Bathroom suites - brand vs B&Q vs cheaper

louisdog

Hi all

What sort of differences are there in bathroom suites, which affect the price? How much is quality and how much is design?

Not sure I am making much sense, what I mean is, what makes a Sottini loo £1000, Ideal Standard regular loo £700, B&Q etc range loo £400 and then I can get a takeaway one for £50 complete from Travis Perkins and Focus?

At the top end it must be good quality but paying a lot for design, I wonder whether quality dips at the low end? Is it things like the flush might go rusty etc or thinner ceramic?

Hoping someone out there may know

Cheers
Alex

andrew-b

The prices your quoting on the brands are excessive. I don't know where your looking but by shopping around you can easily knock alot off the RRPs. For a branded regular bog ...you can get say an Ideal standard alto close-coupled for £220. The differences are research, design, fashion/concept, quality, easy of installation with decent instructions, aftersales, future part availability and so on.

As with everything ...you get what you pay for. For example i've seen reports of poor quality casting from places like B&Q resulting in the waste outlet on wc pan being slightly oval rather than round - obviously a round soil pipe going onto oval shaped ceramic is prone to leaking...if you can even get the pan connector on it in the first place. If you phone around some plumbers i doubt you'll find many happy to install B&Q junk.
I've refurbished my shower room using all branded gear (Twyfords sanitaryware and shower enclosure, Grohe shower valve, crosswater taps etc), and i still have change from £3k even after rerouting plumbing etc and including tools i had to buy to do the job. Could i have done it cheaper...easily yes but i'd probably have to do it again in a few years time!

My advice is save your money on the decor..tiles, accessories etc rather than the functional sanitaryware/brassware bits.

Buy cheap...buy twice

motherofstudents

I'm no expert so I'm sure you'll get more helpful answers but just wanted to say we got our bathroom suite in the sale at the Bathstore and it does seem really good quality. The bath is a Kaldewei steel bath with 30 year guarantee and the toilet and basin just seem very solid and good quality. The taps are good too, I can certainly tell the difference from cheaper ones I've had before. I'm sure you do pay more just for the design in some cases but we were lucky to get both a nice design and good quality. I think the Bathstore have something like 50% off in their sales. B&Q also have some good sales prices if you can wait till they have one. Hope you get what you want.

suisidevw

TBH, Bathstore are expensive unless you get them during a good sale and then haggle as well. We did this and got a great deal and very happy with the products. This was for the bath,panel, loo and sink. All taps, wastes, screens etc we bought seperately

julianashcroft

andrew-b wrote: »

As with everything ...you get what you pay for. For example i've seen reports of poor quality casting from places like B&Q resulting in the waste outlet on wc pan being slightly oval rather than round - obviously a round soil pipe going onto oval shaped ceramic is prone to leaking...if you can even get the pan connector on it in the first place. If you phone around some plumbers i doubt you'll find many happy to install B&Q junk.

Both my bathrooms at home are B&Q 'junk' ones. Plumber didn't have a problem installing either and I haven't had a problem in the five years they have been in.

I also used thermostatic bath taps off ebay, while not only cheap, they enable you to fill the bath up at the required temperature with ease.

louisdog

Thanks for the replies - although I am more confused than ever now!

I think I might go for a mid range B&Q or low/mid named brand, and avoid the Sottini types and also the £50 Tesco/TP ones, and then hope for the best!

toejumper

im considering this one, its got some good Reviews http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10297504&fh_view_size=10&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB%2fstyleStyle%3e%7bseattle_complete_suite%7d&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=lister&ts=1267038682118&isSearch=false

louisdog

That one looks nice, although the unusual shape toilet seat puts me off after reading the thread about the £200 Accent loo seat!

Didn't know B&Q did reviews though so thanks! Are they likely to have any good offers anytime do you know? They sometimes have 15% off don't they but not exactly sure when (bank hols perhaps?)

Cheers

andrew-b

julianashcroft wrote: »

Both my bathrooms at home are B&Q 'junk' ones. Plumber didn't have a problem installing either and I haven't had a problem in the five years they have been in..

Oh dear sorry..to hear that! . Fair enough.. but maybe just lucky? Bear in mind B&Q often change suppliers..in 5 years they may have changed suppliers a few times so you might not be as lucky now! Usually B&Q stuff has bits missing etc that they don't have in stock or deliveries get delayed. Anyone who has ever dealt with B&Q customer DIS-service would steer well clear! Decent plumbers i spoke to wouldn't touch them which bargepoles!

I would recommend Twyfords ..we had a minor issue with a toilet seat and they were brilliant at sorting it out with a replacement delivered next day. Whilst it might not seem a good ad that i had a problem...it's the way the company deals with them that is the key bit! If their "thrones" are good enough for the Queen they good enough for me!

Bathstore i group together with the DIY stores but slightly better quality...though having seen a basin on display there which looked badly cast i also wouldn't touch. Bathstore is too pricey anyway unless on sale.

Be wary of B&Q "sales" too...they aren't all they seem..they often inflate prices for a month or so then have items on "sale" the rest of the time!

Better off to goto your local plumber's merchant and ask for their best price on branded gear..you probably won't get a show room but your much more likely to receive decent customer service and advice from someone not on commission who knows what they are talking about and not just interested in you flashing your plastic.

Personally i'd rather spend a bit more (and it really isn't much - your literally talking a a hundred or two if that). In this respect i think being MSE is not about getting the cheapest thing but about getting the best value for your money..there's a big difference!

Guess it depends what your after...if your just doing a property up to sell on who cares how long it lasts as it won't be your problem!

louisdog

Thanks I will try my local plumber merchant. Is it worth trying a bathroom showroom which stocks Twyfords etc or maybe they will be dearer and the salepeople on commission? Can't hurt to try though.

I want the stuff to last as we are not planning on budging for a good few years.

Just remembered that I used a B&Q or Focus cloakroom suite in the last house and it seemed ok but we moved a couple of years later so I guess I can't comment on its longevity...

andrew-b

First thing to do is get the brochures..from Twyfords, Ideal standard etc and get an idea what you like and what you dont. The showrooms should probably have the brochures anyway or the manufacturer website have links to send off for or download.. Don't buy on the spot at the showroom..get a price but don't buy..instead go home and dig on the internet for the best prices you can find on the items you like...then take your best price to the plumbers merchant such as PTS and challenge them to match it. If they can't go back to the showroom and see what they can do...if still can't beat online prices (including delivery) then buy online. We bought the majority of our bathroom stuff online...worked out well though you do need to be prepared to waste alot of time staying in for deliveries.
The other key thing is don't assume you have to buy everything in one place or to mix brands. It's rare that one place can give the best price on everything so use multiple suppliers.

Another of the reasons we went for branded gear was the availability of information on the products we were buying. ...for example the big brands all have lots of details with dimensions etc, fitting instructions to download.