Quote for installing a new bathroom suite and tiling, is it for real?

sabiki2

I have a really funky 1970's pastel blue bathroom suite that I am finally going to get rid of and replace with a standard cheap white suite. I got a tiler/plumber combination quote to re-tile the bathroom, floor and 4 walls (exclude a door and one window) and plumb in the new suite in the same places the old ones are.

Bathroom is small, 168cm x 220cm (66 inches x 86 inches).
Just want to simply replace the toilet, wash hand basin and bath. Some tiles are loose so can't be tiled over, they are also painted with that glossy tile paint, so probably best to remove all existing tiles (room is originally only half tiled).

How does 2,300 euro "cash" sound in total for the trademen work to just tile and plumb? It's more money that I can afford or feel like paying in cash, so I'm thinking of doing the tiling myself although I have little experience of it. I'd still need a plumber though to disconnect / connect. Am I crazy to think about tiling? How long would it take an amateur? I realise I'd be without a bathroom for the time it takes to disconnect - tile - install new suite.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions or suggestions.
Thanks.

Dingatron

No your not crazy, thats a ridiculus quote. In the middle of doing mine. Plumbing €350 including fitting of new power shower, tower rad and changes to the existing pipe layout. Tiling will be around €400 for floor and floor to ceiling tiles. Bathroom is around 8 x 8. Is that including fixtures etc? If not shop around.

311

sabiki2 wrote:

I have a really funky 1970's pastel blue bathroom suite that I am finally going to get rid of and replace with a standard cheap white suite. I got a tiler/plumber combination quote to re-tile the bathroom, floor and 4 walls (exclude a door and one window) and plumb in the new suite in the same places the old ones are.

Bathroom is small, 168cm x 220cm (66 inches x 86 inches).
Just want to simply replace the toilet, wash hand basin and bath. Some tiles are loose so can't be tiled over, they are also painted with that glossy tile paint, so probably best to remove all existing tiles (room is originally only half tiled).

How does 2,300 euro "cash" sound in total for the trademen work to just tile and plumb? It's more money that I can afford or feel like paying in cash, so I'm thinking of doing the tiling myself although I have little experience of it. I'd still need a plumber though to disconnect / connect. Am I crazy to think about tiling? How long would it take an amateur? I realise I'd be without a bathroom for the time it takes to disconnect - tile - install new suite.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions or suggestions.
Thanks.

Thats a very good price ,that price is for tiling and plumbing :eek:

311

Don't worry about your toilet ,you can leave the old one temporarily connected at the soil pipe and throw buckets of water down.

Get everything else ready before you finally disconnect ,tiles off walls and floors ready.

The Muppet

Taking off the old tiles could cause you some problems with crumbling plaster , why not reline the walls with wpb if you are going to DIY. That would give nice smooth walls to work with .

Dingatron

The Muppet wrote:

Taking off the old tiles could cause you some problems with crumbling plaster , why not reline the walls with wpb if you are going to DIY. That would give nice smooth walls to work with .

Yeah I had to replace one of the walls after removing tiles off the wall. This was much easier than I expected it to be. Also as I'm going the whole way up the wall, I didn't need to skim it. €2,300 seems excessive for the size of bathroom unless that's including the suite as well.

dark_jedi_ire

Dont think your mad at all.

I did this last year ,. guted the Bathroom , binned the bath got new sink toilet shower enclosure and tiles and did it myself.. cost me 600 euros And about 2 days work with hardly any experience of plumbing or tilling. ( never tiled in My life before ) Buy the X `s that you get in tile shops for Spacing and it was easy, Even an arcitect mate said a did a better job that he has seen in some new buildings, So Was chuffed.

just think about what needs to be done . sit down with pen and paper . have a good think and plan it , And go For it,. you will come into some mistakes but they should be easy to fix and its a great learning process and something to be proud of )

Hope it works out Well For yeh.

garyh3

Hi

Just finished my en-suite bathroom myself. I took out the toilet and basin which was really simple. I just bought the 1/2 inch brass end caps for capping off the pipes. Turned off the water and capped off the cold and then the hot pipe used a bit of the upvc white tape and no leaks.

