Can't make my mind up on Bathroom - DIY or professionals?

helping_hubby

Just had a look at Twyfords. And I did not realise but a Jewson near me actually has a Bathroom Showroom..so will check that out at the weekend - maybe they'll have Twyfords on display.

I looked at the Ideal Standard site as we have those at work, and I like the designs. But they were more expensive than the suite we liked at Bathstore.

You reminded me about an issue I had with the toilet at Bathstore...it seemed small. But all the loos in the shop were also small. I tried sitting on it and it felt a bit small.

I think I need to shop around more regarding sanitary ware, after all we've got to live with it for 10 years. I shall try and find some local show rooms.

Any opinions on Dolphin?

andyhop

dolphin just use other manufactors brands

just like mfi bathrooms use twyfords

do a search for your local pts(plumbing trade supplies)armitage shanks and twyfords are discountable by 49% of the list price even on cash sales....but i didnt tell you that!

another buyers beware on ebay are there taps, ive been given plastic taps, taps that come in two pieces with a grub screw holding the spout out....most wouldnt pass basic british standards

look at bristan taps for quality, a tap can be judged for quality just on its weight alone

helping_hubby

OK I've found a shop in Guildford that sells Bristan taps, so hopefully they will have some on display.

I had the plumber and tiler round tonight. Quote will hopefully be with me by email (and in post) tomorrow.

The plumber gave me a City Plumbing Supplies Trade Price List book from which he can order for me if I want anything from there. But I can source my own stuff too.

The tiler has a 25% discount I can use at Topps Tiles. He also recommended B&Q if we were on a budget. But I've been to B&Q already and nothing grabbed us. However we liked 3 or 4 sets of tiles at Topps tiles, ranging from £20 - 25 per sq meter.

From the pictures, we quite like the Refresh bathroom from Twyfords which I understand is the lower end of their range. I'm hoping Jewsons will have this on display. However I wanted a wider bath (750mm) and was going for the Kaldewei Saniform plus from Bathstore at £209, but in the city plumbing book its £220ish + VAT.

Is it OK to mix and match suites? Or is it obvious that they are different?

We like the Prism Bristan Taps which are a similar price to the Bathstore taps we like. But the one hole bath filler is £233 + VAT! Ouch.

I also have a question about showers...

I have a combi boiler....so I need a thermostatic shower valve and a shower head. We'd like a fixed shower head. I wasn't convinced the guy in the bathstore was really that clued up. Can we have any shower head? Just not a shower pump?

Doozergirl

I love the Prism taps - we've used them in a few places. The bog standard plumber's merchant that we use gets us a very hefty discount on those!

Bathstore products all come down in the sale so if you can wait you will find that half price does come around for everything. We also mix and match - in our last house we used the Bathstore Curve bath (£324 half price in sale), just plain toilets with clean lines from said plumbers merchants, an ex-display Bathstore sink for a knock down price for one bathroom and the Bathstore Atlas walk-in shower and the sink jumble that I literally just posted on the 'countertop sink' thread for the other. I know Bathstore talk about using the same colour for all of their products, but for the mishmash I used, I couldn't see any difference at all.

I missed out on a freestanding Bathstore bath on ebay at £92 the other week. They don't come up often at that price!

I've seen that radiator on ebay (I have a search on at the moment!) - you'll get the same but big enough to heat the room well from Screwfix for the same price.

Canucklehead

helping_hubby wrote: »

I also have a question about showers...

I have a combi boiler....so I need a thermostatic shower valve and a shower head. We'd like a fixed shower head. I wasn't convinced the guy in the bathstore was really that clued up. Can we have any shower head? Just not a shower pump?

Good morning: Take a look at thermstatic shower mixers suitable for high pressure systems if you have a combination boiler. My OH recommends products from Mira, Ideal Trevi and Aqualisa to his clients. The performance of your shower will be dependent on your combi boiler/mains pressure/flow.

HTH

Canucklehead

helping_hubby

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good morning: Take a look at thermstatic shower mixers suitable for high pressure systems if you have a combination boiler. My OH recommends products from Mira, Ideal Trevi and Aqualisa to his clients. The performance of your shower will be dependent on your combi boiler/mains pressure/flow.

HTH

Canucklehead

I've always liked the fixed shower heads, but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of choice of them from the above companies.

Whats the advantage/disadvantages of having a fixed head over an exposed shower fitting?

I've seen that radiator on ebay (I have a search on at the moment!) - you'll get the same but big enough to heat the room well from Screwfix for the same price.

Is there anything I should be looking out for in terms of quality for a chrome towel rail radiator?

In the City Plumbing book they have cheap ones at about £80, but also have ones that come in at £400...that look the same. I don't want to get a cheap one and for the chrome plating to peel off in a few years.

Phirefly

helping_hubby wrote: »

I've always liked the fixed shower heads, but there doesn't seem to be a great deal of choice of them from the above companies.

Whats the advantage/disadvantages of having a fixed head over an exposed shower fitting?

I'm the same. Mr Phirefly has always had a bee in his bonnet about having concealed valve and a fixed shower head, but I was never that bothered. Having seen them in situ though, they really do add to the look. As far as the bath taps we've decided to go for these from Mayfair...


...so we have a hand-held option for cleaning the bath and washing the basset hound. I'm struggling to find a nice fixed-head and concealed valve set though. I like this one on ebay...



but all my other ebay purchases have been branded stuff I've seen in the flesh elsewhere so I'm hesitant...

Phirefly

andrew-b wrote: »

doggie bath outside

Somehow I don't think the idea of an outdoor bath is going to go down too well with Daddy's Precious....

avfcforever

I'm looking to re-tile our bathroom.. we already have the bath, sink, toilet and floor sorted so just the tiling left to do. We had a look over the weekend at the usual places (Wicks/B&Q/Homebase) to get an idea of what styles, etc would look good... and the OH managed to pick out the set that was approx £60m sq.. can anyone suggest some places where I can pick up tiles that are cheaper?

On a side note, and I know it isn't related to this thread - does anyone know where I can find cheap patio slabs as I'm also in the middle of renovating the garden.

Phirefly

avfcforever wrote: »

£60m sq.. can anyone suggest some places where I can pick up tiles that are cheaper?

Sounds quite steep, whereabouts in the UK are you? The best value I've found is at EMC, but their website is under construction and so you'd have to actually visit their showrooms. There might be a similar specialist near you though, which would probably be more fruitful than the diy barns.

Onlinetileshop.co.uk seems to be a good site. I ordered free samples from them and they came the next day by courier, full size tiles (300x600) I was quite impressed. They also sent me a 10% e-voucher, but they still couldn't beat EMC on price for the same product (Micron matte porcelain)

£60m2 would suggest premium natural stone. If so, have you heard of Floors of Stone. Again their showroom is near me, but even searching nationally I struggled to find better value natural stone, and their quality is excellent.