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

brownbake

Hi Helping hubby and firefly thanks for your comments. I know bathroom was horrendous.

The towel rad is just screwed to the walls and connected to old rad pipes.

I learnt a lot doing this and would do things differently if I did again.
Firstly get different trades for their specialism. By going with the plumber for everything I paid plumber prices for 2 days tiling and general building work - false ceiling. Big mistake. Firstly a tiler would be cheaper and also do a better job - hopefully.

If on a budget do not go putting wall hung things on - a lot more work/ expense moving pipes and chasing into walls. You also have to be tidy - in future I would probably go for a sink with storage underneath.

Make sure you get all electrical work done to part P. If windowless like mine get a decent extractor fan - preferably a humistat and quiet!! You are looking at about £70- 100 for one of these.

Also I wish I had had a shaver socket put in - ideally where the cabinet would go so it is hidden. Not for shaving but for electric toothbrushes!!

I got my tiles from the now defunct Right Price Tiles and really were a great price. They have reemerged as Tile Giant. They sell similar tiles to the ones I have - wall tiles at £14 m2 and floor tiles at £20m2- more than I paid but still a lot cheaper than the big sheds.

I have noticed that Tile Giant and Topps Tiles now price tiles individually as the main price and m2 in small print. This is misleading and annoying. Who goes to buy a single tile!!

The price tradesmen charge is all area dependent. The Scottish bloke seemed to pay little but he lives in Dundee. There will be a difference between there and South England - London.

Your plumber should give you a 12 month guarantee on work. Parts, especially if purchased by you will not be covered. That is why we went for branded products. Bristan 5 year guarantee and Roca - 25 year!!

My cabinet from Ikea £25 was one of my best buys - really good quality and B+Q and Homebase want £100 for a similar size of rubbish quality.

I hope this helps you and if you need any help or advice please get in touch.

brownbake

helping_hubby

That all seems very realistic and good price you got on the bits. I bet the Bristan stuff was the bulk of the price. Have had no trouble with my Bristan taps - touches head!!-but their accessories haven't been great. Customer service poor.

Tap trouble I wouldn't want to think about but at best I can imagine they would send replacements but they won't be paying a plumber to remove and re fit.

£1000 seems realistic for plumbing as long as it is straight swap.

Tiling all depends on how much you have to do and how confident you are. If you use big tiles or porcelain you will have to purchase an electric tile cutter and they get through blades but Machine Mart do decent ones at OK prices.

Floor Tiling is actually easy as long as you are good at maths and doing calculations and finding centres etc.

Good luck with your project!!

Canucklehead

brownbake wrote: »

I learnt a lot doing this and would do things differently if I did again.
Firstly get different trades for their specialism. By going with the plumber for everything I paid plumber prices for 2 days tiling and general building work - false ceiling. Big mistake. Firstly a tiler would be cheaper and also do a better job - hopefully.

Good afternoon: It is unfortunate that you were unable to source a good multitrade plumber..they do exist. My OH's clients appreciate his ability to produce an excellent installation without using subcontractors or requiring the client to sort out the other trades themselves. He also prefers not to work round other tradesperson's 'flexible' timelines or accept their standard of work...the 'buck' stops with him.;)

Well done with your bathroom, BTW.

HTH

Canucklehead

ANNEGEDDES

brownbake wrote: »

Hi I posted on the costs of getting our bathroom fitted - bought all the stuff myself but paid a fitter to do everything. Was quite costly and was a full weeks full time work for a team of fitters!!

Before
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/bath.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/basin.jpg

During
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/DSCF1475.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/DSCF1470.jpg

After
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/DSCF1560.jpg

And Now 18 months later
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/bathfull.jpg
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u206/booksgreatoffers/basin2.jpg

Hope this helps - all costings and suppliers listed on my previous bathroom posts from last year!!

wowweeelooks lush well done we are in the middle of doing ours, going for a similar style, hotel chic!

those tiles from b &q? we have very similar ones from there

brownbake

Thanks for your post - I understand where you are coming from and that is one of the reasons we went for the complete install from the plumber. He was actually a reccommendation from Checkatrade so we thought he would be decent.

