How to price a bathroom refurb in the UK without losing your shirt
A straight-talking guide to pricing a full bathroom refurb in 2026 — labour rates, materials, contingency, VAT and the margin most trades forget to add.
Ask ten plumbers what a bathroom refurb should cost and you'll get ten wildly different numbers. The problem isn't the trade — it's the maths. Here's how we teach our customers to price a bathroom job so the margin is still there on completion day.
1. Break the job down before you price it
Every bathroom is: strip out, first fix, second fix, tiling, decorating, snags. Estimate hours against each phase, not the job as a whole. A single number for 'the whole bathroom' is where money disappears.
2. Use a real day rate, not a hopeful one
Your day rate has to cover van, fuel, tools, insurance, holiday, sick days and pension — not just the hour you're on the tools. Most one-van outfits need £320–£420 per productive day in 2026 just to break even.
3. Mark materials up. Every time.
Trade discount is your margin, not the customer's. A 20–30% mark-up on materials is standard and it covers the hour you spent at the merchant, the hour you'll spend chasing a warranty, and the van you drove to collect it.
4. Add contingency before you add VAT
10% contingency on a refurb is not optional. Rotten joists, hidden pipework, out-of-square walls — they always show up. Bake it in and hand it back if you don't spend it. Customers respect that far more than a variation invoice.
The quote is where you make the money. The job is where you deliver it.
How Cole helps
Cole shows the live gross margin as you build the quote. If it drops below your target you'll see it in red before you send it — not three weeks later when you're wondering where the profit went.