Removing a bidet to fit a washing machine: costs and real risks

Putting the washing machine where the bidet was: €300 and two hours of work

How much does it cost to remove a bidet and put a washing machine in its place? The most concrete answer traceable comes from someone who did it in a single afternoon: unscrew the valve, detach the hoses, loosen the side screws, unstick the fixture from the floor and cap the dead outlets. Two hours of work. The appliance, a 45 cm top-loading washing machine, costs around €300. The reason isn't aesthetic: it's to reclaim the space that laundry takes up in the kitchen.

What work is needed to remove a bidet and install a washing machine?

A bidet isn't bricked into the wall: it's screwed and glued. That reduces the job to dismantling, cutting and sealing. The usual materials list is short: two 1/2 caps for the old outlets, a 1/2 male to 3/8 valve for the tap, another 3/4 for the washing machine inlet and a PVC Y-piece that splits the sink and appliance outlets. Dead pipes are sealed with cement mixed with bicarbonate, the plumbing trick known as hydraulic.

That's where the cheap part ends. The water inlet can be reused from the bidet itself — even the hot one — or run from the sink, depending on distance. The expensive part isn't connecting: it's chipping, restoring the surface and making it presentable. The minimum scenario is a few hours of a plumber. Those who add fine finishes and a separate electrician go way over, and that's why the most common advice is to hire trades separately and avoid full renovation companies, which multiply the bill.

Where does the washing machine drain go when the bidet disappears?

Here's the point that decides whether the job takes an afternoon or a week. If the bidet drain is in the floor, it'll get in the way and must be redone; if it comes out of the wall, it's hardly a problem.

The intermediate solution, which avoids chipping, is to drain into the bathtub with a manual hose that you pull out when it's time to wash. Less elegant, much cheaper. And a warning worth reading before taking the plunge: if the drain goes to the bathroom's siphon bottle, the chances of clogging from hair, lint and soap residue multiply. It's the argument that most holds back those who already have the machine installed.

Bathroom socket: what the regulations require

The Low Voltage Electrotechnical Regulations set specific obligations for bathroom sockets, with safety volumes and distances that are happily ignored when the socket is the only one in the room. Comparing with the UK, where regulations leave bathrooms without sockets, is of little use: in Spain they are installed and come with conditions.

On the ground, the most cited precaution is the RCD. A single socket for the washing machine in a wet area makes tripping the RCD the guarantee, and some add a two-pole isolator so you don't have to pull the cable with wet hands. The opposing current warns of overflows, electrical faults and risk of electrocution when stepping out of the shower. It's a warning, not a fact: the price of the extra socket depends on the distance to the consumer unit and whether a chase needs to be cut.

Does bathroom humidity damage the washing machine sooner?

The relative humidity and shower steam punish the electronics of modern machines, which are replaced or repaired sooner than expected. The counterargument is that a washing machine is no more dangerous than a hairdryer or a light bulb and that any bathroom today has a window or extractor fan.

The mechanical part isn't peaceful either. Top-loaders, at 45 cm, cost around €300, don't vibrate like a front-loader and some have been seen walking into the dining room. Others go 25 years of daily washing without a breakdown. In between, a case of bearings changed at six or seven years with a part ordered online and another three years running like new. The spin noise, though, is the weak point acknowledged by friends and foes alike: 1,200 rpm sounds like a reactor.

Dryer, sink and countertop: the no-work version

There's a variant that solves the problem without touching pipes: a condenser dryer, which discharges water into a tank and needs no drain. With washing machine and dryer together under a countertop, and the pedestal sink replaced by a built-in one, the bathroom changes function without chipping a single tile. Whoever did it sums it up just like someone who uses the bidet's water inlet: clever tricks to avoid a utility room.

And the uncomfortable question remains. The bidet, is it good for anything? Some dismiss it as an object from another century, replaced by wet wipes or the shower hose. Others defend its use for hygiene and consider giving it up a step backwards. Neither consensus nor data: custom and little more.

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The cheapest renovation is still the one you don't do: keep the bidet, run the hose to the bathtub and keep washing in the kitchen. Nobody puts that in the before and after of a renovation.