bathroom
Bathroom installation and fitting
A full bathroom refit costs £4,000 to £9,000 including labour, sanitaryware and tiling, and takes seven to fourteen working days. The plumbing itself is often only a third of that. What moves the price is whether anything changes position.
What this covers
What it costs. A full bathroom refit costs £4,000 to £9,000 with mid-range fittings. Full cost breakdown.
What the job covers
- Full bathroom strip-outs and refits
- Wet rooms and level access showers
- En suites and cloakrooms in new positions
- Moving a soil connection or waste run
- First fix pipework before tiling and plastering
What is involved
A refit divides into first fix and second fix. First fix is the invisible half: strip out, alter the hot, cold and waste runs, set the soil connection, board and tank the walls where a shower will go, and pressure test everything before it is covered. Second fix is fitting the bath, basin, WC and shower, connecting the wastes, sealing and commissioning. Tiling, plastering and electrics sit between the two, which is why a bathroom is a sequence of trades rather than one visit.
Moving the WC is the decision that costs money. A soil pipe needs a fall of around 1 in 40 and a short run to the stack, so a WC that moves more than a metre or two either needs the floor lifting or a macerator, and a macerator brings its own limits on what can be flushed. Baths and basins are far more forgiving because their wastes are small and can be routed further.
A wet room is not simply a shower without a tray. The whole floor has to fall to the gully, the floor build-up has to accommodate that fall, and the walls and floor have to be tanked as a continuous waterproof layer behind the tiles. Done properly it lasts decades. Done as a tiled floor with a drain in it, it leaks into the room below within two years, and the repair means taking the room out again.
Full bathroom strip-outs and refits, one of the jobs a bathroom fitting specialist is hired for.
Choosing someone for the job
Ask who is managing the trades, because a bathroom needs a plumber, a tiler, a plasterer and an electrician and somebody has to sequence them. Ask whether the quote includes tanking behind the shower and what system is used. Ask to see the pressure test before anything is boarded over. Get the sanitaryware chosen before work starts, because a different bath length changes the pipework.
Common questions
How long does a bathroom take to fit?
Seven to fourteen working days for a standard refit, longer for a wet room or where walls move. Expect the room to be out of use for the whole period.
Can I move the toilet?
A short distance, yes, if the floor can take the new soil run at the right fall. Beyond a metre or two it usually means lifting the floor or fitting a macerator, and both change the cost.