New shower mixer tap

[Angie]

Does anyone have a rough idea of what I should be paying a plumber to have a shower mixer tap replaced, like for like. Shouldn't involve any new pipework as tap is same as original and less than a year old.  Thank you

[Gardian]

This can only be a very rough idea - it so much depends how far you are away from the plumber and the quality of shower mixer that's being installed.

However ............ it shouldn't take a plumber more than an hour or so to fit the mixer. Let's add half an hour for travel each way, say 2 hours total @ €40/hr max. Thus €80 for labour.

Add (say) €100 for the mixer and you get no more than €220 TTC absolute max for the job.

[Nick Trollope]

Or, you could do the sensible thing and get more than one devis.

Don't know many plumbers who can afford to work for 40€/hr.

[Quillan]

Personally I would nip down to my local DIY shop and buy a new shower mixer with a thermostat which can be for as little 20 Euros and fit it myself.

The new mixer will come with new seals etc. All you need to do is turn off the electricity to the water heater (just a precaution), turn off your main stop cock and open tapes that are below the height of the shower mixer i.e. if you shower is upstairs then turn the kitchen sink taps on, turn the shower mixer on then wait till the water stops coming out of the shower then turn the taps off in the kitchen. You now need a big adjustable spanner and just undo the big nuts that attache the mixer to the pipes, make sure there is not rubber bits stuck to the pipe from the old seal then put the new seals inside the new mixer tap nuts and bolt it on. Leave the show mixer on and go turn on the stop cock, wait till the water comes out of the shower and turn that off (it may 'spit' a little as the air comes out). starting from the lowest tap in the house run each tap for a minute to get rid of any air. It will take you all of 10 minutes maximum to change the mixer and no more than 30 minutes in total. Don't forget to turn the electricity to the water heater back on when you are happy.

When you bolt on the new mixer you don't have to 'swing' on the spanner. Do it up as tight as you can with your fingers then another quarter to half a turn with the spanner. If you get a small leak then just tighten it a little (1/8 to 1/4 of a turn) till the leak stops.

[Angie]

Thank you to everyone for all your helpful comments.  We are getting this sorted one way or the other this weekend as its started to drip very badly.  With Quillan's detailed instructions we are going to have a go ourselves and try to save a bit of money!  Our very local plumber has said he will pop round middle of the week if we don't manage to sort it out.