The cost of fitting a shower enclosure: what changes the price

What the base price covers

Fitting a shower enclosure on its own, where the base and drain are already in place and the walls are already tiled, is the simplest version of the job. It covers levelling the tray, sealing it to the floor and walls, assembling the frame, hanging the glass panels and doors, and checking that everything closes and drains as it should. As a rough figure, straightforward fitting work like this starts from around 150 € as a fixed job.

That base price assumes normal access, a tray and enclosure that match the manufacturer's fitting instructions, and no surprises once the old fittings are out. Anything beyond that — a different drain position, exposed old waterproofing, tiling that needs finishing around the new frame — is priced on top, either as extra hours or as part of a larger fixed quote.

For anyone still deciding between a fixed quote and hourly work, the rule of thumb is size: a self-contained enclosure swap usually gets a fixed price once we have seen photos or the room itself, while jobs that might grow, such as an unknown drain condition, are often quoted with an hourly rate from 39 €/h as a starting point until the scope is clear.

Removing the old enclosure or bath

Taking out an old shower cabin is usually quick: unscrew the frame, lift the tray, cut out the old sealant, and check the floor underneath for damage. This adds perhaps half an hour to an hour to the job. A bath is a different matter — cast iron and steel baths are heavy and awkward through a standard door, and acrylic ones can crack if handled roughly, so removal alone can take an hour or more before any fitting starts.

What is underneath matters too. Older Tallinn flats, especially Soviet-era panel buildings, sometimes have floor waterproofing that has failed silently under the old fixture, or a subfloor that needs drying out and repairing before anything new goes in. That is not something a quote can predict without seeing the space, which is why removal jobs are often confirmed as hourly work at first.

Moving the drain raises the price the most

Of everything that can change the final bill, relocating the drain has the biggest effect. It means opening the floor, running new waste pipe to the new position, checking the fall is correct so water actually drains, and closing the floor back up before the tray goes in. This is plumbing work in its own right, priced separately from the enclosure fitting, typically from 45 €/h.

If the new enclosure sits in exactly the same footprint as the old one, the existing drain usually works without any changes, which keeps the job close to the base price. Moving it even 30–40 centimetres to fit a different tray shape can add several hours of plumbing and floor work, so it is worth checking the drain position against the new enclosure's dimensions before ordering.

In blocks of flats, floor work near a drain sometimes touches shared risers or affects the flat below, in which case it is worth telling the apartment association before work starts, particularly if water needs to be shut off for the building.

Waterproofing and tiling around the frame

If the enclosure is going into a completely tiled and waterproofed space that only needs the new frame fitted, this step adds nothing. But if the old fixture was a different shape, footprint, or height, there will usually be a gap of exposed wall or floor where new waterproofing and tiles are needed before the frame can go up.

Waterproofing membrane, correctly lapped at joints and up the wall to the right height, takes time to apply and needs to cure before tiling starts, so this alone can add a day to the schedule even on a small area. Tiling to match existing tiles, or finding a close match, is its own job and is quoted separately depending on the area and the tile chosen.

This is usually the biggest unknown in a shower enclosure quote, because it is impossible to know the state of the wall and floor behind an old cabin until it comes out. A quote given before removal will normally flag this as a possible extra rather than promise a fixed figure for it.

Glass type and frame choice affect material cost

Tempered safety glass is standard and the price difference between an 6 mm and 8 mm pane is modest, but the frame style has more effect on cost. A fully framed enclosure is generally cheaper to buy and quicker to fit than a frameless or semi-frameless one, since frameless glass needs more precise measuring, heavier hardware, and more careful handling on site.

Sliding doors on a track are usually the fastest to fit; hinged doors need the wall or frame to be perfectly plumb, which can add fitting time in an older building where walls have settled unevenly over the decades. None of this changes the base fitting price by much on its own, but it does change how long the job takes and therefore where it lands within a quoted range.

How access to the bathroom speeds up or slows down the job

A bathroom that is easy to work in — enough floor space to lay out tools and glass panels, a door wide enough to bring the tray through, water and power already available — lets the job go at the pace the manufacturer's instructions assume. A cramped bathroom, a narrow corridor, or having to carry materials up several flights in an older building without a lift all add time.

Worth checking before work is booked:

• Whether the old fittings need disconnecting or removing first, or that is part of the job
• Whether the bathroom door and corridor allow the new tray or panels through without dismantling them
• Whether water can be shut off locally or needs coordinating with the building
• Whether tiles matching the existing ones are available, or a full re-tile is more realistic
• Whether the floor drain sits where the new enclosure needs it