What does a replacement bath cost in Essex?
Our guide range in Essex is £950–£2,600 including VAT. Prices in Essex run at about 6% above the UK guide, based on East of England 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 Essex including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Essex?
- Southend-on-Sea
- Basildon
- Colchester
- Chelmsford
- Harlow
- Grays
- Braintree
- Brentwood
- Clacton-on-Sea
- South Benfleet
- Canvey Island
- Billericay
- Rayleigh
- Stanford-le-Hope
- Wickford
- Witham
- Pitsea
- Maldon
- Waltham Abbey
- South Ockendon
- Harwich
- Hadleigh
- Walton-on-the-Naze
- Frinton-on-Sea
- Rochford
- Saffron Walden
Most of Essex has very hard water. Taps, plug wastes and toilet pans scale up quickly, so chrome copes better than matt black, and a removable aerator is worth having. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. For Southend-on-Sea homes with a shower over the bath, a shower bath and fixed screen keeps the floor drier than a curtain.
What the job includes
- Removal of the old bath, including breaking up a cast-iron bath in place where it will not come out whole
- Supply of the new bath, taps or filler, waste and overflow, and bath panel
- Filling the bath before sealing, so the silicone cures with the bath at its heaviest
- New flexible connectors or pipework, with isolation valves on the hot and cold supplies
- Levelling the bath on adjustable feet or a cradle, with timber battens fixed to the walls under the rim
- Leak testing at the waste, overflow and taps, taking the old bath away and a final clean
Decisions to make first
Shower bath
A P-shaped or L-shaped bath is wider at the shower end, giving room to stand and space for a fixed screen instead of a curtain.
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.
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 England
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 England, Part G limits the hot water to a new bath to 48 °C at the outlet, usually with a thermostatic mixing valve, but only in a new dwelling or one created by a change of use. It does not apply to a replacement bath in an existing home, though a thermostatic valve is still sensible where children or older people bathe. New wiring for a shower over the bath or new lights is notifiable under Part P.