What does a replacement bath cost in County Down?
Our guide range in County Down is £800–£2,200 including VAT. Prices in County Down run at about 12% below the UK guide, based on Northern Ireland labour rates.
Like-for-like bath
- Silicone and tile repairs
Shower bath
- P or L-shaped shower bath
Freestanding bath
- Floor or wall-mounted filler
Guide prices for County Down including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in County Down?
Water across much of County Down is soft. 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 you are in Bangor and considering a freestanding bath, the survey includes a check of the floor and joists before you choose.
What the job includes
- Filling the bath before sealing, so the silicone cures with the bath at its heaviest
- Leak testing at the waste, overflow and taps, taking the old bath away and a final clean
- Tile repairs or re-tiling around the bath, and a fixed screen where there is a shower over it
- New flexible connectors or pipework, with isolation valves on the hot and cold supplies
- Removal of the old bath, including breaking up a cast-iron bath in place where it will not come out whole
- A survey of the bath opening, the floor, the waste route, the supplies and the tiles around the bath
Decisions to make first
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.
Freestanding bath
Acrylic freestanding baths are manageable on most floors; stone resin and cast iron are much heavier when full. You need room to clean round the bath and a plan for where the waste and filler come up.
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.
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.