Help me budget for my new bathroom

[cable_guy]

Hi all,

I'm a customer with not a clue about plumbing, and I'm trying to work out how much my new bathroom will cost me.

I've looked on Plumbcentre at costs of branded sanitary ware, and it looks as if I can get an Ideal Standard fairly modern looking suite for sub £600 do you think this is a good deal? I have no clue at all about what to buy, but I've browsed the forums and seen you chaps not recommend B&Q or Bathstore suites, and recommend brands instead which is why I browsed Plumbcentre. I would then need a single corner shower unit and tray for about £600 to replace the existing one, I'm looking at a bristan joy £160

Then there's the important bit - the fitting. I have no idea how much labour this is but I would appreciate guidance. It will be the removal and replacement of bath, sink (& pedestal) and toilet, half tiled wall replacing and carpet ripped up and replaced with tiles for the floor. I am happy for a worst case quote (things never seem simple when I'm getting stuff done so I might as well prepare for the worst case!)

I am then blown away by not just choices of tiles but choice of shops selling tiles, there are so many you would think the price would be forced down, but they still seem expensive. It's a big room so I'm budgeting £1000 for floor and wall tiles, no idea whether this is high or low.

To summarise:

Bath, Sink, Toilet ~ £600
Shower unit and shower ~ £600
Tiling ~ £1000
Fitting ~ £??
Extras ~ £300

I may be WILDLY Out here, I won't be offended if you point this out to me! I'm here for the advice on this - Thanks in advance!

 

[mountainman]

Why not get a couple of professional plumbers in to quote for the supply and fit and get a professional tiler to quote too.

 

[jtsplumbing]

As mountainman says get some prices to supply and fit think Plumb Center is quoteing you full retail prices, where are you located ? you have forgot one of the costly parts ! the shower screen .

 

[cable_guy]

As mountainman says get some prices to supply and fit think Plumb Center is quoteing you full retail prices, where are you located ? you have forgot one of the costly parts ! the shower screen .

Staffordshire. I thought I chose a shower with tray including glass, I chose this one :coram optima corner shower no idea what the quality of this "Coram" stuff is either.

I do agree I should get a plumber for a full quote but it's a house i've not moved into yet, the purchase is going through so I'm trying to budget as best I can to apportion where I'm going to spend my money.

 

[Roger Welton]

I couldn't be certain but think that is just the screen

 

[cable_guy]

oh i see, is it common to buy the frame and the glass separately then?

 

[cable_guy]

what do you guys think about the brands for sanitary ware i'm banding about by the way? Coram, Ideal Standard etc?

 

[mountainman]

So many makes but buying everything from one make isn't always the best idea.
For example.
I favoured Tavistock basins, toilets and built in units.
Ariston or Carron baths.
Any make of shower tray as long as it was resin.
Simpson shower enclosures and screens
Grohe or Aqualisa mixers or Triton Leccy.
You could spend as little as £1500 or as much as £12k or more on a modest size bathroom
There's no point in worrying about it right now, sales fall through regularly so perhaps you'd be best waiting until you move in.

 

[SimonG]

I use Mira flight trays and Coram premier shower enclosures. Both good quality and easy to install.

Without looking at the job it's difficult to give you an idea, but for install (inc. isolation valves, pan conn, traps etc) and tiling (inc. adhesives, grout and trims) I start at about 1800. Depends on size of room, qualty of materials supplied, size of tiles, border?, type of border (mosaic). You would need to supply sanitary ware, taps, shower and tiles.

 

[jase158]

just as a rough estimate, one of my recent customers say they spent £5,000 on there bathroom,
this includes,
tilers labour Usually £35 per square metre round here
My labour 4 x £180
Plasterers labour if walls need doing when tiles taken off, £200-300
cost of bathroom suite, shower enclosure, towel rad, basin and toilet (both were vanity units) depends on type you want and cost
tilers charge for taking tiles off of wall
wall tiles 18 metre squared (£20-£30 per metre squared)
Floor tiles (£20-£60 per metre squared)
Plumbing Materials (depends on where things are being moved to)
Electrician for lights £200-£300

There is a lot of variables, so a lot to consider, impossible to quote without seeing

 

[cable_guy]

thanks for the extra info chaps.

