5 Things You Must Check Before Hiring a Bathroom Fitter

Deciding to renovate your bathroom is an exciting decision—you might have spent years enduring a damp and dingy bathroom, dealing with leaky taps and cracked tiles, and now you have the chance to turn it into the stylish and relaxing room you deserve.

You’ve spent hours looking at inspiration, and found your ideal suite, perfect fittings, and all the accessories you need. The only thing standing in your way is actually getting it fitted.

Having any work done on your home can be stressful, but finding the right tradesperson to perform the work can mean the difference between smooth sailing and tearing your hair out. Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re trying to turn your dream bathroom into a reality.

1. Do your research

You probably spent weeks daydreaming about the kind of suite you wanted, and spent sleepless nights trying to decide on the paint scheme—the duck egg or cornflower blue? After putting in all that time and thought, the last thing you want is to undermine it all by picking a bathroom fitter on the spur of the moment.

Whereas once upon a time you may have looked through a directory or hoped that a friend might be able to recommend a trusted person, you now have a wealth of options for researching potential tradespeople. When you do meet up with potential tradespeople, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask them about their experience or to see pictures of their past jobs. Many tradespeople will be able to put you in touch with past clients so you can speak to them directly about their work.

2. Check they’re familiar with your kind of job

When picking a person or a business for bathroom refitting, we highly recommend that you ask for a portfolio of their past work first. Most reputable businesses will keep a collection of images of the work they’ve carried out - either on their company website or available on request. Taking a look at this will allow you to see if their work is of a high standard and if they have experience installing bathrooms of a similar style to yours.

Bathroom refits can be a relatively simple replacement of units, or a full-blown renovation job that strips everything back and reshapes the room. Whatever the scope of your job, you need to ensure that the fitter you hire is up to the task, and has done similar jobs before. If the work involves electrical work, such as adding a new circuit or installing a power shower, they will also have to be a qualified electrician, who is able to self-certify their work, or they should be able to recommend one to cover that aspect of the fitting.

3. Read online reviews and word of mouth

Most established businesses can be easily found by searching for them online. If this is the case, you’ll likely find a bunch of reviews of them. Read as many of these as you can to get a better understanding of how good their work is and they’ve tackled jobs like yours.

Alternatively, try asking your friends for recommendations of fitters. If you live local to the fitter in question, you may even be able to seek out word of mouth appraisals - try asking friends on social media if they’ve ever hired them before.

Hiring someone for bathroom refitting is a bit different from other household investments. You’re not only putting trust in the skills of the tradesperson - you’re also trusting this person to spend a significant amount of time in your home. Seek out reviews that mention the character of the fitter - a friendly face can make the hassle of bathroom renovation so much easier.

4. Ask for references

If you’re willing to be extra thorough, you can outright ask the fitter for references from recent satisfied customers.

If said fitter did an exemplary job, it’s likely that the customer will be willing to spare a few minutes to have a chat about how their renovation went on the phone or online.

You’d be surprised at how many are willing to give you a quick tour of their bathroom to have a closer look at the quality of the work. After all, the final result of your renovation - be it a bath fitting or a shower fitting - should be something to shout about!

5. Get quotes that cover everything

As with many larger jobs, when fitting a new bathroom it can be worth speaking to at least three tradespeople to get quotes for the job. In order to accurately compare quotes, it is important that they include everything; all the labour, any materials they will provide, subcontracting if needed—even costs such as removing and disposing of the old bath and basin, if that forms part of the project. Ideally, the tradespeople will have seen the job in person to give an accurate quote. While it is natural to want to save money where possible, remember that the cheapest one may not necessarily be the best option, and that experience and reliability are the key factors to look out for.

A bathroom has to put up with a lot of wear and tear over its lifespan, so make sure you hire a bathroom fitter who will give it the attention it deserves. Once you’ve pampered your bathroom, you’ll be free to pamper yourself.

To help estimate the cost of your job, find out how much a bathroom costs to install.