Replacing a shower tray: a badly fitted valve ends up costing €1,000

One thousand euros to replace a badly fitted drain

A drain valve clumsily installed in a resin shower tray ends up causing leaks into the flat below. The owner, who lives far away, asks the tenant to find a plumber. And the plumber, seeing the tray, warns: removing it without breaking it is mission impossible. In comes a builder who charges €500 just to lift the first row of tiles and relay the floor. Add the plumber's labour and the new tray. Estimated total: €1,000. The owner's home insurance covers the neighbour's damage, but not the repair on their own property, because it deems it an installation fault.

The tenant's question is the same as anyone's: does it really cost a thousand euros to fit a tray where there already was one? The short answer is that the price is not set by the drain, but by the demolition. A resin tray cannot be dismantled: it has to be broken. And when it breaks, it takes the tiles with it. That's where the bill comes from.

Why a smaller tray costs more than a bigger one

The builder's logic is impeccable from his own convenience: if the new tray is smaller, more flooring has to be added. If it's the same size, that expense is saved. But large resin trays are scarce, and those made of other materials don't come in the required sizes. The supposed saving on the purchase is eaten up by the building work. Some argue the solution is to find a tray of the same size and height, remove the old one by breaking it —better it breaks the tray than the tiles— and glue the new one on top. All done in a single morning.

The most optimistic estimate doing the rounds puts the labour at €200. The most pessimistic matches what has already been seen: quotes of €1,100 to remove a bathtub and install a built-in 1.80 tray. In between, one case settled for €250 after a full day's work, and another resolved with two evenings of DIY, a tray costing just over a hundred euros, and fifty euros' worth of assorted materials.

The Sikaflex route: six euros versus a thousand

Before breaking anything, part of the analysis suggests the chemical shortcut. Unscrew the grate, check whether the valve has any play, and seal the contact diameter with the tray and the pipe's inner edges with Sikaflex. Let it dry properly, with a hairdryer if necessary. One case described: a leak dripping into the neighbour's flat, solved in an afternoon with €6 of product. Another, more ambitious one: accessing the threaded elbow by breaking a tile and tightening the joint.

The reasonable doubt: if the drain doesn't move, the sealant won't get in. And if the PVC pipes have come apart, the pipe's drip edge won't glue them back together. Trying costs little. Not trying costs a thousand.

The insurance that covers the neighbour but not your shower

Here's the crux nobody disputes: the owner's policy pays for the damage downstairs but washes its hands of the repair on its own insured property, citing lack of maintenance. It's the usual pattern. One affected person went through it with a bathtub: the insurer declared itself out, and the replacement had already been done by the time they could react.

The technical alternative exists: the neighbour's ceiling is made of panels and leaves the pipes visible. Couldn't the valve have been replaced from below? The plumber who ultimately charged €250 ruled it out: the pipe is narrower than the valve. None of the four professionals who looked at the problem offered that route. The matter ends exactly there, unresolved.