Charge for fitting a toilet.

[armyash]

Hi i have had a query asking how much i would charge to fit a toilet in South London area.

My previous posts have shown my lack of experience but i could fit a toilet. What would you experienced guys charge if you was doing this job (roughly, assuming no major disasters, average time etc). I'm only asking as want to get off on the right foot with anything i do. I'll charge less than the going rate in order to just get the experience under my belt.

Thanks

 

[villa_tom]

I'm not sure what the prices are down your way but I wouldn't charge less than the going rate mate. Charge what ever the job costs people don't mind paying top whack if the job is done to a good standard.

My private work is quiet at the moment, but I lower my prices for no one. The price is the price like it or lump it. once you do one job on the cheap then they will tell everybody and you'll end up running your arse off for less money than you should.

 

[armyash]

I'm not sure what the prices are down your way but I wouldn't charge less than the going rate mate. Charge what ever the job costs people don't mind paying top whack if the job is done to a good standard.

My private work is quiet at the moment, but I lower my prices for no one. The price is the price like it or lump it. once you do one job on the cheap then they will tell everybody and you'll end up running your arse off for less money than you should.

Good point, i won't be doing it on the cheap after that, Thanks!

 

[GQuigley67]

a shot in the dark for london prices would probably be around £150 I'd say, it all depends on how long the job takes and what your hourly rate is

 

[villa_tom]

Stan on here is from London. He might be able to give you a rough price when he's on later

 

[secret squirrel]

Very difficult to answer, is it plastic soil or cast iron, do you need to cut the collar off the cast or has it been done,

Done a toilet on Monday cast iron had to cut the cast iron collar off, re run the cold to it. I charged £200 incl parts (bit of copper, couple of joints, 2x flexi hoses(needed to re-do basin cold) 2x iso valves and 1x cutting disc and multiquick fitting, small bag of sand and cement to hold toilet on concrete floor), not the incl toilet.

May seem like a lot but its a dirty messy job and as soon as someone mentions toilet to me, I add a bit, just because its a toilet and its dirty.

My attitude (right or wrong) if someone wants to do this for £100 let them.

 

[WaterTight]

does "fit a toilet" mean replace like for like? replace with different (i.e. low-level to close coupled)? install one where there wasn't one before?

 

[armyash]

Very difficult to answer, is it plastic soil or cast iron, do you need to cut the collar off the cast or has it been done,

Done a toilet on Monday cast iron had to cut the cast iron collar off, re run the cold to it. I charged £200 incl parts (bit of copper, couple of joints, 2x flexi hoses(needed to re-do basin cold) 2x iso valves and 1x cutting disc and multiquick fitting, small bag of sand and cement to hold toilet on concrete floor), not the incl toilet.

May seem like a lot but its a dirty messy job and as soon as someone mentions toilet to me, I add a bit, just because its a toilet and its dirty.

My attitude (right or wrong) if someone wants to do this for £100 let them.

Good valid points you make. I have asked for more info before i give a price so i know what i could be walking in to. Making your living as a plumber i don't think what you charged there is unreasonable although anything i earn from plumbing is extra at the moment. I wont let people take the mickey but i will take advantage of any chances to get experience.

 

[armyash]

does "fit a toilet" mean replace like for like? replace with different (i.e. low-level to close coupled)? install one where there wasn't one before?

That is information i am waiting on at the moment. 🙂

 

[dontknowitall]

I'd charge 1/2 day to a day's work (depending on difficulties). Most times it's just half a day but as Secret Squirrel's suggested, sometimes there's much more to it that whacking a pan on to the floor and screwing in the cistern.

Dolphin Bathrooms tried charging me £1,500 around 15 years ago then said £900 when I said it seemed expensive. Local plumber charged £1,500 in the end for installing the whole bathroom complete with whirlpool bath, new water supply, soil pipes, and it took him at least a week. Fantastic job he did too!

 

[stevetheplumber]

like for like swop with new pan con and flexi to cw inlet 125 and up from there for any alterations

 

[WaterTight]

sorry, £1500 for installing a toilet? no wonder you decided to become a plumber...

and armyash the trick is to ask lots of questions on the phone. they don't know which ones might happen to be stupid. keep asking questions until you either no roughly what you'd charge or hit a blank wall in which case you arrange to go round and looksie...

 

[dontknowitall]

sorry, £1500 for installing a toilet? no wonder you decided to become a plumber...

This was many years ago. You know you hear of these stories where someone tries selling something to an elderly person/couple and won't leave the house? We were in exactly the same position.

The rep spent over 5 hours and we were too nice not to boot him out. In the end we gave him a cheque for £250 deposit to get rid of him then cancelled the next day.

