Drawing up a budget for your bathroom is as important as drawing up your first scale plans.
The Budget
You may need some guidelines to give you an early idea of the
probable costs involved.
The suite – looking for value
You will see many suites advertised at very keen prices but will
you will need to carefully consider whether these suites are value
for many. A good guide to the quality of a suite is to examine the
closet suite. Box rim flushing is much better than open rim
flushing, you will find all high quality suites come with a box
rim.
How about the quality of the bath
Assuming that the bath is acrylic then the best test of quality is
to look on the underneath surface. Can you see the wooden baseboard
on the flat part of the bath base, or is it totally laminated
inside the glass fibre? All high quality baths have the baseboard
laminated inside the glass fibre. Could the hand grips be replaced
from above in the event of a problem?
Check the operation of the taps or mixer fittings. If they are fitted with conventional valves check for smooth easy action and number of turns from fully closed to fully open. If you want high quality and long life without drips insist on ceramic disc mixers.
Installation
Installation costs vary according to the complexity of your
bathroom, the changes you are planning and where you live. A
straight forward swap usually takes 1 to 2 days and could cost
between £150 - £300 a day.
However, a complicated installation could easily double or treble the workload and your plumber will advise you about this when you talk to him. You should always obtain a detailed estimate from a Registered Plumber.
Tiles
Costs will vary according to whether you are tiling small
areas behind the wash basin and behind the bath or whether you are
tiling all walls from floor to ceiling. As a general guide, a
typical 2.4m x 1.8m (approx. 8' x 6') bathroom fully tiled in a
medium price range tile will cost somewhere between £350 and
£400 for the tiles. Tiles vary in price so if you choose a
particularly exotic one this could cost much more.
Tiling
Assuming that you buy a medium priced tile, the costs of
professionally applying the tiles, floor to ceiling, is about the
same as the cost of the tiles themselves. Generally speaking you
can calculate on the basis of £20-£25 per square metre
for the tile fixing.
The Money
These days there are more ways than ever to pay for
improvements to your home. The easiest method is to use your credit
card. That will typically allow you up to a month of interest-free
credit, but after that you will be charged interest each month on
the balance outstanding. This may be suitable if you intend to
clear the debt quickly, maybe over a period of months, but the rate
of interest may well be higher than the rates available on
alternative forms of finance.
If you are employing a contractor to carry out major works, such as a new bathroom suite, it is possible that the firm will offer you its own finance package - arranged through a loan company. It may be convenient to tie-up the transaction with one person, but check the interest rate you will be charged, and compare it with alternative forms of finance.
Most banks and loan companies will be only too pleased to lend to you if you have a good credit record - usually on the basis of an unsecured personal loan. "Unsecured" means that your home (or any other large asset) is not used as security, so it is safe from any repossession proceedings if it turns out that you cannot keep up the repayments - but the interest will normallly be higher. Personal loans need a short application form to be completed and a decision can usually be made as soon as you have provided the information required.
Banks and building societies offer "secured" mortgages to homeowners. If you take out a mortgage the loan is secured on your home - which is therefore at risk if you fail to make up the required payments. However, if you already have a mortgage you can top it up (or release equity) with a new loan at very little expense - infact, competition for your business is so fierce that any cost s to you may even be paid on your behalf!
The mortgae marketplace is extremely busy these days, so expect to see different deals in a wide variety of places. You will be able to choose fixed, or variable interest rates, differing repayment terms allowing you to spread payments over a longer period of time (often with higher interest rates) or shorten the repayment terms - but watch out for early repayment fees!
Mortgages will usually need a slightly longer application form, and your property may need to be revalued - but these days the banks or building society usually pays for the valuation. Occasionally you may be asked to pay an administration fee, especiallly if you've selected a fixed or discounted interest rate.
FINALLY, REMEMBER:
* If you decide to take some form of financial product, look at the
options and choose the one that best suits your
circumstances.
* Independent advice is widely available these days, don't be
afraid to use it if you think you need to!