I use Mira flight trays and Coram premier shower enclosures. Both good quality and easy to install.

I know this might sound stupid (I told you I am clueless at plumbing) but would any make of shower enclosure go over any shower tray? There isn't a manufacturer specific "guiding" of the door onto the tray is there?

What do you guys think of these kind of taps from eBay for around £40? Are they complete junk or can some be alright?

 

[jtsplumbing]

The 15 year warranty dosent mean much, what does it cover ? its if you can get parts for it when it go's wrong, it could be ok, but i find with these flash style taps unless a well known make can prove to be a pain in the backside, and are they WRAS aproved ?

 

[SimonG]

thanks for the extra info chaps.

I know this might sound stupid (I told you I am clueless at plumbing) but would any make of shower enclosure go over any shower tray? There isn't a manufacturer specific "guiding" of the door onto the tray is there? QUOTE]

Not unless you buy one of these walk in showers. Just make sure your tray is cast resin.

 

[cable_guy]

Not unless you buy one of these walk in showers. Just make sure your tray is cast resin.

by "walk in showers" do you mean the ones for people in wheelchairs where you have a portion of the shower tray outside of the glass enclosure?

I am after something like this

 

[SimonG]

No, it's more of the ones with 2 pieces of curved glass to create a walkthrough into the showering area and don't have a door as such.

 

[cable_guy]

ahh right thanks. Yes I asked a guy what they were in B&Q and he said they were for disabled people.

So to confirm, any shower tray should be OK with any enclosure?

 

[SimonG]

For what your after I would say so. But definitely go for the cast resin tray, gives no movement in use so less chance of any leaks.

 

[TBServices]

I usually use Mira flights and Coram enclosures. Last job I used a JUST-TRAYS showertray, which I was impressed with.

Ideal suites are good. Jacuzzi pro baths are good.

Go into a local branch of the plumb centre and pick up a copy of their offers leaflet, also talk to the manager and talk about what you want - big orders should get you a discount.

Tbh the quality of the suite is secondary to the quality of the installation IMO.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[cable_guy]

Cheers TB services - I just looked at my mum's invoice from her recent bathroom, what do you think of the following brands?

Carronite, Roper Rhodes, Aqualisa and Amor?

I have never heard of them but then I know nothing about bathrooms. One thing bugging me is that I have a £50 eBay voucher I need to use in one transaction so naturally want to get something for my bathroom to lighten the load a little, but I can't think of anything I can buy that i know will fit in with the "style" as I havn't had a plumber out to look at it yet.

 

[cable_guy]

The 15 year warranty dosent mean much, what does it cover ? its if you can get parts for it when it go's wrong, it could be ok, but i find with these flash style taps unless a well known make can prove to be a pain in the backside, and are they WRAS aproved ?

Hi JTS, what bearing does the WRAS approval have? I checked and I don't think they are approved. May a decent plumber refuse to fit them if they're not approved?

I am amazed at the cost of branded taps so I'm looking to shave money where I can, obviously don't want to sacrifice quality but my budget is not large. If the taps work ok for 2-3 years that would be OK for me at the present time.

Another question - do you think 2nd hand branded taps and sanitary ware would be better than cheap stuff new from eBay?

 

[jtsplumbing]

WRAS is the water Regulations, they pass approved fittings, due to a lot of imports being made with sub-standerd materials that could cause contamination to the water supplies, if traced back to you or person who fitted them them a very large fine could be imposed, speak to your plumber about it ! Myself I will-not fit non-approved materials, Thats you, and your plumbers choice but on your head be it! Just because its WRAS do's not mean that it costs more.

 

[cable_guy]

WRAS is the water Regulations, they pass approved fittings, due to a lot of imports being made with sub-standerd materials that could cause contamination to the water supplies, if traced back to you or person who fitted them them a very large fine could be imposed, speak to your plumber about it ! Myself I will-not fit non-approved materials, Thats you, and your plumbers choice but on your head be it! Just because its WRAS do's not mean that it costs more.

fair enough yes I would be looking for WRAS taps, seeing as it doesn't mention it on the advert for that cheap tap I would have to assume it isn't WRAS.

To my second question then which I suppose is now even more important - do you consider used taps and sanitary ware of a good brand to be better than new cheaper stuff/non-branded?