Guide for getting a new bathroom

Is it time to upgrade your bathroom? A bathroom refurbishment can increase the value of a property and considerably increase the level of comfort in your home. Having experience with so many bathroom refurbishments in the past few years, we consider that it would be helpful to write a guide for someone that wants to get a new bathroom. We operate mainly in Aberdeen and close surroundings, but this guide should be useful for anyone in the UK.

1.Know exactly how much you want to pay

Knowing how much you can afford for a bathroom would make things easier for you when you contact tradesmen or shop around in showrooms. From our experience, on average you should probably consider at least a sum between £4000 and £6000 for a full bathroom refurbishment. If you want luxury products, then you can easily go over £10 000 for your project. VictoriaPlum says that the UK average for fitting a new bathroom is £4 500, but it doesn’t offer details on the complexity of the project; we could offer a decent supply&fit bathroom for this amount, but on average you won’t get this price from a business unless you buy the products yourself and get bathroom fitters to fit them.

Bathrooms increase the value of a house by roughly 5%, as this Telegraph article says. This is an average of around £15 000 in the UK, £10 000 in Aberdeen and around £12 000 in Edinburgh. But doing a bathroom just for the potential benefits in increasing the value is not a good strategy. Yes, if you have a really old bathroom, it will significantly increase the price of a house, but it won’t increase so much if you replace a 2 years old bathroom.

When doing a new bathroom, think more about your level of comfort instead of value. For example, a bathroom would last at least 5-10 years before it gets obsolete. How much is worth per month to have a bathroom that will make your friends/family envious when they visit you? Or how much is worth for you upgrading to a more powerful shower? There are many variables different for each of you but, on average, people value home improvements a lot. Just make sure you don’t go over your budget too much, instead of spending all your savings on an extremely fancy bathroom, it’s probably better to spend the savings on different home improvements.

If your budget is really a problem, you might be elligible for a FREE bathroom or kitchen from the council. In Aberdeen, you can find more details here.

 

2. Do you want a bathroom refurbishment or a new bathroom built from scratch?

Easier to say than done, you should think what kind of bathroom makes more sense for you. Do you want to refurbish your bathroom or create a new one from scratch? The first one is the easiest one as it doesn’t involve planning or building regulations application.  In this case, you simply rip out the old bathroom and fit the new products. Nevertheless, you are very flexible to what you can do as you can easily change the layout of the bathroom, extend it sometimes to a certain degree into other rooms or wardrobes, lower the ceiling and pretty much everything that doesn’t involve creating a new room from scratch.

The more complex part is when you want to create an ensuite into a bedroom for example. These types of projects might involve the submission of a building warrant, but this is not always necessary. It usually depends on the type of building. As a rule of thumb, buildings under 3 levels won’t require a building warrant. Depending on where you stay in the UK, you might have a local team at the city council that deals with these sort of issues. If you live in Aberdeen, then you can contact the local building warrants team and they are there to help you with free advice. You can easily contact the Aberdeen team by clicking here.

Sometimes even a simple refurbishment might require a building warrant if you want to remove a structural wall, for example. But these sort of projects are usually rare between them, meaning that most likely you’ll need a simple bathroom refurbishment.

 

3. Decide the type of products you want

There might seem like having a lot of options when it comes to bathrooms, but you’re actually limited to just a few choice in terms of what you get. But don’t worry, you have thousands of ways to personalise it. There are many places where you can see these products, we gave you some online example below. In general, it’s cheaper online, but you lose the opportunity to see the product before buying it (returns are not easy for these large items)

3.1 Walls: Do you prefer wetwall, tiles or plaster? Or a combination of these?

Everyone is different and has different requirements. When it comes to walls the choice is usually between wetwall, tiles or plaster. The wetwall is a modern material that allows for easy cleaning and is maintenance free due to it being grout free. You can take a look at how these look here.  They are usually more affordable than tiles, but at the same time, they look cheaper somehow.

When it comes to wetwall (which is also called aquapanel), you can choose two types of wetwall: UPVC or MDF ones. The UPVC is cheaper but is not necessarily worse. It’s more sensitive to sharp objects, but it’s better waterproofing. We had jobs that involved removing MDF wetwall sheets as they got a small scratch and the water slowly destroyed them; this is why we usually recommend the UPVC sheets.

