What does a replacement bath cost in Somerset?
Our guide range in Somerset is £900–£2,600 including VAT.
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 Somerset including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Somerset?
Most of Somerset has 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. If the bath in your Bath home is the only thing letting the bathroom down, a swap in one or two days avoids a full refit.
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
- 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
- Supply of the new bath, taps or filler, waste and overflow, and bath panel
- Levelling the bath on adjustable feet or a cradle, with timber battens fixed to the walls under the rim
- A survey of the bath opening, the floor, the waste route, the supplies and the tiles around the bath
Decisions to make first
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.
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.
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.
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.