Bath replacement in the West Midlands

What does a replacement bath cost in the West Midlands?

Our guide range in the West Midlands is £900–£2,400 including VAT.

Guide prices for West Midlands including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.

Which towns do we cover in the West Midlands?

• Birmingham
• Coventry
• Wolverhampton
• Dudley
• Walsall
• Solihull
• Sutton Coldfield
• West Bromwich
• Halesowen
• Stourbridge
• Smethwick
• Willenhall
• Tipton
• Bloxwich
• Wednesfield
• Washwood Heath
• Aston
• Shirley
• Brierley Hill
• Aldridge
• Acocks Green
• Bartley Green
• Wednesbury
• Kingswinford

Supplies across the West Midlands range from soft to hard depending on the source. Taps and wastes will need an occasional descale, and chrome or brushed finishes are easier to keep clean than polished brass. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. Survey visits in Birmingham cover the bath, the tiles around it and the waste route, so the quote reflects your bathroom rather than a standard job.

What the job includes

• A survey of the bath opening, the floor, the waste route, the supplies and the tiles around the bath
• Levelling the bath on adjustable feet or a cradle, with timber battens fixed to the walls under the rim
• Removal of the old bath, including breaking up a cast-iron bath in place where it will not come out whole
• New flexible connectors or pipework, with isolation valves on the hot and cold supplies
• 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

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.

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.