Bathroom plumbing in the West Midlands

What does bathroom plumbing work cost in the West Midlands?

Our guide range in the West Midlands is £600–£3,900 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

Water hardness varies across the West Midlands: some supplies are soft, others moderately hard or hard. 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. If your Birmingham bathroom layout is changing, the soil stack position is checked first, because it decides where the WC can go.

What the job includes

• 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
• Isolation valves on every fitting, so taps, cisterns and valves can be serviced without draining the system
• Basin, bath and shower wastes sized and laid to a steady fall, with traps that hold their water seal
• The WC connected to the soil stack, or a new branch where the WC is moving
• Shower pumps on gravity systems, and macerators or pumped wastes where gravity drainage cannot reach

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.

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.

Concealed or exposed valves

Concealed shower valves look neater but need an access route for servicing. Exposed bar valves are easier to reach and replace.

Gravity or pumped waste

Gravity drainage is always the first choice. A shower waste pump or macerator solves a run that cannot fall, but adds noise, a power supply and servicing.

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.