When it comes to tiles, the options are incredible. There are stores specialised in selling these and the effect is very luxurious. The price varies extensively, but you usually get what you pay. You can get tiles from £7 per square meter to £100+, with some very good options are £40-£50 mark. We usually get our tiles from CTD tiles, as they offer good value for money.

Some people simply prefer plastering and then being able to paint over it. Doing so it allows you to improve the bathroom every now and then by simply applying a few coats of paint. You can personalise it further by using different colors. It’s also a very affordable solution in terms of labor and materials.

 

3.2 Ceiling: UPVC or plaster? Spotlights or normal light?

Do you prefer to have the ceiling plastered or to use UPVC cladding? The latter approach might be a good solution if you have mould problems in the property or high humidity. It basically allows the ceiling to look brand new all the time. If you usually have high humidity in the bathroom, this might also be fixed by fitting an extractor fan or upgrading the current one if you already have one.

For the ceiling, many people choose spotlights (correctly called downlights). These spotlights usually have LED light which is very cheap to run and doesn’t emit heat. By not emitting heat they are much safer compared to the traditional halogen ones; the new building standards force new properties to use energy efficient lights. And they are also 12V lights, which makes them even safer.

3.3 Flooring: Tiles, laminate or vynil flooring? Underfloor heating?

Most customers choose between these 3 types of flooring: tiles, vynil laminate, and normal vynil. The first type is the most common type for older buildings or more expensive bathrooms. You can get different types of tiles, some of them look really good. We especially like the granite tiles, but these can be quite expensive. The cheapest type of tiles are the ones you find in places like B&Q. If saving money is your goal, you can save a few percentage by borrowing your trades people membership card (for some products you get some trade discounts, but don’t expect us to pay peanuts for what we buy, on average the savings are not more than 5-10%).

The second option, the laminate is our favorite. And we don’t talk about the normal laminate that you use in normal rooms, but the 100% waterproof. This type of flooring is very resistant in time and easier to maintain as it doesn’t have any grout. With the laminate flooring, the flooring feels warmer compared to tiles.

The last option, the vynil (also called lino flooring) is really cheap to buy and fit. This is usually suited for ultra budget bathrooms and we don’t use very often. You can find different levels of quality, it makes sense to pay a little bit more for a thicker one.  There are many places selling them, like B&Q or Carpet Right.

Lastly, you get the option for underfloor heating. This will probably increase the price somewhere between £500-£1000 for your bathroom, but it might be well worth it. There are two types of underfloor heating: electric and water based. The electric one is cheaper and for a small bathroom is not really worth it investing in an expensive water-based system. For large areas in a house, a water-based underfloor heating might be a better option.

 

3.4 Radiator

In this case, you don’t get many options. Most people choose a towel radiator, but you can choose a normal radiator as well. You can find a series of towel radiator at Screwfix (they offer free delivery). A more modern approach would be to use a column radiator with a towel rail like in this example.

3.5 Extractor fan

Don’t forget about getting an extractor fan. Some bathrooms need an extractor fan more than others. Depending on where the bathroom is located in the house, you might have different options for this. The easiest option would be to drill a hole and get it outside using a normal extractor fan like this you can find at Toolstation.  This particular extractor fan has a humidistat, a sensor that stops the extractor fan when the humidity drops under a chosen level. Otherwise, you can get a simple timer extractor fan that works for a certain amount of time after you switch off the lights.

Sometimes a simple extractor fan can’t be fitted. An option would be to get an inline extractor fan that fits onto the ceiling of the bathroom and is ducted outside (usually through the roof). In the bathroom, the extractor fan is disguised as a light, as you can see in this example.

3.6 Shower enclosure or bath

You will have to decide if you want a shower enclosure or bathtub for your bathroom. You can get both of them if your bathroom is big enough or you can get the middle option, which is a bathtub with a shower screen.

If you choose the shower enclosure route, you have a few options as well. You can get a normal shower enclosure with glass all around (we recommend you 6mm at least) like this one.  They come in a series of shapes and sizes, so you should be able to find something for your bathroom. If you prefer less glass, then you can get a frameless shower enclosure like this one. Finally, we have more and more customers they want walk-in-showers with fixed glass. You can see an example of such a fitted shower by us here or you can buy them from places like BetterBathrooms.

