What does a replacement bath cost in County Antrim?
Our guide range in County Antrim is £800–£2,200 including VAT. Prices in County Antrim run at about 12% below the UK guide, based on Northern Ireland labour rates.
Like-for-like bath
- New acrylic or steel bath, panel and taps
Shower bath
- Re-tiling to the bath area
Freestanding bath
- Freestanding acrylic or stone resin
Guide prices for County Antrim including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in County Antrim?
Most of County Antrim is supplied with soft water. In soft water, taps, wastes and toilet pans scale up slowly, so brushed and matt finishes are a safe choice. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. If the bath in your Belfast home is the only thing letting the bathroom down, a swap in one or two days avoids a full refit.
What the job includes
- Filling the bath before sealing, so the silicone cures with the bath at its heaviest
- Levelling the bath on adjustable feet or a cradle, with timber battens fixed to the walls under the rim
- New flexible connectors or pipework, with isolation valves on the hot and cold supplies
- Leak testing at the waste, overflow and taps, taking the old bath away and a final clean
- Removal of the old bath, including breaking up a cast-iron bath in place where it will not come out whole
- Tile repairs or re-tiling around the bath, and a fixed screen where there is a shower over it
Decisions to make first
Size
Most UK baths are 1700 × 700 mm. Going longer or wider than the old bath means re-tiling and checking that the new one fits up the stairs.
Taps or filler
Deck taps on the rim are the simplest swap. Wall-mounted taps or a bath filler look cleaner but mean opening the wall, and an overflow filler hides the spout altogether.
Bath panel
Acrylic panels are cheap and easy to clean; wood-effect panels match fitted furniture; a tiled panel on a frame looks built-in but needs an access hatch for the waste.
Acrylic or steel
Acrylic is warm to the touch, light and the usual choice; thicker, reinforced acrylic flexes less. Enamelled steel is rigid and hard-wearing but feels colder, and needs sound-deadening pads to stop it drumming.
Rules that apply in Northern Ireland
Replacing a bath in an existing bathroom does not need planning permission, and a straight swap is not normally building regulations work. New taps or a filler must meet the water fittings rules where you live, including backflow protection. If the new bath is much heavier than the old one, such as a cast-iron or stone resin freestanding bath, the floor needs checking, and strengthening joists is structural work that may need building control approval.
In Northern Ireland, the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 apply to the new taps or filler. Building control is involved only if the floor structure or drainage is altered.