What does a replacement bath cost in the Highlands and Islands?
Our guide range in the Highlands and Islands is £850–£2,400 including VAT. Prices in the Highlands and Islands run at about 4% below the UK guide, based on Scotland labour rates. Travel and delivery to islands and remote areas are priced on your quote.
Like-for-like bath
- Old bath removed and disposed of
Shower bath
- Bath screen and shower
Freestanding bath
- Floor reinforcement check
Guide prices for Highlands & Islands including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in the Highlands and Islands?
Supplies across most of the Highlands and Islands are 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. Landlords with properties in Inverness can usually have a bath replaced between tenancies in one to two working days.
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
- A survey of the bath opening, the floor, the waste route, the supplies and the tiles around the bath
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.
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.
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.
Rules that apply in Scotland
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 Scotland, the Scottish Water Byelaws 2014 cover new taps, fillers and backflow protection. A replacement bath does not normally need a building warrant, but structural work to the floor for a heavy bath may.