Smashed by bathroom basin

[McPhee]

Just looking to tap in to the wealth of knowledge here for a moment. Had an accident last night and broke the basin in the bathroom. The property is rented. The landlord replied this morning, telling me it's up to me to get it replaced (which is fair enough).

I've found a replacement basin. How much should I expect to pay for the fitting? It's just a standard pedastal basin. Not a complicated job, but I've got no idea what would be a reasonable quote from a local tradesperson. £100? £150? £200? More?

Any nudge in the right direction would be appreciated.

 

[doopydug]

You would probably get a handyman to do it round these parts for £50 - a plumber, at least double that. Depends where you are tho

 

[200sols]

Do it yourself its easy.

 

[psd99]

people could come in asking for £500 to replace that.... just saying huge variance across the country and between traders.

but... i'd imagine something like that should not cost more than £100 imho

 

[McPhee]

people could come in asking for £500 to replace that.... just saying huge variance across the country and between traders.

but... i'd imagine something like that should not cost more than £100 imho

By-and-large that's why I'm asking.

I figured it's an easy job. A couple of hours for someone earning maybe £100-£150/day, so certainly shouldn't be over £100. The responses so far seem to suggest that's about right.

Do it yourself its easy.

If it was my own house, I would.

 

[Bug One]

If it was my own house, I would.

It's your time / money either way.

Do any tiles need to be moved / re-grouted. New sealant will need to be added at the least. The basin itself is dead easy. A few screws onto the wall and a couple of flexi hoses attached to the taps. What takes the time is the finishing.

 

[jpaul]

Any nudge in the right direction would be appreciated.

but ...doesn't this comes under landlord insurance , which many rental contracts demand, and is usually part of contents insurance ?
some earlier discussion on here about that.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

I was going to say surely thats an insurance issue? Getting some proper tradesmen in is likely better than whatever bodge job a tenant is likely to come up with mind you some places I've seen its not uncommon.

 

[bainbridge]

This exact thing happened in the rented flat we left just over a week ago. Gf dropped a bottle of perfume in it. The cost for a contractor to supply and fit a replacement was £225.

A DIY job is not a simple as it seems, as mentioned it's down to the finishing. I bought a white basin and pedestal of the exact same height for about £50 from screwfix and was planning to fit it directly below the tile splashbacks as before, but then noticed there's a variance of exactly where the plughole goes and this in turn dictates where the pedestal sits. The lino was cut around the existing pedestal and I couldn't find a basin of the exact same height and drain position, so I told the letting agent to get a contractor to do it and take it out of our deposit (we've now bought a house). Took the screwfix basin back and was refunded.

 

[McPhee]

This exact thing happened in the rented flat we left just over a week ago. Gf dropped a bottle of perfume in it. The cost for a contractor to supply and fit a replacement was £225.

A DIY job is not a simple as it seems, as mentioned it's down to the finishing. I bought a white basin and pedestal of the exact same height for about £50 from screwfix and was planning to fit it directly below the tile splashbacks as before, but then noticed there's a variance of exactly where the plughole goes and this in turn dictates where the pedestal sits. The lino was cut around the existing pedestal and I couldn't find a basin of the exact same height and drain position, so I told the letting agent to get a contractor to do it and take it out of our deposit (we've now bought a house). Took the screwfix basin back and was refunded.

After watching a YouTube video, there's no way I'm doing a DIY job.

It doesn't look that hard. But as you say, it's all the little bits. Plus, if I screw up and break something else, I've then got to explain that one to the landlord.

I was going to say surely thats an insurance issue? Getting some proper tradesmen in is likely better than whatever bodge job a tenant is likely to come up with mind you some places I've seen its not uncommon.

I'm sure it would be possible for the LL to claim on insurance. But it was a cheap sink, and with labour is a <£200 job. Not sure I'd bother claiming on the insurance if it was my house, so I can see why she doesn't want to, particularly given she doesn't have to take on the costs.

Besides, she's got a long list of things we want putting right already. It likely wouldn't be wise for us to start an argument over a sink we broke.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

This isn’t really a landlord insurance issue, why would the insurance pay when the tenant (OP) is there to pay? The insurance is a last resort, not a first port of all for this sort of thing. The OP could claim on their own insurance if they have it and it covers accidental damage.

Replacing a basin is pretty easy as plumbing goes. The difficulty is getting something similar to what’s already there in terms of height and looks. You only need basic tools to swap things over. With modern flexi tap connectors and flexi waste pipes the holes don’t even need to line up and it’s really simple if these are already in place. But for £200 a trader isn’t going to be doing any ‘making good’. A replacement either fits or it doesn’t.

