In short: Choose a bathroom fitter on three things: whether the trades are in-house or subcontracted, whether the quote states what is excluded as well as what is included, and how close they are to you. Price differences between quotes are usually differences in scope, not in value.
What's in this guide 7 sections
01 Why quotes for the same bathroom differ so much
Two quotes for the same room can differ by thousands, and the reason is almost never that one company is greedy. It is that they are quoting for different work.
Some quotes exclude tiling. Some exclude plastering, or making good, or waste removal, or the electrical work. Some price on a day rate and give an estimate rather than a fixed figure. When you compare quotes, compare the exclusions — that is where the difference lives.
02 The questions worth asking
- Which trades are yours, and which are subcontracted? This single answer predicts more about how your job will run than anything else.
- What is excluded from this quote? A good contractor has a ready answer and it is written down.
- Is this a fixed price or an estimate? And what would change it?
- What happens if you find something unexpected behind the old bathroom?
- How many working days, and which days will the toilet be out of use?
- Which parts of this are notifiable under building regulations, and who certifies them?
- What tanking system will you use in the shower area, and how far up the walls?
- Are you insured, and can I see the certificate?
- What is guaranteed, for how long, and what does the guarantee not cover?
- How far away are you, and how quickly can you come back if something needs looking at?
03 Good signs
- They insist on visiting before quoting, and will not price from photographs.
- The written quote is itemised and states exclusions explicitly.
- They tell you when something you have asked for is a bad idea, and why.
- They can explain what is behind the wall in a house of your type before opening it.
- They raise building regulations without being prompted.
- They give a realistic timescale rather than an optimistic one.
- They are close enough to come back easily.
04 Warning signs
- A price given over the phone or from photographs.
- A quote that is a single figure with no breakdown and no exclusions.
- Pressure to decide today, or a discount that expires.
- A large deposit demanded up front — a deposit should cover materials, not fund the job.
- Vagueness about who is actually doing the work.
- No written terms, no insurance details, no address.
- Cash-only, no paperwork. It also leaves you with no recourse at all.
None of these are proof of a bad contractor on their own. Two or three together usually are.
05 How much do reviews really tell you?
Review volume is a genuine signal, but read the content rather than the score. Reviews that name the town and describe the job — "bathroom refit in Warsop, turned up when they said, finished on time" — are worth far more than a wall of five-star ratings with no words.
Pay particular attention to how a company responds to a critical review. Prospective customers read the response more carefully than the review itself, and a defensive or blaming reply tells you exactly how a dispute on your job would go.
06 Does it matter how local they are?
More than most people expect, and it matters after the job rather than during it. Snags happen on the best-run projects: a valve that needs adjusting, silicone that needs redoing, a door that has dropped. A fitter based a few miles away can call in on the way past. One twenty-five miles away has to make a special trip, and will not do it quickly.
A local contractor also knows the housing stock. Someone who works in inter-war semis every week knows where the soil stack runs before opening the wall, which shows up as fewer surprises on your quote.
07 Supplying your own materials
Buying your own sanitaryware, tiles and taps often saves money, particularly in sales or clearance ranges. The risk is specification rather than price: items that look similar can have very different waste positions, tray depths or tap tails, and getting it wrong causes delays that cost more than the saving.
Ask your fitter to check the list before you order. Any decent contractor will do it free, because it saves them a wasted day too.