Just wondering who fits bathrooms and who gives them a wide birth?Do you do the whole bathroom yourself or do you do the plumbing and get a tiler in . I was doing a lot of bathrooms last year and basically got fed up with them , to time consuming and a lot of work involved - I was doing everything .This year I decided not to take on bathrooms so have not advertised this service , problem being I'm noticing the phones not ringing as much as it was , don't get me wrong in still busy but feel I'm missing out money wise ,I'm thinking of taking them back on but only doing the plumbing , is this the way you are tending to do them and if so has anyone got any good tilers number who work in Surrey / South london area ?
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I haven't done a bathroom suite for over ten years. To many inconsistencies and variables and other trades to rely on. With heating your in and out, no messing waiting for tilers, spreads etc. I don't do much plumbing either, tap changes and ball valves only. In my youth plumbing was simple, there were two types of siphon, two types of ball valve and baths had ordinary side panels. I wouldn't know where to start with cantilever bogs and these strange shower trays with magic waste connections.
C
Ch4 plumbing
Loads for builders as part of a price but find I'm to expensive for a lot of private houses, not to worried about it as said before can be very time consuming.
I
IDCHAPPY
As Leo here.. too much of a ballache IMHO.
That's my thinking they are a ball ache but did provide quite a bit of income , Im the same still have to fit for my builder contacts but that's plumbing only so fine with that . Was thinking of subbing them out but then it's finding some one to trust with my reputation plus money is lot less .
C
Ch4 plumbing
I wouldn't sub them out, too many people involved and only one person taking the blame if things go wrong!!
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I am one at the moment , one more to do in sept, then thats me done with them. I actually think they are very good earners but they come at a price....... Stress and lots of it , i am a one man band and can guarantee i will start a bathroom on a monday morning at 8am, by 9am the phone has rung 4 times and somebody wants me asap, and this continues the whole time i am doing the bathroom. I have had enough of them .
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done one in January took nigh on full month of aggro. Always something that causes hassle with them trying to focus on the small job market now in out quick money.
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Ch4 plumbing
The worst I've done are where the custard wants to supply the sanitary ware, always a problem right pain in the arris!
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They always supply sanitary in my experience
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Ch4 plumbing
Bloomin hate that, Some real rubbish on line that people buy.
C
Ch4 plumbing
In fairness there is good money to be made they are just a lot of stress.
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classic one last week ''its the same sized bath as the old one''
needlesss to say it was an arsehole job... to the max
needlesss to say it was an arsehole job... to the max
L
lame plumber
its where I started out, did the lot from stud walls to tiling and plastering etc etc. My first customer just passed away this year, his was the best one I did, thereafter they always wanted to supply their own bits, or reduce the price etc etc. I have walked away from the last few jobs as they are to much hassle if you are also doing repairs and servicing. Long live boilers and breakdowns 
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We do them but we price them high (to allow time to do them to a top standard) and we only do them if we are supplying sanitaryware. From experience any job where customers have supplied sanitaryware has always been a complete nightmare in one sense or another.
We politely to decline to quote for them where customers have bought their own.
The result is we lose quite a lot of bathroom quotes but the ones we do get earn as much profit as doing them all at a much cheaper price.
We politely to decline to quote for them where customers have bought their own.
The result is we lose quite a lot of bathroom quotes but the ones we do get earn as much profit as doing them all at a much cheaper price.
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I think thats the best idea go dear on them and these bathroom kitchen fitter monkeys can struggle .
If you do get them at a dearer price then its all good.
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I prefer them to supply sanitaryware it helps keep me away from the VAT threshold I do point them in the right direction and help them order etc.Also delivery here is a problem and returning stuff is costly with boat fares and delivery costs couriers etc,plus any time lost on faulty goods or breakages is all chargeable to them this works for me..brum
I have started to take on more as a way to help expand my business by not purely focussing on heating work. I agree that they are stressful but also a welcome change from constantly fitting radiators and boilers etc. At the end you can stand back and be proud of the finished product, which don't happen when you fit a basic 600x1000 p+ rad under a window.
I don't do cheap bathrooms though as the way I like them done is not by doing everything myself. I personally think a better finish is achieved by having a dedicated specialist tradesman for each job. This way takes more organising and is more expensive but I personally think the end result is worth it. I know guys who just do bathrooms and do everything themselves and the finish on them is never perfect.
I don't do cheap bathrooms though as the way I like them done is not by doing everything myself. I personally think a better finish is achieved by having a dedicated specialist tradesman for each job. This way takes more organising and is more expensive but I personally think the end result is worth it. I know guys who just do bathrooms and do everything themselves and the finish on them is never perfect.
R
REDSAW
well, that saved me typing my reply.lol
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Lol,
I could do bathrooms if i didnt have any plumbing customers who ring up and break me off. Been working in one all day , when the phone rings my stress levels go mad, it just aint worth it.