The problem was that his company was a plumbing company - not a bathroom / kitchen fitting company. As a plumber there were no problems but as a tiler, builder electricain no where near as competent.

The prep and plumbing was 4 days but then tiling and "finishing" was another 3 - at plumbers rates. Just saying if I did it again I would do things differently.

The workers were absolutely fine and really nice guy. The problem was the boss, as a plumber he was obviously very busy and came in and rushed the finish because he had over booked himself. The finish was not up to the price we paid and he turned very obnoxious and there were various problems due to this lack of care and "vision" . If he was a specialist bathroom fitter maybe he would have seen and advised accordingly instead of just seeing it from a plumbers persepective.

I sourced everything and everything was ready for him on time. I also gave him exact details of what I wanted doing and then he bodged the finish.

Examples. He knew I wanted the bath tiled flush-as I have seen it in hotels and like the look. I specified that I wanted the side bath panel to be removable for access and even provided the mirror screws!! However once finished I noticed that it was far from flush and all he had done is put a messy coat of sealant on the top to "cover" it. I was not happy with this and got them to come back to rectify - it really looked poor. I was then told that it wouldn't be flush because it was my fault of the bath I had chosen!! Eventually it was rectified but the result is that I now have no access which is not what was specified very clearly. A bathroom specialist would have identified this potential problem and suggested a small tiled lip round the bath.

When my taps arrived I found out that they were high pressure and I had a very low pressure on the hot tap. He came round to quote and saw what boiler I had. Result was that a pump had to be fitted. Hardly my fault as if he had advised then I wouldn't have got these taps - anyway pump is a bonus.

The tiling round the toilet - as a wall hung toilet it had a 10-20mm adjustment - a specialist bathroom fitter would probably have adjusted so that tiles behind were full or majority part. Instead we have a tile 0.5 inch above toilet which isn't ideal. Also I got the wall hung for ease of cleaning and a mop doesn't even fit under there because it obviously hasn't been adjusted at all. Fitter said it was first one he had fitted!!

Wall hung basin - supply had to be moved and chased in and I assumed that the tiles would be neat underneath. Instead we have a lovely cap albeit flush - either they couldn't do it under tiles or as I suspect - they capped badly and bodged it.

The waste from the bath - seen in the after pic - I feel that is wasted space and would have been better if either chased in or if a little concealed cupboard - tiled the same but with a hinged lid for cleaning chems etc - would have been nice. As would chrome towel rad pipes and thermostatic valves.

Lastly I asked for the door to be moved. The boss eventually did this just to move the job on completely bodged all filling that he did and then with the door bar only put in 2 brass screws - and told me to get the others!!

I did a lot of research into getting the bathroom done and sourced and had everything bar adhesive and plasterboard, 2x4 and grout ready. He got 90 % of his money within a week of "completion". As a wedding present my Mum helped out but I asked her to withold payment (he had also just fitted her bathroom and new boiler so a lot of money) until jobs were finished. I also wanted a certificate to prove that the electrical work was perfomed to Part P as is a legal requirement.

He refused that and then started extremely threatening behaviour towards myself and my Mum. She felt obliged to pay and I think out of his £3.5K quote £250 was not paid.

Now you may see me as an awkward customer. I don't and that is why if I did it again I would do things differently. Yes it looks 100 times better than it did - not hard!! But for the price I paid I could have done with it looking perfect really and having all relevant legal documentation.

I apologise to decent and honest tradespeople who take pride in their work and would like their customers to be 100% satisfied. It's a shame because as plumbers it would have been nice to keep them on board. As a bathroom fitter and as an honest tradesman I would never recommend him. And for tradesman to threaten elderly ladies is scum of the earth.