The flooring *should* run under the the sink with the pedestal resting on top but some people take ‘shortcuts’ (otherwise known as a bodge job) and just cut around fittings instead of removing and replacing them. This obviously can cause issues later down the line.

Any gaps is under 1cm you could probably hide it with silicone but any more than that it’s going to need more work to make good and isn’t really in scope of a sink replacement.

 

[arknor]

I'm curious how old the sink is

25 to 30 years
Among kitchen sinks, those made with stainless steel and porcelain are durable options. Stainless steel sinks last 15 to 30 years, while porcelain has a lifespan of 25 to 30 years. No matter which material you choose, proper care and maintenance will make your sink last longer.

in theory if a sink is outside of or almost at it's expected life expectancy then should the tenant really be expected to cover the whole cost?

I mean obviously the landlord is getting a brand new skink to replace an old one thats probably been there for over 10years at least


at one place I was renting with my wife it had a plastic bath and somehow she cracked it they replace the bath for free.
they sent around their own repair team and the guy asked if we wanted an enamel tub instead of another plastic one.

got charged nothing, surely some of your rent is expected to cover dmg to the property?

was these guys we were renting from

PfP is made of over 20 companies, has assets in excess of £3 billion, and manages more than 182,500 homes.

seems they are really nice landlords who won't take advantage of their tenants

 

[jpaul]

but ...doesn't this comes under landlord insurance

earlier discussion we had -
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/tenants-liability-insurance.18778933/page-2#post-30836955

no brainer - if you have tenant liability on home insurance it should be covered .. or, potentially, the landlords insurance

 

[McPhee]

We haven't got either. Just contents insurance.

The bathroom suite is ~10 years old.

Sorting out a replacement is at a standstill. The LL seems to want an identical replacement. This hasn't been stated unequivocally. But it has been hinted at. The term "like-for-like" keeps getting used, though not really in the right context.

I sent over some photos of what I intended to replace it with; a generic, unbranded, rectangular white porcelain sink, to replace the broken generic, unbranded, rectangular white porcelain sink. The two were near enough the same size (proposed replacement was 2cm wider) and visually similar. I didn't get a "no". Or a "yes". I got an anecdote about how some other tenants broke a sink she remembers as being identical a few years back, and we're able to find an identical replacement in a local DIY store (but she doesn't know which one). I've been to all of the local DIY stores (bar the places that are currently closed due to Covid). The next response was that her plumber thinks he can get a close match, but it'll have to be a vanity unit rather than a pedastal. I spoke to this chap on the phone yesterday. He suggested replacing with a vanity unit, but it was going to be way more than I was intending to pay.

I get the feeling I'm being stitched up here. Like, either this winds up costing me £300+, or there will be an argument over the replacement sink when we move out. It wouldn't surprise me if the plumber's replacement is no more "identical" than the units I sent photos of.

 

[thezappa]

Can you ask the plumber for a link or make/model of the proposed replacement? If it looks similar (enough) to those you have found I’d suggest telling the landlord that it is practically the same and you will replace with the one you’ve found. If she wants a vanity unit she will have to pay the balance since your responsibility is ‘like-for-like’.

 

[fobose]

Have we established what brand the sink is? It could have been an expensive unit which might be why the like for like phrase keeps on getting used. Just remember, you broke the sink.

 

[McPhee]

No branding anywhere. But it would have been installed when the house was renovated by developers around 2010/2011. Standard cheap renovation job throughout, so it's not likely to be an expensive suite.

All sorted now anyway. Took a bit more to and fro, but we've agreed it'll be replaced with a wider vanity unit. Comes in at £240 fitted. I was expecting £200-£250 for the job originally, so I'm not going to grumble at that. A basin & ped would have come to just over £200, but we were about to buy a vanity anyway (there's no closed storage in the bathroom, and we have a toddler...).

 

[bainbridge]

No branding anywhere. But it would have been installed when the house was renovated by developers around 2010/2011. Standard cheap renovation job throughout, so it's not likely to be an expensive suite.

All sorted now anyway. Took a bit more to and fro, but we've agreed it'll be replaced with a wider vanity unit. Comes in at £240 fitted. I was expecting £200-£250 for the job originally, so I'm not going to grumble at that. A basin & ped would have come to just over £200, but we were about to buy a vanity anyway (there's no closed storage in the bathroom, and we have a toddler...).

Glad you got it sorted, price is comparable with what we paid so probably the going rate.