said:

We had a builder do ours who also did plumbing 

we sourced our own suite, tiles, flooring and furniture after he gave us recommendations on bath size, sink size etc. ours included moving a toilet and moving a sink. He supplied things like pipes, grout, adhesive etc 

we saved quite a lot but sourcing your own stuff does have some pitfalls e.g if something break they may blame the part then you have to have it removed, claim warranty, have it refitted etc 



Below is what it was like before we moved in. It looks better than it is, and we hated it - the "tile" is all pvc panelling fake tile effect, vinyl  flooring had no underlay so cracked all over, waterfall taps on sink and bath that overshot basin / bath and no mirror in front of sink. Left wall totally wasted. 

We had big electric mirror cabinet put in and a 800mm wide sink / cabinet and moved the loo and it's such a better use of the space. We have a shower in the en suite 

What a fantastic job he's done! Yeah I totally get what you mean when you say the old bathroom looks better than it was - ours is exactly the same! Looks quite modern but when you look closely, corners have been cut and its just not to our taste!

Can I ask how did you source your own suite, furniture etc? Was it just a case of looking through brochures or did you order online? 

Tiles Is easy, you just go to the shop and select the tiles you like based on seeing/feeling them! But with the other stuff I'm not so sure. Did your builder also do your tiling and did you need an electritian?

House_owner

I had my bathroom done recently and used an independent Bathroom fitter (his entire business is to fit bathrooms) He did all the plumbing, fitting and electrical work needed. I asked him to price me up a mid range bathroom. After doing the measurements, he put the order together for me from the suppliers after I said I was satisfied. I chose the tiles and flooring from a shop where he got a discount. He arranged for all these to be delivered to my house in time for the bathroom to be fitted. Fairly small bathroom - had bath, shower over bath, toilet, washbasin, storage cupboard, walls completely tiled, floor tiled, new lighting, new ceiling.  He also arranged for a skip to put the old bathroom in. All in, including taking the old bathroom out, fitting, materials and all furniture for about £6000

IvyFlood

House_owner said:

I had my bathroom done recently and used an independent Bathroom fitter (his entire business is to fit bathrooms) He did all the plumbing, fitting and electrical work needed. I asked him to price me up a mid range bathroom. After doing the measurements, he put the order together for me from the suppliers after I said I was satisfied. I chose the tiles and flooring from a shop where he got a discount. He arranged for all these to be delivered to my house in time for the bathroom to be fitted. Fairly small bathroom - had bath, shower over bath, toilet, washbasin, storage cupboard, walls completely tiled, floor tiled, new lighting, new ceiling.  He also arranged for a skip to put the old bathroom in. All in, including taking the old bathroom out, fitting, materials and all furniture for about £6000

That sounds like a good price! Was that recent?

In my head I had budgeted no more than 10k and wondered even then if I was being generous! I just know a lot of things have gone up due to Brexit/Pandemic etc.

sugar-walsh

I've never considered a bathroom company.
I bought a 2nd hand bath for £50. It is massive, and was the catalyst for a complete bathroom make over .

A separate shower and taps were sourced new from Facebook, the old sink reused. We don't have a loo in the bathroom, weird victorian house.

A new rad, flooring, tiled and a new laundry space (separated off) was created. A new light too. 

We paid a plumber, electrician and floor fitter. Husband did the tiling. Cost us less than 3k in total. 

If you look around and are prepared to wait whilst you collect the right bits, you can create something amazing without it costing the earth.

Nearlyold

House_owner said:

I had my bathroom done recently and used an independent Bathroom fitter (his entire business is to fit bathrooms) He did all the plumbing, fitting and electrical work needed. I asked him to price me up a mid range bathroom. After doing the measurements, he put the order together for me from the suppliers after I said I was satisfied. I chose the tiles and flooring from a shop where he got a discount. He arranged for all these to be delivered to my house in time for the bathroom to be fitted. Fairly small bathroom - had bath, shower over bath, toilet, washbasin, storage cupboard, walls completely tiled, floor tiled, new lighting, new ceiling.  He also arranged for a skip to put the old bathroom in. All in, including taking the old bathroom out, fitting, materials and all furniture for about £6000

Sounds just like the guy we use. We got to know our fitter when he was a customer of a business we ran. We've had him fit a new ensuite, a bathroom with shower, a downstairs cloakroom and a kitchen and utility and he's coming back soon to add an ensuite to the second bedroom. He's an absolute perfectionist and has a good eye for design. we tell him what style we want and leave him to pick the fittings. There's no hassle when he's working for us, we go away on holiday and leave him to it. Our neighbour has started using him too.

