How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Northern Ireland?
Prices checked October 2026 · Written by Darren Kearney, master joiner, Northern Ireland · How we price
A mid-range bathroom renovation in Northern Ireland costs about £6,900 – £9,200 for a typical 2.5 × 2 m room with trades doing the work, including materials, labour and a 10% contingency. Budget starts around £5,800; premium can reach £13,400. Doing the DIY-friendly parts yourself brings a mid-range job down to about £6,000 – £7,900.
Price my bathroom in 60 secondsCost by room size and finish
| Size | Budget | Mid-range | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 2 × 1.7 m | £5,600 – £7,700 | £6,600 – £8,800 | £9,900 – £13,000 |
| Medium 2.5 × 2 m | £5,800 – £7,900 | £6,900 – £9,200 | £10,300 – £13,400 |
| Large 3.2 × 2.5 m | £6,200 – £8,500 | £7,400 – £9,800 | £10,900 – £14,300 |
DIY or trades?
| Finish | You do the DIY bits | Trades do it all |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | £4,900 – £6,600 | £5,800 – £7,900 |
| Mid-range | £6,000 – £7,900 | £6,900 – £9,200 |
| Premium | £9,400 – £12,100 | £10,300 – £13,400 |
Where the money goes
Mid-range bathroom, trades doing the work, in the order the job is done.
| Stage | Who | Materials | Labour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protect, patch & clean | DIY-friendly | £100 | £150 |
| Strip out & skip | DIY-friendly | £250 | £200 |
| Electrics | Trade | £200 | £700 |
| Bathroom suite & plumbing | Trade | £2,350 | £1,450 |
| Wall tiling | Skilled DIY | £600 | £400 |
| Paint walls, ceiling & woodwork | DIY-friendly | £150 | £150 |
| New flooring | Skilled DIY | £250 | £150 |
| Finishing touches | DIY-friendly | £50 | £150 |
| Total incl. 10% contingency | £7,900 | ||
The biggest items on the shopping list
- Quadrant/sliding + stone tray: about £450
- Steel bath + panel: about £400
- Gloss metro / patterned tile: about £250
- 6-yard skip (1 week): about £250
- Comfort-height toilet: about £250
- Vanity unit + basin: about £250
- Pipe, fittings, valves, wastes: about £200
- Thermostatic mixer bar: about £200
The full list for this bathroom runs to 40 items, with quantities and where to buy them.
Get the full list for your bathroom →How a bathroom renovation is done, step by step
- 1Protect, patch & clean
- Clear the room and cover floors, stairs and doorways you walk through
- Fill holes and cracks; patch-plaster any big damage
- At the end: hoover, wipe down, remove protection
- 2Strip out & skip
- Water off and pipes capped by a plumber before anything comes out
- Rip out old suite, tiles and flooring into the skip
- Check walls and floor for rot, damp or loose boards now, not later
- 3Electrics
- First fix: electrician runs new cables and back boxes before plastering
- Second fix: sockets, switches and lights connected after decorating
- Electrician tests it all and gives you a certificate. Keep it for when you sell
- 4Bathroom suite & plumbing
- First fix: plumber runs new pipes and wastes
- Shower walls boarded with backer board and tanked
- Bath and shower tray in before tiling; toilet, basin and taps after
- Pipes boxed in, silicone done, everything tested for leaks
- 5Wall tiling
- Walls primed; shower area tanked
- Tiles set out from the centre so cuts are even
- Leave 24 hours, then grout and wipe off
- Silicone the corners and edges, not grout
- 6Paint walls, ceiling & woodwork
- Fill, caulk gaps and sand
- Mist coat on new plaster, then ceiling first
- Two coats on walls
- Woodwork last, in satin
- 7New flooring
- Ply overlay screwed down every 150mm so the floor can't flex
- Undercut door frames so the floor slides under
- Lay the LVT, staggering the joints
- Door bars to finish
- 8Finishing touches
- Light fittings and new socket fronts on (power off at the fuse board)
- Blinds or curtain poles up
- Door stops on so handles don't hit the new paint
Easy to forget
- Plan for no bathroom for 1–2 weeks. Is there another toilet?
- Tank the shower area before tiling. Leaks here cause the most damage
- An extractor fan is a must, or you'll get mould
- Flooring goes down after painting, so it doesn't get splashed
- Book the electrician early: first fix is before plastering, second fix after
- Order everything at least a week before you start. Waiting on one part stops the whole job
- Keep 10% spare. Old houses always hide something behind the walls
Questions people ask
How much does a bathroom renovation cost in Northern Ireland in 2026?
A mid-range bathroom renovation costs about £6,900 – £9,200 for a typical 2.5 × 2 m room with trades doing the work, including materials, labour and a 10% contingency. Budget finishes start lower and premium can cost a lot more; see the table above.
How long does a bathroom renovation take?
About 13.5 working days of trade time on site, plus around 1 days waiting for plaster, adhesive or deliveries. Allow roughly 3 weeks start to finish, longer if you do parts yourself.
How much can I save by doing some of it myself?
Doing the DIY-friendly work yourself (protect, patch & clean, strip out & skip, wall tiling, paint walls, ceiling & woodwork, new flooring, finishing touches) saves about £1,100 on a mid-range bathroom. Leave electrics and bathroom suite & plumbing to qualified trades.
Do I need building control approval?
Usually not for a like-for-like refit. You will normally need building control approval if you remove or alter walls, change drainage, make a new opening for a window or door, add a toilet or bathroom where there wasn't one, or install or replace a boiler. If in doubt, ask your council's building control team before you start.
Do I need to tank the shower area?
Yes. Tanking is a waterproof layer under the tiles in the shower area. Leaks from an untanked shower are the most common cause of expensive damage after a bathroom refit.
Does an electric shower need a new circuit?
Usually yes. An electric shower needs its own circuit from the fuse board with the right size cable, fitted and certified by a qualified electrician.
Are there grants for this?
Not usually for a straightforward bathroom refit. If you're adapting a home for someone with a disability, you may qualify for a Disabled Facilities Grant through the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, which starts with an occupational therapist assessment. Check nidirect for the current rules.
Is this a quote?
No. These are guide prices from RenoLab's pricing engine (price book v2026.10), built on Northern Ireland trade rates and current UK retail prices. Put in your own sizes for an itemised price, then get written quotes.
Check whether it's fair, what it should include and what to ask the trade.
Check my quotePut in your sizes and finish. You get an itemised price, a full shopping list and a step-by-step plan in about a minute. Free, no sign-up.
Price my bathroomBathroom costs by town
- Belfast
- Lisburn
- Newry
- Derry/Londonderry
- Bangor
- Ballymena
- Newtownabbey
- Craigavon
- Omagh
- Enniskillen
- Coleraine
- Carrickfergus
- Antrim
- Newtownards
- Armagh
Other cost guides
- Kitchen renovation cost
- Bedroom renovation cost
- Living room renovation cost
- Hall and stairs renovation cost
- Utility room renovation cost
- En-suite renovation cost
- Home office renovation cost
Guide prices from price book v2026.10. Quantities come from the room size with waste allowances; materials use current UK retail prices including VAT; labour uses Northern Ireland trade rates (around £250 a day). How we price.