What's the best choice for getting a bathroom renovated?

HurlyBurly

I'm moving house soon and its a good place but needs the bathroom redoing.

I have none of the skill necessary to redo it myself so I'm wondering what's the best way to go about it?  Is it worth going to one of those bathroom specialist places/somewhere like Wicks and getting them to do it all?  Should I buy the stuff seperately then get all the different trades people to come in seperately?

All advice is welcome.

Albermarle

Probably the best way ( but probably not the cheapest) is to find a local tradesperson who specialises in bathrooms, ( probably a plumber who has learnt other trades) . They will probably do most of it themselves and bring in any help when needed.
You will probably have a couple of pre meetings /chats to agree on exactly what to do/what is possible/difficult.
They might buy all the stuff or you might buy some of it direct.
A good one will be in demand so you will probably have to be patient. 

maman

We've done it two ways. For our main bathroom, we had a local guy who advertised as a bathroom fitter. He was a plumber but he project managed and sub contracted to electrician, tiler etc. He recommended a (expensive but excellent quality) bathroom showroom where we just went and chose what we wanted. 

More recently, we've had an extension built including a shower room. We bought the fittings ourselves, some online (same brand as the main bathroom but cheaper than the showroom) and some from B&Q (taps, shower, mirrored cabinet ). The builder used his own plumber to install.

It depends whether you have the time/funds to project manage yourself as you'll need more than a plumber to do all the other refurbishment tasks involved . Having a project manager with the trade contacts is definitely easier but more expensive.

I'd definitely ask around for word of mouth recommendations from neighbours and friends. 

Albermarle

For our main bathroom, we had a local guy who advertised as a bathroom fitter. He was a plumber but he project managed and sub contracted to electrician, tiler etc.

The one we had literally did everything himself, apart from some labour help to clear the old tiles, shower, sink etc.
The electrical stuff was just DIY type stuff only though. 

Brie

We went to Wickes when we needed to renovate a bathroom to make it suitable for my aged MiL.  Wickes sold us the idea of stripping the whole room back to the tiles with new furniture and fixture all round.  The arranged for someone to come out and measure up and ensure that everything would work ok.  Chap showed up and frankly it didn't appear to know one end of a hammer from the other.  He was sent away and we complained to Wickes. 

They sent a different bloke and he was great.  Measured everything, starting crossing things off the order list to say they weren't needed, asked why we were getting a new sink and toilet when ours were fine.  Considered the situation of MiL plus carer needing to be in the shower at the same time and said he would use more re-enforcement under the shower than is standard.   His knowledge and work cut about 30% off the price we paid in the end.  

We've had similar from B&Q when doing 2 different kitchens.  Both places sell similar products at similar prices and have similar sales so I can't see the difference between them.  What is different is the person actually doing the work.  Unless you know for sure that someone is a good quality worker you don't know what you will be getting.  If it's a new area where you don't know anyone it's hard to find someone that might recommend someone.  

Labtebricolist

In our last house but one, one of the bathrooms had been done by B&Q and it was absolutely awful. Crap fitted units and cheap wobbly brassware.  Perhaps not representative, but I wasn’t impressed.

Find a local fitter, as others suggested.  You can usually save a bit by sourcing the main items yourself, though sometimes it’s marginal.

jinsta

I'd look for a tried and reccomended fitter and grab bits needed myself. Done bathroom recently and got bulk of of it from victoria plumbing, some via amazon as worked out cheaper + tiles via local supplier. Think came to around £2.5k in bits + 2.8k fitting. Kind of budgeted around 5K, so went over. 

twopenny

A lot depends on just what you want done.
Replacing what is there with more up to date fittings or a complete turn around involving stripping tiles from walls, re routing plumbing etc.

When trying to get local trades they have their choice of easier jobs or gold bath type rooms that have a high reward.

If simple then local trades are good but expect a long wait. If more complicated then as a friend advised, head for the super stores.
I eventually found a small company of trades from 25miles away providing I bought the fittings from a local plumbers merchant.
Worked ok.