What does bathroom plumbing work cost in Hertfordshire?
Our guide range in Hertfordshire is £650–£4,200 including VAT. Prices in Hertfordshire run at about 6% above the UK guide, based on East of England labour rates.
Like-for-like
- Pressure test
Partial re-route
- Basin or shower moved
New layout
- Pumped waste or macerator
Guide prices for Hertfordshire including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Hertfordshire?
- Watford
- Hemel Hempstead
- Stevenage
- St Albans
- Welwyn Garden City
- Cheshunt
- Hatfield
- Bishops Stortford
- Borehamwood
- Hitchin
- Hoddesdon
- Letchworth Garden City
- North Watford
- Harpenden
- Bushey
- Hertford
- Rickmansworth
- Potters Bar
- Berkhamsted
- Ware
Water across much of Hertfordshire is very hard. 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 your Watford bathroom layout is changing, the soil stack position is checked first, because it decides where the WC can go.
What the job includes
- The WC connected to the soil stack, or a new branch where the WC is moving
- A pressure test of new pipework before walls are closed in and floors go down
- Shower pumps on gravity systems, and macerators or pumped wastes where gravity drainage cannot reach
- Isolation valves on every fitting, so taps, cisterns and valves can be serviced without draining the system
- Draining down and isolating supplies, with the rest of the house back on water as soon as possible
- A check of your hot water system, and the pressure and flow rate at the bathroom
Decisions to make first
Hard water
In hard water areas, a scale reducer or water softener protects valves, shower heads and glass. Keep an unsoftened tap in the kitchen for drinking.
Shower supply
Combi boilers and unvented cylinders give mains pressure. A gravity system with a cold tank may need a pump, but a pump must never be connected to the mains.
Copper or plastic
Copper is rigid and suits pipes on show or near the boiler. Plastic is quicker under floors and inside walls, and long runs need fewer joints.
Pipe routes
Drilling through the middle of joists, rather than notching the tops, keeps the floor strong. Routes are planned with the joist direction in mind.
Rules that apply in England
New WCs, taps, showers and valves must meet the water fittings rules where you live: a maximum 6-litre flush for new WCs, backflow protection, and no pump connected directly to the mains supply, because shower pumps are only for gravity systems with a cold tank. Unvented hot-water cylinders must be installed by a G3-qualified installer, and any work on a gas boiler by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
In England, the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 apply. New drainage or a new connection to the soil stack can be building regulations work under Part H, and a macerator or pumped WC is acceptable only where there is also a WC on gravity drainage elsewhere in the home.