New house so I didnt have to take off the old stuff first but with the help of a few board members tiling advice (thanks to you all) it went without any problem. New tiles fitted, I also fitted new shower head.

Looking at the pipe connections in woodies most of the brass connectors are really simple to fit or you can use those flexable hose fittings which they also sell to connectt your new toiled and basin.

I would say have a go youself and see how you get on.

Garyh3

311

In a bathroom the necessities for blanking off the open ends are,
2 x 1/2" 351's for the sink
2 x 3/4" 351's for the bath
Maybe a 1/2" stop valve (367)for the toilet pipe so you dont have to go downstairs to fill a bucket.

The flexible hoses are brilliant ,you can even get them with little valves built in.
Also the fittings we put on the toilet is called a 327 ,you can also get them with valves built in.

Strokesfan

sabiki2 wrote:

I have a really funky 1970's pastel blue bathroom suite that I am finally going to get rid of and replace with a standard cheap white suite. I got a tiler/plumber combination quote to re-tile the bathroom, floor and 4 walls (exclude a door and one window) and plumb in the new suite in the same places the old ones are.

Hey i think we have the same bathroom!!! Also mad to replace it and just to install the suite a plumber said at least 800 so that means cracking all the tiles off first and was even thinking of putting new tiles up by myself. Did the 2000 odd euro include the suite???
My mom did the tiles in her bathroom - she had to borrow a tile cutter but if she can do it, I have firm faith that any of us might be able to!

I think we have the same bathroom - whose is worse?

GreeBo

Strokesfan wrote:

I think we have the same bathroom - whose is worse?

Arghhhh my eyes....my eyes!

delly

Strokesfan wrote:

I think we have the same bathroom - whose is worse?

Get the flamethrower out!!!!!!

squire1

Flame thrower no good. C4 is the ONLY solution.

Is there not a rule in the charter about putting pictures like that up? There should be.:D

dmck

That price is crazy, absolute crazy. I just finished a renovation inc 2 bathrooms. Most plumbers will charge approx 500 - 600 Euro for straight bathroom suite swap. The tiler I got charged me 16 Euro a square yard (although i got him through a friend, but i think his normal price was 18 euro).

Shop around.

StrokesFan, sort that bathroom out!!

Strokesfan

I know, I know - got rid of the curtains anyway - it's a work in progress

hargo

Sounds very excessive to me. Tiling should cost 16 to 20 per sq yard worth paying and the plumbing is a lot easier and faster to take on. Strokesfan you are one sick xxxxxx!!!!

311

Strokes ,give that bathroom another 40 years and it will be a masterpiece.
All you have to do until then is border it up and stick a biohazard sign on the door.
Man if i was feelin sick in that bathroom all i'd have to do is walk out of it.

sabiki2

That bathroom looks very familiar! Exact model in fact. I guess it was put into my house when it was built circa. 1971. I also have perfectly matching blue tiles! I'm in the process of scraping them off now right now. A messy job.

It really boils down to getting as any quotes as you can to weed out the cowboys. I've only contacted plumbers I have had recommendations on and even and an old family acquaintance - he turned out to be astronomical also. It really kills me when they are blatantly asking for cash and obviously not declalring it. I hate to think how long it takes me to legitimately earn that kind of money that goes straight into their back pocket. However going ahead with another guy very soon and hoping it'll work out.

Endymion

sabiki2 wrote:

That bathroom looks very familiar! Exact model in fact. I guess it was put into my house when it was built circa. 1971. I also have perfectly matching blue tiles! I'm in the process of scraping them off now right now. A messy job.

It really boils down to getting as any quotes as you can to weed out the cowboys. I've only contacted plumbers I have had recommendations on and even and an old family acquaintance - he turned out to be astronomical also. It really kills me when they are blatantly asking for cash and obviously not declalring it. I hate to think how long it takes me to legitimately earn that kind of money that goes straight into their back pocket. However going ahead with another guy very soon and hoping it'll work out.

So why don't you report them to the revenue commissioners if you think they pocket it. Cheques are a big risk for a builder, are few are likely to accept them unless they trust you. Are these magical builders/ plumers btw, that they don't have to pay for materials,