What actually happens at the free home visit?

It is the step everyone hesitates over. Not the money, not the bathroom. The visit. Because everybody has heard the stories: the surveyor who turns out to be a salesman, the 3 hour presentation, the price that magically drops when you reach for the door handle. In this trade the wariness is earned.

Here is the thing though. A proper home visit is genuinely necessary, because the price of this job turns almost entirely on the floor and the drainage, and nobody honest can see those down a phone line. The trick is knowing what a real visit looks like, and what to walk away from.

What a proper visit looks like

• It is short. Measuring a bathroom, looking under the floor where possible and working out where the waste can go takes about half an hour. Talking through the options, perhaps another 20 minutes. If someone is still on your sofa after 2 hours, that is not a visit.
• They look at the floor, not just the room. A visit that never mentions joists, drainage or which way the waste runs has not actually priced the job.
• You get a written quote. One fair price, on paper, typically valid for 30 days. You are expected to take your time, show it to family, and compare it with others.
• The VAT question gets asked. Work to adapt a bathroom for someone chronically sick or disabled can be zero rated, and you sign a short declaration for the installer's records. A proper installer raises it before quoting rather than waiting to be asked.
• Family is welcome. Good installers are happy for a son or daughter to sit in, in person or on the phone. Anyone who wants you alone for the conversation has a reason.

The signs to walk away from

• A price that is only good today. No legitimate quote expires at teatime. This is the single biggest warning sign in the trade.
• The price falls when you say no. If a £9,000 quote becomes £6,000 the moment you hesitate, the first number was never real.
• They will not leave a written quote. A verbal deal that has to be accepted on the spot is designed to stop you comparing.
• They quote before seeing the room. A firm number over the phone, sight unseen, is a guess, usually a high one with room built in to discount later.
• Nobody mentions how long you lose the bathroom. It is the question every family asks afterwards. A good installer answers it before you ask.

What to have ready

Nothing, really. That is the point of the visit. But it helps to know what you want to ask: the price for your room, how many days the bathroom is out of use, whether the toilet stays usable, what the guarantee covers and who certifies the electrics. Write the answers on the quote itself so everything is in one place.

One more thing worth doing. Before they arrive, decide whether the person this is for wants to soak or to shower. It is the question that settles which job you are actually buying, and it is much easier answered over a cup of tea than in front of a stranger with a folder.