When it comes to bathtubs, again you can buy them in a series of shapes at different prices: you can get corner bathtubs, straight ones, L shaped, P shaped.

3.7 Sink and toilet

You get a wide range of sink and toilets. You can find sinks that are wall mounted, pedestal sinks or which come with a vanity unit.  The prices vary considerably, but in general they suit many budgets.

In the case of the toilet, you can get pretty much the same: wall mounted toilets, normal toilets or toilets with units that hide the cistern. If you shop around, you’ll see more options, but the ones we enumerated are the most common ones. Generally, people choose a pack of a combination of toilet and sink.

3.8 Accessories: Mirror, toilet roll holder

Don’t forget about these accessories. Recently, there is an increase in the number of people that use heated mirrors. They are a great option which is not really that expensive.

3.9 Shower mixer tap/electric shower

It’s extremely important to buy a reliable one. We generally use Mira, as they seem to last forever. If you want a thermostatic one, you could choose this one as it represents very good value for money. If you don’t have a proper boiler for hot water, you might consider fitting a power shower if you have a water tank in the loft.

A thermostatic shower mixer is the better option if you have gas heating. The price per kW with gas is around 3-4 times cheaper compared to the electric equivalent, so go for this option if you can. If you can’t, then an instant electric shower is a good option. If you have an existing shower that was fitted a while ago, the maximum power it can use is around 8-9 kW as it uses a 6mm electric cable. If you want a more powerful one, you’ll need to replace the shower cable with a 10mm one. Again, we recommend the Mira showers. If you have a 6mm cable and you don’t want to replace the cable, then you can buy an Airboost Mira that creates the effect of a stronger flow by using air. If you’re going to use a 10mm cable, then a 10.8 kW Mira shower is a good choice.

3.10 Other materials: plasterboards, CLS, paint, plaster, plywood, adhesives, sealants, plumbing bits and so on

You have to think about these materials if you want to supply your own bathroom suite. We include these materials when we offer a labour only quotes, as it’s much easier for us to supply these rather than you. It more expensive and inconvenient for both of us if you to supply these. But some other tradesmen will add this to the final invoice!

When it comes to plumbing, some tradesmen use plastic connectors and pipes. Beware of this option, as they are not very reliable. Copper pipes and connectors are more expensive and much harder to work with, but they are much longer lasting. You’ll pay less in time with copper plumbing.

4 Contact tradesmen and get 3 quotes!

Once you have a good idea of what you should buy, it’s time to contact contractors. You’ll see that there are so many out there, with prices that vary a lot. If you want a supply&fit bathroom, then your best option is to tell the contractors the type of products and bathroom you want and give each contractor your budget. For example, if you have £5000 for a bathroom, then you’ll want to get most from this money. If you know exactly what you want, then don’t give the contractors your budget, but rather give them very specific information about the type of products that you want.

It’s your decision how you compare the contractors but bear in mind that the quality differs among businesses. Some businesses offer good prices in order to grow, some companies charge high prices as they are established for a long time, some are really cheap but will charge you more during the course of the job. Depending on the region you live, the price will differ considerably. Ideally would be to find a business that is growing. Those companies offer the best value for money and are very likely to be around for a long while.

We recommend you to get 3 quotes if you value your time and contractors’ time. 3 quotes should be enough to get you a fair view of the market. We had a customer that had 24 quotes before us, this means a lot of time wasted on both sides. And remember, getting a quote from a company and not doing the job with them most likely means that for the next job they will be disinterested in you.

You can use websites like MyBuilder or RatedPeople to get quotes. We have an account with both of them, but almost never use RatedPeople as they don’t offer a very good service to tradesmen. Once in a while, we take jobs from MyBuilder, but not very often. Most of the times we prefer to take jobs from references or other ways of marketing.

MyBuilder and RatedPeople will probably give you some mixed quotes. Bear in mind that the very cheap quotes will generally be from those companies that traded for a few months only; this is not necessarily bad if that business continues trading, but the risk of it ceasing trade are quite high.

If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest price, probably Gumtree is the place you should be searching on. You will most likely find sole traders that usually try to do some extra cash during evenings or weekends. Nothing wrong with this, but some quotes are ridiculously cheap ,if you compute how much that guy is earning per hour is something around £3-£4. No one in the right mind would work for such low prices, so be very careful if you choose this route.

 

We hope that this guide is useful. Good luck with your project!