Advice on replacing a bathtub

My real estate agent has just advised that there is a crack in my investment property's bathtub. He said the estimate replacement cost is about $3000. Now that is a lot more that I expected. Does anyone know the typical costs of replacing a bathtub (especially the labour costs)? My investment property is an older unit in Sydney City nothing flashy. Thanks in advance.

 

All depends. Is it free standing, stone, acrylic, inset?

 

Thank you Raydar for your reply. It is an inset bathtub, possibly acrylic but I am not too sure. It is a tub shower combo which means there is a shower screen sitting on one side of the bathtub. Does this make it more complicated to replace? We are especially interested in the labour costs. Thank you!

 

Why? If the tenant cannot shower then they could find cause to break the lease - essential service. The longer this continues the greater the risk of damage to your property.

You may find someone who can weld acrylic but it may be quicker to get it replaced.

 

Whilst I'm not a tradie, I'm a keen at DIY. If you want to get your hands dirty at minimum you will need a plumber.

Given its an insert, you may be able to a find an exact fit to replace. If you were DIY, you could remove the shower screen yourself and pay a plumber to remove and replace the bath.

As for cost, 3k sounds excessive. I would think half that including the price of a replacement bath.

If you can't assist and organise the repair yourself, get your PM to organise some quotes. That's what you pay them for.

 

We are planning to replace it and the price of bathtubs are readily available on the internet. This is why we are more interested in the labour costs of replacing the bathtub. From what our PM quoted ($3000) it looks like the labour costs will be more than $2000, which seems too high to us.

 

You can pick up a tub for $400. Say $100 for fittings. Pay a plumber $600 to remove and replace. Instead of a shoer screen you can use a rod and curtain - much cheaper.

 

Our PM said he hasn't got a quote yet but he expects the costs to be around $3000. This means that the plumbing costs will be more than $2000 which seems quite high (assuming the bathtub is under $1000). Do you know how long it would take to do this job? Is it a more complicate job so that it takes longer to complete?

 

I wonder how much of that 3K the agent is keeping?

Should be a Half day job not including the tiling. Might need to add a little for the tiling say $250.

 

I have a unit on the top floor of a walk up and found that tradies generally baulked at carrying heavy tools and things up the narrow, winding stairs. Just as well I was able to charm them into it. Sometimes they charged a little more.
Besides very quickly becoming fond of my 1960s bath tub, I was told that replacing it would be a bit of a drama and that the owners of the unit below would need to allow access for some reason.
Just thinking about yours though, if it's got a crack, it's probably acrylic.
I agree with whoever said to get quotes. 3.

 

It is a pretty big job. As it is used as a shower, I would think it would have tiled cement sheet going down at least two of the walls and over the lip on the edge of the bath. To do the job properly the whole two walls of sheeting will have to be removed, replaced and then waterproofed an tiled. Once the old bath is out the cement mortar bed it was laid on will have to be removed.
I think 3K is fairly accurate.
I would recomend getting quotes to repair the crack and resurface. It will end up looking like new but it will be a lot less work!

 

Thanks everyone for your reply! I have uploaded a photo of a similar bathroom. Does anyone know a good plumber who works around the Sydney City area?

 

Definitely worthwhile getting a few quotes.
I replaced one recently, but it was the whole bathroom, so not sure of the price.

 

You might be able to get it a little bit cheaper but 3k is probably about right. To remove that bath you will need to completely remove the framework that is supporting it as well. Which means it will need to be reframed and rebedded, all the tiles on the fascia will need to be replaced. It's a fair job and the plumbing is the easy part. Unless you are going to rip it out your self and organise the trades individually, I would pay the 3k and be done with it.