What does a family bathroom cost in the Scottish Borders?
Our guide range in the Scottish Borders is £5,800–£10,500 including VAT. Prices in the Scottish Borders run at about 4% below the UK guide, based on Scotland labour rates.
Essential
- Tiling around bath and basin
Signature
- Fitted vanity and WC unit
Bespoke
- Double basin or freestanding bath
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 you have young children at home in Hawick, we can talk through a bath that is easy to lean over, a slip-resistant floor and high-level storage.
What the job includes
- Lights, extractor fan and towel rail wired by a qualified electrician, tested and certified
- Wall and floor tiling, with a floor finish chosen to grip under wet feet
- Strip-out of the old suite and tiles, with the waste taken away by a licensed waste carrier
- A free home survey covering room sizes, the soil stack position, your boiler or cylinder type and water pressure
- Moisture-resistant boarding and tanking around the bath and shower before any tiling
- New pipework, wastes and isolation valves, plus a thermostatic shower valve so the temperature holds when someone runs a tap
Decisions to make first
Bath material
Reinforced acrylic is warm to the touch and light on the floor. Steel enamel is harder-wearing and feels more solid, but it draws heat from the water faster.
Storage
A vanity under the basin, a tall unit or a mirror cabinet. High-level or lockable storage keeps medicines and cleaning products out of reach of small children.
Bath shape
A standard 1700 mm bath fits most rooms. A shower bath widens at one end to give more standing room under the shower; a double-ended bath puts the waste in the middle so two children can share without one sitting on the plug.
Screen or curtain
Glass keeps water in better than a curtain and does not go mouldy at the hem. A folding or hinged screen swings out of the way when you are kneeling to bath a child.
Rules that apply in Scotland
Refitting a family bathroom in the same room does not need planning permission. The electrics must meet BS 7671, with 30 mA RCD protection on every circuit in the room and at least IPX4 fittings in the zone above the bath, up to 2.25 m. The water fittings rules in each nation limit a new WC to a 6-litre flush and require protection against dirty water flowing back into the supply.
In Scotland there is no Part P. A straight replacement of a family bathroom rarely needs a building warrant, but altering the drainage or forming a bathroom in a different room may. Water fittings are covered by the Scottish Water Byelaws 2014, and the electrics should be tested and certified to BS 7671.

