Bathroom suite - want cheap and good quality

phoenix_w

Hi all,

Any tips/pointers for getting a bathroom suite that's both cheap and good quality? In my last house I bought a complete bathroom suite online for ~£400 (Toilet, sink, bath, side panel, shower screen, taps and wastes). Not only did some of it arrive damaged and took a long time to replace, but the bath was - let's face it, garbage. Lean back in it and you could hear the fibreglass making a cracking noise - you could see light through the sides of it - it didn't feel very firm but bouncy when you got into it. The ceramic stuff, howerver, was really good once we got it all in an unbroken state

Ideally what we want is a nice modern looking bathroom suite with roughly the same stuff listed above (but perhaps without a glass shower screen because the water pressure from our combi will be too forceful for a shower screen to handle), but with a bath that is good quality. I've seen some bath descriptions stating that the plastic is 5mm - does this necessarily indicate a bath that won't creak and bow every time you get into it for a soak?

We are absolutely skint at the moment so any good pointers will be appreciated.

Procrastinator333

Who doesn't want top quality for a low price. But sadly, like most things in life, you get what you pay for. I don't believe you will get all that of a reasonable quality for that price.

My suggestions would be. Don't buy anything on line - at least not unless you have seen it first and then just found it cheaper online.

Maybe try IKEA. They are usually about as good quality as you can get for a low price. If not, then try to find an independant supplier with a showroom. Go have a look. Sit in the bath to test it.

Possibly another thing to consider is re-using some of what is there. Often a toilet with a new seat and some fresh silicone will look new anyway. Or just replace the taps and plug on the existing sink along with some fresh silicone. It depends what is there, but it can make a huge difference. That way you will save more money for the bath.

What about a steel bath from ebay. They will be rock solid. As long as they are clean. Some shiny new taps and being fitted well, they will look good.

Or if what is there is serviceable, maybe wait until you have a bit more free cash.

Chunks

Not a plumber but the above makes sense. My eldest was thinking of binning a quality sink, loo and steel bath. The taps etc. were way past their sell by date but the white goods just needed a (deep) clean up. I cleaned some copper/limescale stains from a leaking bath tap to prove why he should reconsider. Saved him a fortune and his 'new' bathroom looks great.

SailorSam

How good they are i don't know but you can get bathroom suites from about £300 in B&Q

Wickes from £200

http://www.wickes.co.uk/bathroompackages

tired_dad

Cheap and good quality don't go together.

Look at the value of your house. Look at comparables within your area and spend according to what is expected in a property like yours.

phoenix_w

tired_dad wrote: »

Look at the value of your house. Look at comparables within your area and spend according to what is expected in a property like yours.

I'm not planning on selling anytime soon, so I'll fit and decorate the bathroom to what's desirable for me and my family.. Keeping up with the Jones's just isn't important to me. A nice clean functional room

Some interesting stuff already in here...

I do believe in "you get what you pay for", but I'm also a believer in getting good quality for a reasonable price rather than paying over the odds.

Cleaning up the existing suite isn't really an option, to be honest. It's just too far gone. The bog is horrible, needs new innards and just needs throwing away. The sink is salvageable, I guess, but is silver and won't fit in with any other suite. The bath is damaged in places and needs a new waste which I won't be able to fit without taking the bath out because of the restricted space, and it'll likely get damaged when I take off all the wall tiles (tile on tile) and maybe reskim.

The Ikea suggestion would have been good, except for the fact that Ikea don't sell baths :-) When we went to Ikea recently, I was amazed to see a roll top bath in their showroom, until I saw the sticker on it stating that Ikea don't sell them..

Steel bath suggestion is good. I've seen on earlier threads people really rate even cheap ones. I may have to sell the wife on the benefits, but I do like the idea of not being at the mercy of creaking plastic baths.

Cheers everyone, but don't stop if you know of any bargains that can be had.

Doozergirl

From lots of experience, I would go with the likes of Victoria Plumb for the white sanitary ware, but then choose branded taps/showers elsewhere with at least a 10 year guarantee on them. It's the moving parts that you need to be the best quality.

Victoria Plumb taps are fine, but their showers are not (without fail they cease) and the towel rails leave a bit to be desired. I've rarely had any trouble with white items.

Bathstore have a clearance section with taps etc in - that wouldn't be a bad bet. Otherwise Bristan would be a sensible option.

Whether that fits into a £400 budget, I'm not sure. It wouldn't be far off and you'd have attractive stuff.

andyhop

PTS have bathroom packs on with bristan brassware. Some roca and ideal standard stuff for £400- £700

I would never consider buying from Victora Plumb, you are taking a chance on quality and spare parts will be nil. At least with Ideal, roca, Duravit etc spares are available and they will honour warranty. It was only 12 months go we have a bath failure with Ideal Standard who coughed up nearly 4K in refitting costs. You won't get that with a online retailer who buys in mass unbranded/produced stock

Seronera

andyhop makes total sense. I'd get down to your local plumbers merchants/bathroom showroom and tell them what you want and what your budget is. They will do their best for you. I'd avoid the online people as you just have no idea what you are getting and quite a lot of stuff I have seen and had the misfortune to work on has been chinese ceramic of rather poor quality.

If you want something reasonable at low cost look at the Armitage Shanks Sandringham bathroom suite. The bath is not terrific (acrylic), but its OK and with the ceramics you will get spares easily enough if needed. We ran this house as a holiday cottage for a time and I put a Sandringham Suite in ten years ago. We live back here now and all I'd say is its not an 'exciting' set of bathware but its reasonable quality and has worn well. Its what you call 'a 'contract suite' really.

Again with taps I usually recommend Bristan taps as they usually have the name on which makes it far easier to get the right spares if you need them. The plumbers curse is taps with no identifier on them. A plumbers merchants may do a package that includes the taps..just do some shopping around and don't be afraid to ask if you want a better quality bath. They will want the sale!

Good luck

karinalysley5

I am looking to renovate my bathroom on a budget. I have found a suitable bathroom suite, I am aware there are standard lengths & widths for bathtubs, but are there standard internal measurements for bathtubs?

movilogo

I got someone from Homebase coming to my home, taking measurement and recommending suitable components.

The overall cost of components came ~£1000. But this includes tiles on 3 walls and floor as well.

Homebase fitting cost is ludicrous (£5k) so I'd be looking a local plumber as fitter.