Ask five installers for a bathroom price and you can get five very different numbers, and it's rarely because someone is trying it on. A quote is a sum of separate trades and materials, and the mix behind that total is where the real story is.
This guide breaks a typical full refit into its component costs, gives indicative bands for a straightforward bathroom versus one with awkward drainage or period quirks, and explains the hidden costs that only show up once the old suite is out.
Every figure here is indicative. Your actual price depends on the room, the access, the suite you choose and what's found once the tiles come off, but the structure below should let you sense-check any quote you're given.
The budget split: labour by trade
A full bathroom refit typically involves four trades working in sequence: a plumber for first and second fix, a tiler, an electrician for the extractor fan and any shaver point or lighting changes, and a plasterer or boarder for wall preparation. On a standard three metre by two metre bathroom, labour usually accounts for 55 to 65 percent of the total job cost, with materials making up the rest.
Plumbing labour covers stripping out the old suite, moving or extending pipework, fitting the new bath, basin, WC and shower, and connecting waste runs with the correct falls. Tiling labour is priced by square metre and rises sharply with format size, pattern complexity and the number of internal corners and niches to cut around.
Suite, tiling area and flooring
A mid-range suite (bath, WC, basin, taps, shower valve and enclosure) typically sits in a wide band depending on brand and finish. Tiling area matters more than most people expect: tiling half height around a bath versus full height floor to ceiling on every wall can more than double the tile and adhesive spend and the labour hours needed to lay it.
Flooring in a bathroom needs to be waterproof rather than just water resistant. Options range from vinyl through to porcelain tile on a tanked substrate, with underfloor heating adding to both material and labour cost but removing the need for a wall-mounted towel radiator in some layouts.
Tanking and ventilation, the parts you don't see
Tanking (a waterproof membrane behind tiles in wet areas, particularly around the shower and bath) is not optional in a well-built bathroom, and it's easy for a cheap quote to quietly leave it out. Extending tanking beyond the immediate shower area, up shower walls to at least 1800mm and across the full floor, costs more in material and labour but is the difference between a bathroom that copes with splashing for twenty years and one that doesn't.
Ventilation is a similarly unglamorous line item. A bathroom extractor fan needs a genuine extract rate, commonly in the range of 15 to 30 litres per second depending on room volume, ducted to an external wall or roof rather than into a loft void. Skipping proper ducting is a common corner cut on tight budgets, and it shows up later as condensation and mould rather than as a saving anyone notices at handover.
Indicative installed cost bands
| Scope | What's included | Indicative band |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh | Like-for-like suite swap, existing pipework retained, re-tile wet areas only | Lower band |
| Standard refit | New suite, full re-tile, tanking to wet areas, new extractor, flooring | Mid band |
| Reconfigured refit | Suite repositioned, pipework moved, full tanking, underfloor heating option | Upper band |
| En suite or small cloakroom | Compact suite, WC and basin only, limited tiling | Lower band, smaller footprint |
Cheap versus considered spend
The cheapest quote and the most expensive quote for the 'same' bathroom often differ because one has quietly reduced tanking coverage, specified a smaller extractor, or allowed a lower tiling adhesive rate that won't cope with underfloor heating movement. None of that shows on the invoice line, only in how the room performs in year three.
A considered spend usually means paying a bit more for full tanking, a properly ducted fan sized to the room, and a shower valve with a decent flow rate (many thermostatic mixer valves are rated around 9 to 18 litres per minute depending on model and incoming pressure) so the shower actually feels good to use every day for the next fifteen years.
Hidden costs found on strip out
- Rotten or delaminated floor timbers under the bath, common in older Borders stone and sandstone properties with historical damp
- Lead or galvanised steel supply pipework that needs replacing rather than reusing
- Undersized or perished soil pipe connections behind the WC that fail building regulation checks
- Asbestos-containing floor tile adhesive or textured coatings in properties refitted before the 1990s
- Uneven joists or a sloping solid floor needing a levelling screed before tiling can start
Comparing two quotes fairly
Line up quotes against the same scope, not the same total. Ask each installer to state the tanking coverage in square metres, the extractor fan's extract rate, whether pipework is being replaced or reused, and whether the price includes waste disposal and making good to adjoining rooms. A lower total that excludes any of those is not actually a cheaper bathroom.
It's also worth asking who is Gas Safe registered if the job touches a combi boiler or gas-fired cylinder, and what allowance has been made for unforeseen work found once the old suite is stripped out.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do bathroom quotes vary so much for what looks like the same job?
- Mostly because the scope isn't actually identical. Tanking coverage, extractor fan sizing, tile format and whether pipework is renewed or reused all move the price without necessarily being spelled out on a headline total.
- Is it worth paying more for full height tanking?
- In wet areas, yes. Partial tanking behind a bath or shower is common on tighter budgets, but extending it fully protects the room against splashing and steam over the long term rather than just at the point of installation.
- What usually gets found on strip out in older properties?
- In older Borders stone properties, timber floor rot under the bath, outdated pipework and uneven solid floors needing a levelling screed are the most frequent surprises, and they're difficult to price accurately until the old suite is out.
- Can I phase a bathroom refit to spread the cost?
- Some elements can be phased, such as decorating or a heated towel rail upgrade, but tanking, waterproofing and pipework should be done properly in one go, since reopening a finished wet area later is more disruptive and expensive than doing it right first time.
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