Around 4 years ago we had another rep trying to sell us a wooden Timberland floor at £350 per square metre. He lasted 30 minutes because he had to get another catalogue from his car. We locked him out and handed his books back through a window!!!

 

[armyash]

sorry, £1500 for installing a toilet? no wonder you decided to become a plumber...

and armyash the trick is to ask lots of questions on the phone. they don't know which ones might happen to be stupid. keep asking questions until you either no roughly what you'd charge or hit a blank wall in which case you arrange to go round and looksie...

haha!

Just waiting to hear back before I decide whats happening (if i hear back that is lol)

 

[GQuigley67]

£1500 was for the bathroom not the toilet lol

re-read the post, they honestly quoted £1500 to replace a pan ???

 

[WaterTight]

well i thought it must be but that's not how it read.

 

[dontknowitall]

£1500 was for the bathroom not the toilet lol

re-read the post, they honestly quoted £1500 to replace a pan ???

£1,500 for the pan. I think it was £6,000 (might have been £8,000) for the bathroom (plumbing and basic suite only, no tiling, lighting or anything else). But it was £1,500 just for the WC.

These prices were in 1993 as well!!!

 

[GQuigley67]

hope it was one of thoe fancy japanese toilets lol

 

[armyash]

This is the info i have received from the potential customer:

They hope to purchase the WC themselves,
They want old WC out new one put in (no need for pipe adjustments they say. How do they know?),
The floor is laminate over concrete,
They also ask 'When buying a toilet are they all the same fixtures to swap in and out? i.e.can any toilet replace another toilet?' - to which the only reply i can think of is you can replace the wc with whatever you prefer but allowances will need to be made for different dimensions.

They also say they look forward to a quote from myself.

What does everyone recommend? also what problems would you suggest i expect/look out for?
Thanks

 

[Resolute]

This is the info i have received from the potential customer:

They hope to purchase the WC themselves,
They want old WC out new one put in (no need for pipe adjustments they say. How do they know?),
The floor is laminate over concrete,
They also ask 'When buying a toilet are they all the same fixtures to swap in and out? i.e.can any toilet replace another toilet?' - to which the only reply i can think of is you can replace the wc with whatever you prefer but allowances will need to be made for different dimensions.

They also say they look forward to a quote from myself.

What does everyone recommend? also what problems would you suggest i expect/look out for?
Thanks

Some pans are bottom exit, some exit out the back. Also dimensions will be different so floor will need to be altered. Also if there is other furniture in the room they may not match the new toilet. You also need to consider disposal of the old pan.

I'd plan on it being at least half a days work and price for that.

 

[EPH]

Just tell them you charge £XX per hour plus materials and you imagine the job to take X hours if you don't want to commit to a price?

 

[WaterTight]

If the new toilet varies a lot in size and dimension from the old you may have a number of tricky issues. If you can - go and have a look.

You can then explain to them that if they pick a new toilet where the waste is roughly the same height from the floor, where the shape and dimensions of where the pan sits on the floor are the same or a bit larger than the original one (then they won't have to worry about changing the floor,) where the cistern doesn't project back further than the current one and - depending on how the inlet is currently piped - where it fills on the same side - then it's easy peasey! Hopefully they'll look worried - then offer to measure it all up and find them a replacement. And tell them you'll only add £40 on for doing that, considerably cheaper than raising pans, running new soil pipes, re-directing feeds.

That's not actually what plumbers do. They just fit what the custard buys if the custard wants to supply. But it would give you the opporunity to start to look out for potential issues, have a nose round some bathroom shops and get to start off with a nice easy install.

 

[pauls]

i would go and have a look i always try to view a job befor i do it............. expect the unexpected and be prepered. i would imadgine there will be some copper pipe work adjustments 1/2 tap connector copper pipe iso valve etc.

 

[tackleburger]

I charge around £150 inc VAT and some you win some you arrive at and reschedule. I find overall I do okay out of these jobs. The minute you agree to change a WC for £50 is the day it will go pear shaped even if it looks like a straight forward 1/2 hour's work. Believe it or not I had a guy call me up asking how much to supply & fit a toilet recently I said including the WC around the £240 mark. He totally baulked at me, I know the area where he is and I also know that the wastes in those houses are cast and almost always need cut back. He then called me robber and said the other guy he phoned told him to go to B&Q buy a WC and he'd put it in for £40. In reply I politely asked him why he was even phoning me as I wasn't prepared to fit it virtually free, given I had 20 mins travel there the same back plus a pan connector, valve and length of pipe.

 

[WaterTight]

You should have said, "Sorry I added that up wrong. Let me see, that plus that, add on that, carry the one, not forgetting that, three of those and with 200% ****ty customer tax, yes it will actually come to £1000 but I'm not free until september 2019"