Regards

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: Thanks for filling in the detail. Yours is, unfortunately, a story we are hearing and reading about too often.
My OH doesn't subscribe to any 'Find a Trade' websites as he runs his business on personal recommendation and repeat custom.He has been a member of Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering for many years and is included on its 'Find an Installer' facility.
Bottom line for finding a trade....it is always best to use someone recommended to you by a source you trust (I appreciate that this isn't always possible)and if you find someone honest, reliable and competent pass his/her name on. My OH's name is currently getting passed around a local church group, a win-win situation for all concerned.;)

HTH

Canucklehead

Phirefly

Thanks for the breakdown, Jouce, thats certainly ineresting reading.

cheekyweegit wrote: »

Large wall tiles 21sq m - ebay again. £142 including delivery and the seller was fantastic. Couldn't recommend highly enough. Tiles are 45cm x 45cm and look stunning up. I didn't need them all, but to buy them from the shops would have cost me around £500 maybe more.

can you remember the seller/shop?

Brownbake, that sounds like a real saga! We're having a very experienced bathroom specialist fit ours, he's done my sister's bathroom, several of her friends and a colleague of mine, and can't be praised enough. At first I was reluctant as it was way more than I'd planned on spending, but the more I read about problems such as yours, I'm realising that theres no price for peace of mind.

andyhop

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good afternoon: Thanks for filling in the detail. Yours is, unfortunately, a story we are hearing and reading about too often.
My OH doesn't subscribe to any 'Find a Trade' websites as he runs his business on personal recommendation and repeat custom.He has been a member of Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering for many years and is included on its 'Find an Installer' facility.
Bottom line for finding a trade....it is always best to use someone recommended to you by a source you trust (I appreciate that this isn't always possible)and if you find someone honest, reliable and competent pass his/her name on. My OH's name is currently getting passed around a local church group, a win-win situation for all concerned.;)

HTH

Canucklehead

just because your OH is a member of some plumbing organisation does not mean he is any good, nor does it mean its find a installer service will get you a a1 installer- no offence intended

word of mouth is best

as for your bath panel......you can not have a removable end panel as you have grout lines that need sealing....i always use profab hinged panels

http://www.profabaccess.com/8000accesspanels.html

i prefer to give a quote for supply and fit, after all i am the knowledgable one who knows what is possible, too many people supply there own items which are not suitable for the job

Canucklehead

andyhop wrote: »

just because your OH is a member of some plumbing organisation does not mean he is any good, nor does it mean its find a installer service will get you a a1 installer- no offence intended

word of mouth is best

Good evening: The OH completed a 5 year plumbing apprenticeship, has 30+ years experience in the trade and takes advantage of CPD offered by the industry. Unfortunately plumbing is not a regulated profession in the UK (unlike my native Canada) and anyone can call him/herself a plumber: membership in the CIPHE does indicate that an individual has plumbing qualifications/experience. As I have said countless times in this forum use trades recommended to you by a source you trust and if you can't get a recommendation the CIPHE is a good place to start. I take it you're not member?;)

Canucklehead

andyhop

Canucklehead wrote: »

Good evening: The OH completed a 5 year plumbing apprenticeship, has 30+ years experience in the trade and takes advantage of CPD offered by the industry. Unfortunately plumbing is not a regulated profession in the UK (unlike my native Canada) and anyone can call him/herself a plumber: membership in the CIPHE does indicate that an individual has plumbing qualifications/experience. As I have said countless times in this forum use trades recommended to you by a source you trust and if you can't get a recommendation the CIPHE is a good place to start. I take it you're not member?;)

Canucklehead

im a plumber with brain.....a heating engineer/welder:rotfl:

ciphe- if its anything like hvac and corgi joe bloggs could join, the farce that was the cscs skill card proves this, unskilled labourers overnight became plumbers with gold cards