How much does a new bathroom cost in Glasgow?

Bigger rooms need more tiles, more adhesive, more boarding and more hours, so size matters. But it matters less than people expect. A small bathroom still needs the same strip-out, the same plumbing, the same tanking and the same careful finishing as a big one. That's why a box-room shower room doesn't cost a fraction of a large family bathroom. The labour that makes a bathroom last is roughly the same whatever the size.

This is where budgets swing most. Two toilets can look similar in a photo and be worlds apart in price. The same goes for taps, showers, basins and especially tiles. An essential finish uses good, reliable, mid-market fittings. A premium finish might mean wall-hung designer pieces, natural stone, large-format porcelain and statement brassware. Our advice: spend on the things you touch every day, like the shower, the taps and the toilet seat, and save on the things you don't.

Replacing like for like, with the toilet, basin and bath staying where they are, is the most cost-effective option because the pipework and waste routes already exist. Moving things around adds cost. Basins and showers move fairly easily. The toilet is the expensive one, because it needs a large waste pipe with a steady fall to the soil stack, which can mean lifting floors, rerouting pipes or, as a last resort, fitting a pump.

Fully tiled walls look fantastic and are easy to clean, but they take a lot of time and material. Half-height tiling with a good bathroom paint above is cheaper. Large-format tiles cost more per tile and need very flat walls, but there's less grout to live with. Small mosaics and patterned tiles take longer to set out. Old walls often need re-boarding or levelling before tiling, which is labour you don't see in the finished room but absolutely need.

A walk-in shower on a low tray is a modest step up from a standard enclosure. A true wet room costs more, because the floor has to be built to falls and the whole wet area tanked with a complete waterproofing system. On timber floors, including every upstairs tenement flat, that means building a rigid deck first. It's worth it, but it's more work than a tray.

Glasgow's tenements add their own costs. Everything goes up and down a common stair, often several flights, and the close needs protecting. The toilet has to connect to a shared cast-iron soil stack, which needs care. Floors are timber on old joists that often need strengthening or levelling. Old lead or galvanised pipe, if we find it, should be replaced. None of it is unusual, but it adds time, so a tenement bathroom rarely costs the same as the same room in a new-build.

The shower you want has to suit the water you've got. If your pressure is good and you're on a healthy combi boiler, most mixer showers will work. If your bathroom runs off an old tank in the loft or roof space, you may need a pumped or electric shower, or a change to how the bathroom is fed. Any work on the boiler or gas is carried out by our independent Gas Safe registered partner engineer (Reg. No. 666283).

A new extractor fan, downlights, a lit mirror, a shaver socket, an electric towel rail or underfloor heating all involve electrical work, which has to meet the wiring regulations and be done by a qualified electrician. We organise it as part of the job. Each extra adds cost, but some, like a decent extractor fan, aren't optional, and others, like underfloor heating, are far cheaper to add during a renovation than afterwards.

Stripping out a bathroom creates a surprising amount of rubble. Smaller jobs can often be bagged and taken away. Bigger ones need a skip, and a skip on the road needs a permit from the council: Glasgow City Council for most of the city Southside, East Renfrewshire Council for Giffnock, Clarkston, Newton Mearns and Busby. Parking restrictions on your street can also affect deliveries. We'll tell you at the survey what your job needs.

The one cost nobody can predict from the doorway is what's hidden. That might be a rotten joist under an old leak, a waste pipe with no fall, or damp behind a failed shower seal. We look for the warning signs at the survey. If something does turn up once the room is stripped, we stop, show you, and agree the fix before carrying on. You'll never find a surprise on the final bill.

The quickest way to a real number is the bathroom planner. Tell us the job, the size and the finish you're after, and Adam will call you back. Then comes a free home survey, where we measure up and check the pressure, waste routes and floor, and after that a written quote that lists exactly what's included. That makes it easy to compare like with like.