revtothelimit - motorbike forum

gremlin wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:00 pm
Not a bad guess. C. £28k inc. VAT.

Although in fairness, he was the only bloke we had round who actually bothered to come back with a quote. Most just disappear into the ether.

Needless to say, we've decided to do it ourselves.

I had toilet, basin and shower replaced. Old system boiler replaced with a combi relocated to the garage, heating & hot water changed to pressurised at the same time. The shower was converted from electric to digital (combi hot water).
Tiling isn't done yet but we've had a quote of £300 for labour.
Whole lot cost about 6k including the cost of fittings I bought to make sure I got what I wanted.
I think he's added a fair bit of overhead on your quote.
Removing old tiles was refused by the two tilers I spoke to, it's a tedious job but only a days work.

We paid 15k to have a main bathroom and an en suite done. Completely back to the structure of the room, floors up, pipes moved etc. Floor to cieling tiling, all new fixtures. Also got a new bog fitted downstairs at the same time FOC "since I'm already here".

Only advice I can give is go to an old school local independent.

Mussels wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:43 pm
I think he's added a fair bit of overhead on your quote.

You reckon?

I also suspect that tradesmen add what I call the 'Locksbottom tax'. They pull up, see a big house and slap 20% on the usual quote. Add in the recent rocketing cost of parts and the scarcity of skilled trades people and you can see why that quote has come in looking like a the GDP of a small African country.

Much as I don't wan to, I'll just have to take some time off and get my hands dirty. Mrs. G is capable and willing pair of hands when it comes to DIY, and we can limit our arguments to around three day.

gremlin wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:51 pm

Mussels wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:43 pm
I think he's added a fair bit of overhead on your quote.

You reckon?

I also suspect that tradesmen add what I call the 'Locksbottom tax'. They pull up, see a big house and slap 20% on the usual quote. Add in the recent rocketing cost of parts and the scarcity of skilled trades people and you can see why that quote has come in looking like a the GDP of a small African country.

Much as I don't wan to, I'll just have to take some time off and get my hands dirty. Mrs. G is capable and willing pair of hands when it comes to DIY, and we can limit our arguments to around three day.

Out of interest, what £ were you expecting/would you have been happy with?

I just paid a chippy (a good one) to fit 13 new internal doors.

It took him a full day and a half, he charged £480... Cash, cos it's tax free!

Count Steer wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 2:13 pm

Out of interest, what £ were you expecting/would you have been happy with?

I had a figure in mind, having done a very 'back of a fag packet' estimate of shower tray, enclosure, basins, taps, etc. plus my guesstimate of time of c. £12 -£15k. Probably a bit naive in the circumstances, given that I've spoken to other plumbers who flatly declined to quote on the basis that they have enough work in their books for the rest of the year. Supply and demand, innit? Bring back the Polish plumbers.

On the cost front. Just booked a car in for service. One of the add-ons they kindly offer is a 'full valet service'. £150!

(I normally pay £25 per car....he comes to the house and does the job. That's inside and out, carpets/rubber mats out, boot emptied and cleaned, all the glass inside and out etc. He doesn't open the bonnet/steam clean the engine. So what do the dealers do for the extra £125? ).

Wossname wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 11:28 am But apart from that it was great, yeah?

"Apart from that Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?"

Just had our bathroom done. Demolish brick built cupboard. New ceiling with downlighters and extractor fan, new floor and subfloor for new floor tiles and matching wall tiles. All new pipes (he wont use existing). New bath, shower enclosure with thermostatic shower, vanity unit and new sink and toilet. Heated towel rail. A complete make over. Not sure of final price but around £10.5k. He's a mate of mine though so got us some discounts and labour was cheaper than he'd normally charge.

Taipan wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:39 pm Just had our bathroom done. Demolish brick built cupboard. New ceiling with downlighters and extractor fan, new floor and subfloor for new floor tiles and matching wall tiles. All new pipes (he wont use existing). New bath, shower enclosure with thermostatic shower, vanity unit and new sink and toilet. Heated towel rail. A complete make over. Not sure of final price but around £10.5k. He's a mate of mine though so got us some discounts and labour was cheaper than he'd normally charge.

Needs pics.

With clothes on!

weeksy wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:42 pm

Taipan wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 6:39 pm Just had our bathroom done. Demolish brick built cupboard. New ceiling with downlighters and extractor fan, new floor and subfloor for new floor tiles and matching wall tiles. All new pipes (he wont use existing). New bath, shower enclosure with thermostatic shower, vanity unit and new sink and toilet. Heated towel rail. A complete make over. Not sure of final price but around £10.5k. He's a mate of mine though so got us some discounts and labour was cheaper than he'd normally charge.

Needs pics.

With clothes on!

Here you go…

Took nearly two weeks in all as there was a lot of prep etc

You'll miss that cupboard.

Count Steer wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:13 pm You'll miss that cupboard.

I do miss that cupboard more than you'll ever know! I keep all manner of crap in there, tools, paints bike bits etc. Drove the wife mad for years over it.

The funniets thing was, it was a proper brick built cupboard that used to have a small window, as it was a larder (room was previously the original kitchen). The bricks were concrete rendered. Demolisihing it took best part of a day lol! Demoloition guy said it was one of the hardest concretes he's ever come across. The irony being in modern houses they have the strengthen things as the are so flimsily built.

Dropped ST off at the body shop as they told us last week they had all the parts
Came home.
Got call from body shop to tell us they didn't in fact have the grill & could we bring the ST home again
Bought ST home again..

Worked
Booked the bike a Mo clean and it’s 12k service

Actually used my bike for the railway station commute, first time in about 8 weeks!
Got there earlier than usual, earlier train to work - boo!

Swapped car tyres front to back, gave the tracking a turn on both sides as it was running a bit toe out.
Wired in a new outside light, discovered that for some reason the neutral wire still had a little fizz in it even with the RCD off!

Had the dubious pleasure of meeting a valuer for the auction room to go through 6 containers of the FILs belongings.
Two observations:they are super picky and had the social skills of a baseball bat.
So glad to have got it over and done with.
I've a small parcel of land to sell on his behalf and we've managed to sort out some stuff before he leaps off of the mortal coil.
Oh, and the A406......jeez what a shit road.

Took the car to a local garage that will fit tyres purchased elsewhere (for a price) and to get the tracking done. After waiting in the reception area for about 30 minutes, I was told that the tracking had probably never been adjusted since it came out of the factory and that it was a long way out. Probably why it chews through front tyres at such a rate then.

As a result of not having been disturbed for 15+ years, the whole assembly was seized solid and needed new track rod ends and sundry other parts. The whole bill came to £333.64.

Bloody expensive tyre swap and tracking adjustment...