Bathroom renovation in the Highlands and Islands

What does a bathroom renovation cost in the Highlands and Islands?

Our guide range in the Highlands and Islands is £7,200–£14,500 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.

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?

• Inverness
• Stornoway
• Fort William
• Nairn

Most of the Highlands and Islands is supplied with soft water. That leaves you free to choose matt black, brushed brass or clear glass without worrying much about limescale. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. If you have just bought a house in Inverness, renovating the bathroom before moving in saves living through the dust.

What the job includes

• Re-plastering or boarding, with cement-based boards and tanking in the wet areas
• Repairs to rotten floorboards, joists or other timber found once the room is open
• New wiring, lighting, extractor fan and RCD protection, installed and certified by a qualified electrician
• Layout changes such as moved doors, new stud walls or boxing for concealed cisterns
• Strip-out back to brick or studwork, with waste taken away by a licensed waste carrier
• Tiling, fitting of the suite and furniture, making good and decorating, then handover

Decisions to make first

Shower floor

With the floor already up, a renovation is the easiest time to form a level shower floor or a full wet room.

Combining rooms

Taking out the wall between a bathroom and a separate WC gives one larger room, but it is structural work and may need building control.

Heating

Moving the radiator, adding a heated towel rail or laying underfloor heating is simpler while the room is stripped.

Plaster or boards

Plaster suits dry walls that will be painted. Cement-based tile backer boards are the better base behind showers and under heavy tiles.

Rules that apply in Scotland

Renovating a bathroom inside an existing home does not need planning permission. Listed buildings need listed building consent for alterations that affect their character, which can include internal work and new soil or vent pipes through walls. In a flat, check your title deeds and any deed of conditions: agreement from the other owners or the factor is often needed for wet rooms, moving the WC or new extract vents, and sound insulation and leak risk to the flat below matter. Electrical work must meet BS 7671, with 30 mA RCD protection on every bathroom circuit.

In Scotland, structural work, altering drainage or forming a new bathroom may need a building warrant, which must be granted before that work starts. A straight refit rarely needs one. Electrical work is tested and certified to BS 7671.