A chipped bath at check-out is not a maintenance problem. It is a deposit dispute, a void week, and an argument you would rather not have.
By Richard · 38 years bath repair, Edinburgh & Scotland
A large part of my work in Edinburgh is for landlords, letting agents and factors — Marchmont HMOs before the students arrive, Leith flats between tenancies, New Town lets where the fixtures are original and irreplaceable.
Under Scotland's tenancy deposit schemes, a landlord claiming against a deposit has to justify the sum. Adjudicators consider betterment: you cannot charge a tenant for a new bath when the old one had been in service for twenty years.
So a replacement quote is the worst document to bring to an adjudication. It invites the argument you will lose.
A repair invoice does not. It is proportionate, it restores the fixture to its prior condition, and it is a number the adjudicator can accept without a debate about depreciation.
Replacing a bath takes a plumber, a tiler, and four or five days with the bathroom out of use. In a student let turning around in the last week of August, that is not a schedule, it is a fantasy.
A chip repair takes an hour or two, same day. A full resurface takes a day, usable the following morning.
Marchmont, Bruntsfield, Newington and Tollcross carry Edinburgh's densest HMO stock, much of it Victorian tenement with original cast iron baths. Heavy use, quick turnover, and a licensing regime that expects the property to be maintained.
Those baths are a hundred years old and they are the best fixture in the flat. They also chip. Repairing them keeps the licence clean and keeps the fixture.
We repaired chips across ten baths at St Christopher's Inn on the Royal Mile — a high-turnover commercial bathroom operation that could not close rooms for a fortnight. Colour matched, done in a short visit, rooms back in service the same day.
Chip repair from £140 + VAT · Leith · Morningside & Marchmont
Where we work
Common questions
Can I charge a tenant for a bath repair?
A proportionate repair cost that restores the fixture to its prior condition is far easier to justify to a deposit adjudicator than a replacement, which raises betterment. Take photographs before and after. We provide them as standard.
How quickly can you turn a flat around?
Chip repairs are usually same-day work once booked. A full resurface takes a day and the bath is usable the next morning. We work seven days a week.
Do you handle multiple properties?
Yes. Portfolio work across Marchmont, Leith, Newington and the New Town is routine. Several flats in a single visit where they are close together.
Do you quote from photographs?
Yes, and we prefer to. Send images and a postcode and we price it before travelling. No call-out charge either way.
No call-out charge anywhere in Edinburgh or the Lothians. Send a photo of the damage and we'll price it honestly.