What Decides the Cost of Fitting a New Shower

The cheapest shower job is a like-for-like swap: the same type of shower in the same place, feeding from pipes that are already there. The valve comes off, the new one goes on, the trim is fitted and the seals are renewed.

An upgrade costs more because something underneath changes. Going from a basic bar valve to a concealed thermostatic one means opening the wall to bury the pipework at the right depth. Moving the shower to a new wall means new supply runs and, usually, a new waste route to the drain. Each of those adds labour, and making good the wall afterwards adds more.

The shower has to suit the water supply in the house. A home with a combination system, a home with a cold tank in the loft feeding a hot cylinder, and a home with an electric shower all start from different places.

If the new shower needs more flow than the system gives, the options are a pump, a different type of shower, or changes to the pipework. We do not work on gas appliances, so anything that means altering a boiler is outside our work and would sit with a Gas Safe engineer. We tell you at the survey if your chosen shower does not suit your supply, before money is spent.

An electric shower, or a pump that needs a new power supply, brings in electrical work. In a bathroom that is notifiable work, and we have it done by a Part P registered electrician who certifies it. A like-for-like electric shower swap on a sound existing circuit is a smaller job than a new, heavier shower that needs a larger cable run back to the consumer unit, and the quote reflects which one you have.

Most of the cost variation sits here. If the tiles around the shower are sound and the tray is staying, the job is contained. If the old tiles have to come off, the wall behind them needs checking, repairing and waterproofing before anything new goes up.

A new tray means lifting the old one, checking the floor underneath and making sure the waste falls properly. A low-profile tray often needs the waste moving or the floor adjusting to fit. On an upstairs timber floor, soft boards found under an old tray have to be replaced, and that cannot be priced until the tray is out.

Tiles take longer to fit than wall panels, and large or patterned tiles take longer again because of setting out and cutting. A glass screen or a full enclosure changes the materials bill, and so does the valve and head you choose. None of these is right or wrong; they simply move the price, and it helps to decide them before asking for a quote so the figures you compare are for the same job.

Ask every installer to price the same list: the shower and valve, the tray and screen, the wall finish, removal of the old shower, any waste or pipework changes, electrics if needed, and making good. A quote that is much lower than the rest has often left one of those out.

We give fixed written quotes after seeing the room, and quotes are free. Send photos of the current shower, the wall around it, the floor and your hot water cylinder or boiler position, and we can tell you which of the cost drivers above apply before we visit. We work Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and aim to reply within 24 hours.