What does a small bathroom cost in the Scottish Borders?
Our guide range in the Scottish Borders is £4,300–£8,200 including VAT. Prices in the Scottish Borders run at about 4% below the UK guide, based on Scotland labour rates.
Essential
- Tiling to wet areas
Signature
- Walk-in shower in place of bath
Bespoke
- Recessed niches and concealed storage
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 bathroom is a box room over the stairs, the first job is finding out where the soil stack lets the WC sit.
What the job includes
- Two or three layout options, each priced, so you can compare keeping the bath with a walk-in shower
- Recessed niches, mirror cabinets and wall-hung vanity units to get storage off the floor
- Strip-out, waste removal, testing and a clean handover
- Boarding, tanking and tiling, with larger tiles where they suit the walls to cut down grout lines
- Space-saving sanitaryware: a short-projection or wall-hung WC and a compact or semi-recessed basin
- Lighting, extractor fan and towel rail wired by a qualified electrician, tested and certified
Decisions to make first
Keep the bath or go walk-in
A 1500 or 1600 mm bath keeps a bath in a short room. A walk-in shower with a single glass panel opens up the floor and makes the room read as larger.
WC type
A short-projection close-coupled WC sits closer to the wall than a standard pan. A wall-hung WC on a concealed frame shows the floor beneath it and is easier to clean around.
Door
Re-hanging the door to open outwards, or fitting a sliding door, frees the space behind it. In a very small room this alone can make space for a bigger shower.
Storage
Recess shelves into stud walls or boxing, put a mirror cabinet over the basin and use the wall above the WC. Avoid floor-standing units in very tight rooms.
Rules that apply in Scotland
A small bathroom refit in the same room does not need planning permission. The electrical zones matter more in a tight room because the lights and fan end up close to the shower: fittings above the bath or tray up to 2.25 m must be at least IPX4, and any socket other than a shaver supply unit must be at least 3 m from that zone, which in a small bathroom usually rules sockets out. Every circuit needs 30 mA RCD protection under BS 7671.
In Scotland, building standards apply rather than Part P. A like-for-like refit rarely needs a building warrant, but altering the drainage, for example moving the WC to a new connection, may. Wiring should be tested and certified to BS 7671.