ashe

IvyFlood said:

ashe said:

We had a builder do ours who also did plumbing 

we sourced our own suite, tiles, flooring and furniture after he gave us recommendations on bath size, sink size etc. ours included moving a toilet and moving a sink. He supplied things like pipes, grout, adhesive etc 

we saved quite a lot but sourcing your own stuff does have some pitfalls e.g if something break they may blame the part then you have to have it removed, claim warranty, have it refitted etc 



Below is what it was like before we moved in. It looks better than it is, and we hated it - the "tile" is all pvc panelling fake tile effect, vinyl  flooring had no underlay so cracked all over, waterfall taps on sink and bath that overshot basin / bath and no mirror in front of sink. Left wall totally wasted. 

We had big electric mirror cabinet put in and a 800mm wide sink / cabinet and moved the loo and it's such a better use of the space. We have a shower in the en suite 

What a fantastic job he's done! Yeah I totally get what you mean when you say the old bathroom looks better than it was - ours is exactly the same! Looks quite modern but when you look closely, corners have been cut and its just not to our taste!

Can I ask how did you source your own suite, furniture etc? Was it just a case of looking through brochures or did you order online? 

Tiles Is easy, you just go to the shop and select the tiles you like based on seeing/feeling them! But with the other stuff I'm not so sure. Did your builder also do your tiling and did you need an electritian?

I just found the style and brands that I liked - alm our taps and toilets are RAK for example so found the range that I liked and then found the best priced supplier, made sure to check reviews on as many sites as possible for each item. He did the electrical work, whether he should have or not but he does extensions etc and does pretty much everything. 

FFHillbilly

IvyFlood said:

Now, I’m guessing the price includes a cut to them for the ‘service’ and I get they have overheads etc but I know exactly what I want so feel I don’t need the ‘design’ element of it.

Most of the time the designing part takes them a few minutes, it's not  what they charge their fees for, what they do is manage the job so you don't have to. if you think it's difficult as a customer finding a quote for a "complete" bathroom, then try finding separate quotes from plumbers, electricians, gas engineers, tilers, plasterers, joiners etc, AND THEN,  try getting them to all work together in a quick fashion without any massive delays
if you can find a one man band type of guy who can do everything then I don't get why you feel you won't be able to explain what you want done, draw plans yourself and show them to him?

IvyFlood said

 Is it likely to save much on cost?

depends on how much you earn per hour on your normal job and how much you value your free time? for example if you are a solicitor and you spend 2 days researching and planning to save £200 off the bill then no, it's not saving you money, but if you are unemployed then yes it will save you money...

IvyFlood said:

Also, guessing I’d have to source my own suite & furniture? And organise the other trades; tiler, electrician etc

If you buy it all yourself you are liable for the warranty, for example, if you pay the fitter to supply and fit a bath, they will likely mark every bath that they sell by about 10% to cover all eventualities, and in the even of  a faulty bath they will likely get a replacement from the manufacturer at no cost but will have to bear the labour to replace it.
if you supply the bath, they just fit it. and if it leaks or breaks and it's down to a manufacturing defect, thats your problem. you will have to liase with the manufacturer, organise delivery of a new bath, maybe send the old one back, and then pay the fitter to come back and replace the bath.

House_owner

IvyFlood said:

House_owner said:

I had my bathroom done recently and used an independent Bathroom fitter (his entire business is to fit bathrooms) He did all the plumbing, fitting and electrical work needed. I asked him to price me up a mid range bathroom. After doing the measurements, he put the order together for me from the suppliers after I said I was satisfied. I chose the tiles and flooring from a shop where he got a discount. He arranged for all these to be delivered to my house in time for the bathroom to be fitted. Fairly small bathroom - had bath, shower over bath, toilet, washbasin, storage cupboard, walls completely tiled, floor tiled, new lighting, new ceiling.  He also arranged for a skip to put the old bathroom in. All in, including taking the old bathroom out, fitting, materials and all furniture for about £6000

That sounds like a good price! Was that recent?

In my head I had budgeted no more than 10k and wondered even then if I was being generous! I just know a lot of things have gone up due to Brexit/Pandemic etc.

Done in November last year - and he did an excellent job. I did have to book him 6 months in advance - his reputation is so good.