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Im finishing a bathroom today and tomorrow. Luckily its an empty house so theres been no rush. Changed a pump on the way to the job. Looked at another job on the way home. Tomorrow I have to reseal a shower, then check a cracked bath on the way to the job and then look at a blocked shower and a new ensuite on the way home. And that, except for the pump, was all from calls today
R
REDSAW
staring at the same 4 walls day after day. sniffing the urine and soap slime embeded everywhere. climbing up and down stairs countless times a day.opening packages of materials to find some right chineese tat you need a degree in mandolin to understand. snorting grout off your clothes on the way home. customer changes their mind and want it diffrent. job takes longer thsan you thought and its on a quote. you take up the floor boards for the shower trap to find live 1950's conduit criss-crossing where you want to go. theres not enough adjustment on the shower enclosure as the walls too far out square.
the 4 jobs you turned down that morning to top up a boilr, fit a ballcock, tap washer and unblock a sink would have grosed £140 clear proffit and home by 3pm!.
then you realise 9-6pm your average daily quote for the bathroom is only £160 a day!! and you have to do it all again tomorrowXXXXXffs
the 4 jobs you turned down that morning to top up a boilr, fit a ballcock, tap washer and unblock a sink would have grosed £140 clear proffit and home by 3pm!.
then you realise 9-6pm your average daily quote for the bathroom is only £160 a day!! and you have to do it all again tomorrowXXXXXffs
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It's a horrible job. Always something you miss when quoting. I have never got one right. A proper nuisance
C
Ch4 plumbing
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You forgot to mention eating your sandwiches after wrestling with a multikwick.
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I fit bathrooms, I don't supply any ware as too much headaches when things come damaged, ( and they do ) , I do a lot of wet wall or multi panel but don't tile anymore, granted there's more physical work involved but the satisfaction of the finished product can be great, don't get me wrong I'd rather fit boilers everyday of the week but when can't control the types of jobs were offered and I hate turning away work,
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£30 an hour on bathrooms, no quote !!! just an estimate , it takes as long as it takes.
'Never say never jon' ....... I am defo stopping doing them lol
'Never say never jon' ....... I am defo stopping doing them lol
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Any pics?
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Have you been spying on me for the past few years??
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Just completed my 1st year being self employed and bathrooms have kept me going, but am getting bored bored of them. My prices are increasing after each one as I realise what a pain they are and how hard it is to find a good tradesman to work with.
Just completed 10 years and bathrooms are still a pain in the bottom.
we've got two on the go atm one where just doing the plumbing and fitting the china
and one where were doing the whole room, new floor dot an dabbed all walls so nice and square for me to tile, laying the lion, new window in everything except plastering, get our plaster in for that £45 to skim the ceiling 3x3m room, not worth me even trying,
Do it n day rate though so no money stress usually takes under two weeks if doing everything
and one where were doing the whole room, new floor dot an dabbed all walls so nice and square for me to tile, laying the lion, new window in everything except plastering, get our plaster in for that £45 to skim the ceiling 3x3m room, not worth me even trying,
Do it n day rate though so no money stress usually takes under two weeks if doing everything
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Thats why my bathroom rate is nearer 300
thats more like it
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Do probably 10 a year at a guess I like em but as mentioned guarantee phone will ring as soon as you start 1 a, started one yesterday tiles out ceiling tacked boxing built pipes altered bath levelled started tiling this afternoon and plasterer been in this afternoon to skim ceiling
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Im not sure if theres ones on my facebook as not put any on since last year as my phone camera was playing up,
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No worries, was interested to see how the panels looked finished and not a manufacturer pic
I hate bathrooms to many unknowns when pricing and if you price up to do everything people look at you in horror.
I did 2 bathrooms in 1 house a few years back and that was 1 month of pure hell because my boss used rough trades to do everything.
The granite bloke wouldn't measure up the granite as the basin wasn't in place, I tried to explain to him that the basin is half sunk into the granite so I can't fit it until you fit the granite but he couldn't get his head around it, in the end we had the boss out there to measure up.
The tiler was the worst he dot and dabbed the tiles and when we drilled them they just fell off the walls followed by a few others. This was near the end of the 2nd bathroom so the customer wanted the tiles taken off in the first one and redone to make sure they were done properly.
The floor was rotten under the bath bits missing left right and center and just a generally miserable customer. Even though she never moaned about me and the apprentice it was the rest.
I did 2 bathrooms in 1 house a few years back and that was 1 month of pure hell because my boss used rough trades to do everything.
The granite bloke wouldn't measure up the granite as the basin wasn't in place, I tried to explain to him that the basin is half sunk into the granite so I can't fit it until you fit the granite but he couldn't get his head around it, in the end we had the boss out there to measure up.
The tiler was the worst he dot and dabbed the tiles and when we drilled them they just fell off the walls followed by a few others. This was near the end of the 2nd bathroom so the customer wanted the tiles taken off in the first one and redone to make sure they were done properly.
The floor was rotten under the bath bits missing left right and center and just a generally miserable customer. Even though she never moaned about me and the apprentice it was the rest.
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I suppose people cant get their head round a bathroom costing the same as a new car
But how many people keep their car for 10+ years. I always say the same with boilers when they say it's cheaper to repair a 10 year old boiler than to replace.
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How does that go down when the customers have got twenty year old cars?
Luckily that doesn't happen very often. I would probably just say alright then I'll fix it.
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