What does a bathroom renovation cost in the Scottish Borders?
Our guide range in the Scottish Borders is £7,200–£14,500 including VAT. Prices in the Scottish Borders run at about 4% below the UK guide, based on Scotland labour rates.
Refresh
- Make good and decorate
Full renovation
- Back to brick or studwork
Structural
- New drainage route
Guide prices for Scottish Borders including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in the Scottish Borders?
Most of the Scottish Borders 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 your Hawick home is older and the bathroom still has original pipework or plaster behind the tiles, the survey shows whether a renovation or a refit makes more sense.
What the job includes
- Tiling, fitting of the suite and furniture, making good and decorating, then handover
- A survey of the structure and services: joists, walls, ceilings, pipework, wastes, wiring and ventilation
- Repairs to rotten floorboards, joists or other timber found once the room is open
- Layout changes such as moved doors, new stud walls or boxing for concealed cisterns
- Re-plastering or boarding, with cement-based boards and tanking in the wet areas
- Strip-out back to brick or studwork, with waste taken away by a licensed waste carrier
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.
How far back to strip
Back to brick gives a clean start. Keeping sound plaster on some walls saves time and money, and the survey shows which walls can stay.
Heating
Moving the radiator, adding a heated towel rail or laying underfloor heating is simpler while the room is stripped.
Pipe material
Copper suits exposed runs and the area near the boiler. Plastic pipe is quicker under floors and inside walls, and long runs need fewer joints.
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.